Ghost Gear: The Fishing Nets That Never Stop Fishing

Most of us will never see the majority of plastic pollution that enters the ocean. While bottles, bags and other debris often wash ashore, much of it remains hidden beneath the surface. Among the most harmful forms of this hidden pollution is abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear—better known as ghost gear.

Designed to withstand years of harsh conditions at sea, fishing gear is incredibly durable. But when it is lost or abandoned, those same qualities become part of the problem. Nets, ropes and lines can continue trapping marine life, damaging delicate habitats and contributing to the growing challenge of marine plastic pollution.

Yet hidden within this challenge is an opportunity. Through advances in material recovery and recycling, some recovered fishing nets can now be regenerated into high-performance nylon, helping reduce the demand for virgin materials while giving waste a second life.

This article explores both sides of that story—from the environmental impacts of ghost gear to the innovative materials helping shape a more circular future.

What Is Ghost Gear?

Although the term ghost gear often brings abandoned fishing nets to mind, it actually refers to a much wider range of fishing equipment that has been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded in the marine environment.

The scientific term used by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is ALDFG, which stands for Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear. It describes fishing gear that has been abandoned, accidentally lost or otherwise discarded and remains in the marine environment. [1]

Ghost gear includes a wide variety of fishing equipment, such as:

Gillnets
Trawl nets
Purse seine nets
Longlines
Fishing ropes
Crab and lobster pots
Fish traps
Buoys and floats

Although each type of gear is designed for a specific purpose, they all share one defining characteristic: once they are no longer under human control, they can continue affecting marine life and ocean habitats long after they have stopped being used.

An educational infographic poster titled 'TYPES OF GHOST GEAR (ALDFG)' on a dark teal background. It features eight labeled photos showing different types of discarded fishing gear: Gillnets, Trawl nets, Purse Seine Nets, Longlines, Fishing Ropes, Crab & Lobster Pots, Fish Traps, and Buoys & Floats. Created by NAUTRA's BE THE WAVE ocean education platform.

How Does Fishing Gear Become Ghost Gear?

Not all ghost gear is deliberately discarded. In reality, much of it is lost accidentally during everyday fishing operations. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a range of factors can cause fishing gear to become abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded (ALDFG), from severe weather and operational challenges to accidental equipment failure. [2]

Storms and Rough Seas

Strong winds, powerful waves and rough sea conditions can cause fishing gear to break free from vessels or become impossible to recover safely. During severe weather, protecting the crew always takes priority, and gear may have to be abandoned to safeguard those on board.

Gear Becomes Snagged

Fishing nets and lines can become caught on rocky seabeds, coral reefs, shipwrecks and other underwater obstacles. Recovering snagged gear can be dangerous, damage vessels or destroy the equipment itself, making retrieval impossible or unsafe.

Fishing Gear Conflicts

In busy fishing grounds, different types of fishing gear can become tangled with one another or damaged by passing vessels. These interactions can result in equipment being unintentionally cut free or lost.

Illegal Dumping and Poor Disposal

Although less common than accidental loss, some fishing gear is deliberately discarded due to limited disposal facilities, the high cost of retrieval or illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. Improvements in harbour collection schemes and waste management are helping to reduce this problem in many parts of the world.

Why Isn't It Always Recovered?

It's easy to assume that lost fishing gear can simply be collected and brought back to shore. In reality, recovery is often far more challenging.

Gear may sink into deep water, become buried beneath sediment or remain firmly trapped on the seabed. Returning to retrieve it can be costly, time-consuming and, in some situations, dangerous. Weather conditions, water depth, fuel costs and the safety of the crew all influence whether recovery is possible. [2]

For these reasons, not every piece of lost fishing gear can be safely or practically recovered.

Why Ghost Gear Is Such a Serious Problem

Once fishing gear enters the marine environment, its story doesn't end. In many cases, it is only just beginning.

