Deaths of hundreds of olive ridley turtles in Mexico highlights problem with ghost fishing gear

Regarding the 300 endangered olive ridley turtles found trapped in an illegal fishing net, off the Mexican coast, as reported by TVNZ,

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/around-300-turtles-die-after-getting-trapped-in-illegal-fishing-net-off-mexican-coast

World Animal Protection Campaign Advisor Christine Rose says:

“A staggering 640,000 tonnes of lost, abandoned and discarded fishing gear – ghost gear - is left in our oceans each year and the plastic nets can take up to 600 years to decompose.

“The loss of nearly 300 olive ridley turtles is a devastating reminder of the threat posed by ghost gear. More than 100,000 whales, dolphins, seals and turtles are trapped, injured and killed in ghost fishing gear every year.

“Illegal and unregulated fishing significantly contributes to this global threat to marine animals and affects coastal communities.

“To help tackle the ghost fishing gear problem, World Animal Protection set up the Global Ghost Gear Initiative(GGGI) in 2015. The GGGI brings together governments, private-sector companies and non-governmental organisations to reduce the amount of fishing gear entering our oceans, remove nets, lines and traps already in our oceans, rescue marine animals from ghost gear and recycle ghost fishing gear when it is removed.”

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/our-work/animals-wild/sea-change/our-work/gggi

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