Last month, the State Department signed a statement of support for the GGGI pledging continued United States Government assistance to address abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear.

This type of debris, also known as “ghost gear” can be one of the most harmful forms of marine debris in the global ocean, causing serious impacts to the environment as well as to the many economic sectors that rely on a healthy ocean for income.

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative is the foremost international initiative working to address the problem of ghost gear and has broad representation across industry, government, and civil society. GGGI conducts much needed work to measure the impacts of ghost gear and to develop, share, and document best practices for addressing it. 

The Marine Debris Program has worked with GGGI for many years and its staff provided technical input to the State Department to assist in the United States officially joining the partnership. By becoming a member of the GGGI, the United States Government can better support this key international initiative and more effectively lend its expertise to reduce ghost gear incidence globally. This will also continue to foster a strong collaborative relationship between the Department of State and the Marine Debris Program to address marine debris internationally and to fulfill the mandate of the Save Our Seas Act of 2018.

For more information, please contact Steve.Morrison@noaa.gov.

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