Designed to withstand harsh conditions at sea, modern fishing gear is built to be strong, durable and long-lasting. While these qualities are essential during normal fishing operations, they become a significant problem once the gear is no longer under human control. Ghost gear can continue affecting marine ecosystems for years, posing a threat to wildlife, habitats and coastal communities alike. [3]

Ghost Fishing

One of the most serious consequences of ghost gear is a process known as ghost fishing. Unlike active fishing, where gear is monitored and regularly retrieved, ghost gear continues trapping marine life long after it has been lost or abandoned.

Fish, crustaceans and other marine animals become caught in nets or traps and are unable to escape. As these animals die, they can attract scavengers and predators, which may also become trapped, creating a continuous cycle that can persist for months—or even years. [3]

Ghost fishing affects a wide variety of species, from commercially important fish to sharks, rays, crabs and lobsters. Larger animals, including whale sharks, tiger sharks and sea turtles, may also become entangled in abandoned fishing gear, sometimes resulting in serious injury or death.

Entanglement

Although often confused with ghost fishing, entanglement describes a different type of impact. Instead of becoming trapped inside fishing gear, larger marine animals become wrapped in ropes, nets or fishing lines as they move through the ocean.

Whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles and large sharks are particularly vulnerable. Even if an animal manages to break free, the gear may remain wrapped around its body, restricting movement, making it more difficult to feed or swim, and increasing the risk of injury, infection or exhaustion. In severe cases, entanglement can prove fatal. [3]

Damage to Coral Reefs

Ghost gear doesn't only threaten marine wildlife—it also affects some of the ocean's most important habitats.

Coral reefs are particularly vulnerable. Nets and ropes can become caught on coral structures, where wave action and ocean currents drag them across the reef. This can break fragile coral colonies, smother living coral and slow the recovery of ecosystems already under pressure from climate change, pollution and other human activities. [4]

Damage to Seagrass Meadows

Seagrass meadows are another valuable habitat affected by ghost gear. Lost nets and ropes can drag across the seabed, uprooting seagrass and disturbing the sediments in which it grows.

Often overlooked, seagrass meadows provide nursery habitat for countless marine species, help stabilise coastal sediments and store significant amounts of carbon. Damage caused by ghost gear can therefore have consequences that extend far beyond the plants themselves. [4]

Breaking Down into Microplastics

Many modern fishing nets are manufactured from durable synthetic materials such as nylon. Over time, exposure to sunlight, waves and abrasion causes these materials to fragment into increasingly smaller pieces.

These fragments, known as microplastics, can persist in the marine environment for many years. While ghost gear remains dangerous in its original form, it can also contribute to the wider problem of marine plastic pollution as it gradually breaks down. [4]

Economic and Fisheries Impacts

The impacts of ghost gear extend beyond wildlife and marine habitats—they also affect people.

Lost fishing gear can continue catching commercially important fish and shellfish, reducing available fish stocks and creating economic losses for fisheries. It may become entangled in boat propellers, create hazards for navigation and increase the cost of clean-up and recovery efforts. Coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems for tourism, recreation and fishing may also be affected.

For these reasons, ghost gear is recognised not only as an environmental issue but also as an economic and social challenge that requires cooperation between governments, scientists, conservation organisations and the fishing industry. [3]

How Big Is the Problem?

Although ghost gear is often hidden beneath the surface, its impact is felt across every ocean. Because much of it sinks, drifts offshore or remains undiscovered on the seabed, measuring its true scale is extremely challenging. Even so, scientific research consistently identifies abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear as one of the most significant and persistent forms of marine debris. [5]

Recent research published in Science Advances provides one of the clearest estimates of the global scale of ghost gear. The figures below illustrate the extent of fishing gear lost in our oceans each year. [5]

These figures illustrate that ghost gear is not confined to a single fishery or region. It is a truly global issue, affecting coastal waters, the open ocean and even the deep sea.

Although fishing gear represents only a proportion of all marine litter by volume, it is considered one of the most harmful forms because it is specifically designed to catch marine life and built to withstand years of exposure to harsh ocean conditions. Unlike many other forms of plastic debris, ghost gear can continue trapping wildlife and damaging marine habitats long after it has entered the ocean. [6]

Understanding the scale of ghost gear is essential. The more scientists, governments, fisheries and conservation organisations understand where, why and how fishing gear is lost, the better equipped they are to prevent future losses, improve recovery efforts and reduce its impact on our oceans.

