Puget Sound Matters: Derelict nets

Where ever there is fishing, there is gear that gets lost or abandoned known as derelict fishing gear sometimes called ghost nets. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates that there are 117, 000 items; nets, lines, pots, traps, and other equipment weighing 2.6 million pounds beneath the surface of Puget Sound. Fifty years ago, the net-fishing industry switched to synthetic nets and this material takes decades to decompose; crews have recovered abandoned nets over 30 years old. The abandoned gear continues to do what it's designed to capture and kill fish; salmon, rockfish, crabs, octopuses, shellfish even marine birds and mammals. The abandoned equipment is not only a danger to sea life, it also damages habitat and can be a danger to boats and divers. Derelict gear is difficult and dangerous to remove and must be removed by professional divers with specific protocols. The gear is often tangled together and encrusted with dead and live marine organisms. It can weigh a ton or more when removed from the water.