A joint operation by the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has seen the retrieval of a significant abandoned fishing net from Australia’s northern waters.
The ghost net was sighted by an Australian Border Force Dash-8 surveillance aircraft floating just south of the Timor Sea around 240 nautical miles north east of Darwin.
Peter Venslovas, general manager of operations, AFMA, said that although the net was retrieved from the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone it is likely to have drifted in from foreign fishers.
“The industry-led practices in place by Commonwealth operators mean that there is minimal loss of fishing gear.”
“Given the damage ghost nets cause to marine life is significant, AFMA will continue to work closely with other government agencies to retrieve ghost nets found within the Australian waters.”
ABF officers on board ABFC Thaiyak were able to manually retrieve the approximately two tonnes of net by hand which took over 24 hours to complete. Upon inspection where it was deemed unsalvageable it was subsequently incinerated at an AFMA facility.
So far in 2016, six ghost nets, weighing an estimated 25.6 tonnes combined, have been located in the Torres Strait and Arafura Sea. All of these nets have been successfully retrieved and disposed of by officers of the ABF, the Australian Defence Force and AFMA.
Once retrieved, if possible, abandoned nets are recycled and provided to galleries and indigenous art centres for use in ghost net art to highlight the impact they have on the marine environment.