Recovering Ghost Gear: Turning the Tide

While the scale of ghost gear is significant, there is reason for optimism. Around the world, scientists, conservation organisations, fishing communities and volunteers are working together to locate, recover and responsibly dispose of abandoned fishing gear before it can cause further harm.

Although recovering ghost gear is often complex, time-consuming and sometimes hazardous, these efforts are helping to protect marine wildlife, restore vulnerable habitats and prevent additional gear from remaining in the ocean for years to come.

Divers and Conservation Organisations

Many ghost gear recovery projects begin beneath the surface. Teams of specially trained divers work alongside marine conservation organisations to locate and carefully remove abandoned fishing gear from coral reefs, rocky seabeds and other sensitive habitats.

Recovery is rarely straightforward. Nets may be tangled around fragile corals, buried beneath sediment or stretched across large areas of the seabed. Every operation must be carefully planned to minimise further damage to marine ecosystems while ensuring the safety of the recovery team. [7]

Fishing Communities

Fishers themselves play an important role in tackling ghost gear. Many commercial and recreational fishers report lost equipment, participate in retrieval programmes and support initiatives designed to prevent fishing gear from entering the marine environment in the first place.

Across many regions, the fishing industry works alongside researchers, governments and conservation organisations to improve gear design, encourage responsible disposal and develop practical solutions that reduce accidental gear loss. [8]

Harbour Collection Schemes

Many ports and harbours now provide dedicated collection facilities where damaged or unwanted fishing gear can be disposed of responsibly rather than entering the marine environment.

These collection schemes help ensure that end-of-life fishing gear can be gathered, sorted and, where suitable, prepared for recycling instead of being discarded at sea. Although approaches vary between countries, improving waste collection infrastructure is recognised as an important step in preventing future ghost gear. [8]

Recovery Programmes

Around the world, a growing number of recovery programmes are bringing together governments, charities, researchers, fishing communities and industry to tackle ghost gear collaboratively.

Some initiatives focus on recovering recently lost fishing gear before it begins causing long-term harm. Others organise large-scale clean-up operations or establish systems that encourage fishers to bring damaged gear back to shore for responsible disposal or recycling.

Together, these initiatives are helping to reduce the impact of ghost gear while improving our understanding of where, how and why fishing gear is lost.

Can Every Fishing Net Become New Fabric?

The simple answer is no.

Although recovering ghost gear is an important step, not every piece of fishing gear can be recycled into new textile fibres. Some nets have become too heavily damaged after years in the ocean. Others are made from different types of plastic that require different recycling processes, while some may be contaminated or unsuitable for material recovery.

When suitable nylon fishing gear is successfully recovered, however, advances in recycling technology make it possible to regenerate the material into high-quality nylon yarn. Instead of becoming waste, these valuable resources can begin an entirely new journey.

In the next section, we'll follow that journey—from discarded fishing net to regenerated nylon.

From Fishing Net to Regenerated Nylon

Not every recovered fishing net can become new fabric. However, when suitable nylon fishing gear is collected and carefully processed, it can begin an entirely new journey.

Through a specialised regeneration process, recovered marine nylon waste—including discarded fishing nets—can be transformed into high-quality nylon yarn without compromising its performance. That yarn can then be knitted into technical fabrics suitable for products such as swimwear and activewear.

While the exact recycling process varies between manufacturers, the journey typically follows the steps below.

At NAUTRA, we use PRUECO® OCEAN recycled nylon because it enables us to create high-performance technical swimwear while helping give recovered marine nylon waste a second life.

In the next section, we'll explore why we chose this material and the performance characteristics that make it particularly well suited to life in and around the water.

Why We Chose PRUECO® OCEAN

When developing our swimwear collection, we wanted to choose a material that not only delivered the performance required for life in and around the water but also reflected our commitment to making more responsible material choices.

Our swimwear is made using PRUECO® OCEAN recycled nylon—a regenerated nylon yarn produced from recovered marine nylon waste, including discarded fishing nets. While no material is without environmental impact, we believe that, based on the materials currently available for technical swimwear, regenerated nylon is one of the most responsible choices available today.

