Researchers from Australia’s University of Tasmania surveyed fishers from seven countries about their use of several types of fishing gear. They discovered that fishing vessels lose two percent of their gear every year; this “In Graphic Detail” story shows the staggering results.
Purse seine vessels, for example, lose 75,000 square kilometers of nets each year—an area more than three times the size of Vermont. There is a drastic need to clean up and prevent the accumulation of ghost gear in the ocean. As the full article notes, with great data comes great responsibility.