Designed for Life in the Water

Technical swimwear places unique demands on fabric. It needs to move comfortably with the body, retain its shape, withstand repeated exposure to saltwater and chlorine, and remain durable over time.

Regenerated nylon delivers these same performance characteristics while helping give suitable recovered materials a second life.

These qualities make regenerated nylon particularly well suited to swimwear, water sports and active lifestyles.

Looking Beyond the Product

For us, choosing regenerated nylon was never simply about creating a high-performance swimsuit.

It was about recognising that every material choice has an environmental impact—and choosing the option we believe represents the most responsible path currently available.

By using recovered marine nylon waste where suitable, we can help support a more circular approach to material use, keeping valuable resources in circulation for longer while reducing demand for virgin nylon produced from fossil fuels.

It is one small step within a much larger challenge, but one we believe is worth taking.

Is Regenerated Nylon the Perfect Solution?

No.

If there were a perfect material for technical swimwear—one that offered exceptional performance with no environmental impact—we would use it.

The reality is that no such material currently exists.

Like all synthetic textiles, regenerated nylon still has an environmental footprint. It requires energy to produce and, like other synthetic fabrics, can contribute to microfiber pollution throughout its lifetime. Researchers continue to explore ways to reduce these impacts through advances in material science, manufacturing processes and textile care. [10]

What Regenerated Nylon Achieves

Although it is not a perfect solution, regenerated nylon offers important environmental advantages over producing virgin nylon from new fossil fuel resources.

By transforming suitable recovered nylon waste into new, high-quality yarn, it can help to:

Give valuable materials a second life
Reduce demand for virgin nylon
Support a more circular approach to material use
Recover suitable marine nylon waste, including discarded fishing nets

Regenerated nylon alone will not solve the problem of plastic pollution. However, it represents a meaningful step towards reducing waste and making better use of the resources that already exist.

Why We Believe It's One of the Best Choices Available Today

At NAUTRA, we believe sustainability is not about waiting for the perfect solution. It is about making better choices with the materials and knowledge available today, while remaining open to future innovation.

That is why we have chosen PRUECO® OCEAN recycled nylon for our swimwear collection.

Based on the materials currently available for technical swimwear, we believe regenerated nylon is one of the most responsible choices available today. At the same time, we recognise that material science continues to evolve, and we remain committed to exploring new technologies and innovations as they become commercially viable and scientifically validated.

Sustainability is not a destination. It is a process of continual learning, improvement and innovation.

Conclusion

Ghost gear reminds us that losing fishing gear is not the end of its story. Once it enters the marine environment, its impact on wildlife and habitats may only just be beginning.

Yet this is not only a story about the challenges facing our oceans. It is also a story of innovation, collaboration and progress. Around the world, scientists, conservation organisations, fishing communities and responsible manufacturers are working together to prevent gear loss, recover valuable materials and develop more sustainable solutions for the future.

At NAUTRA, using PRUECO® OCEAN recycled nylon is one small part of that journey. We recognise that regenerated nylon is not the final answer to plastic pollution, but based on the materials currently available for technical swimwear, we believe it is one of the most responsible choices available today. As material science continues to evolve, so will we.

Understanding the challenges facing our oceans allows us to make more informed decisions—whether that's supporting ocean conservation, learning about marine ecosystems or choosing products made with more responsible materials. While no single action will solve the problem of ghost gear, every positive step contributes to a healthier future for our blue planet.

If you'd like to see how recovered marine nylon is helping shape our own products, explore our swimwear collection made using PRUECO® OCEAN recycled nylon.

References & Further Reading

Scientific Journals

[5] Richardson, K., Hardesty, B. D., Wilcox, C., et al. (2022). Global Estimates of Fishing Gear Lost to the Ocean Each Year. Science Advances, 8(41), eabq0135.

Read the publication → https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0135

[10] Allen, S., et al. (2024). A Review of Microfibre Pollution from Textiles: Sources, Impacts and Mitigation Strategies.

Read the publication → https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10919082/