FANTARED 2. A study to identify, quantify and ameliorate the impacts of static gear lost at sea

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1 FANTARED 2 A study to identify, quantify and ameliorate the impacts of static gear lost at sea Abstract This note describes a large scale, systematic study of ghost fishing in Europe under EC contract FAIR-PL The research involved partners from six European countries. It included interviews with many hundreds of fishermen, identifying the principal causes of net loss, simulating loss, monitoring the evolution of lost nets and quantifying the likely loss of commercial species. Another phase of the work looked at mitigating strategies and their applicability to European fisheries. The study teams have concluded that generally, in waters of <200m depth, the effective life of a lost net is limited to a maximum of a few months. The actual life varies with site-specific energy conditions and the activities of other fishing sectors. A major exception to this outcome is found in the southern Baltic Sea. The enclosed nature of this water body can result in a fishing life of several years for lost gill nets. Fisheries in water depths >200m can present problems of unaccounted mortality. Nets may retain a significant fishing capability for periods >10 years. The main causative factors for losses in deep water are fleet length, effort levels, conflicts with the towed gear sector and adverse ground and weather conditions. A further complicating factor is the range of national fleets involved and the location of several fisheries in international, as well as European, waters. Several proposals are made for mitigating the impacts of lost gear but the emphasis throughout is on the need for any strategy to be fishery-specific. Keywords: lost gill nets, ghost fishing, European fisheries, deep water fisheries, mitigating strategies, conflict resolution

2 Summary 1 Introduction 1.1 Background The first recorded European research into lost fishing gears was by Pilgrim et al (1982). This involved opportunistic observations of gill nets near Plymouth in southwest England. The work concluded that heavy gauge monofilament nets could demonstrate some cyclical behaviour in that, following heavy fouling and virtual collapse towards the seabed, they could recover fishing capability after a period of turbulent conditions because the material s innate flexural rigidity. Eno, Amos, et al (1993) made some limited observations of shellfish traps deployed experimentally off the coast of Wales in the UK. Their observations led them to conclude that lost traps were capable of sustained fishing although this was moderated by site-specific conditions in some areas damage to the traps caused by environmental conditions could cause significant and rapid reductions in structural integrity. The only major and systematic research programme was first initiated in 1994 by a consortium of commercial fishing and conservation interests. They were concerned by the, then, high profile that ghost fishing was getting, largely as a result of problems reported in the Pacific. Imagery from that area was being imported into Europe to fuel campaigns against gill netting. In Europe there was an almost complete lack of any systematic data which could help to describe the extent of gill net loss and the range of possible outcomes and impacts. The first contract with the European Commission (Fantared: EEC 94/095) was largely a feasibility study to develop research methodology. It focused on field sites in the Algarve, the Basque region of northern Spain and southwest Wales in the UK. Having developed the methodology and determined likely conditions at a range of sites a larger consortium then successfully bid for further funding from the Commission. The Fantared 2 contract was awarded and this was augmented by a further grant to run a workshop. The Fantaccord workshop brought together the various teams of industry professionals who had acted in an advisory capacity through the life of Fantared. Through them the research teams built a consensus as to the most appropriate and realistic ways in which gear losses could be minimised and any adverse impacts mitigated. 1.2 The partnership The project title Fantared was derived from the Spanish redes fantasmas which translates as ghost nets. It reflects the international nature of the work. The first project (EEC 94/095) involved partners from UK, Spain and Portugal. This second was much broader. Most of the partners were national fisheries institutes or similar bodies. They were: The Institute for Marine Research (IMR) in Norway, IMR Sweden, Seafish UK, AZTI, the fisheries research institute in Basque region of Spain, IPIMAR the Portuguese fisheries research institute, CCMAR, a faculty of the University of the Algarve in Portugal, and ii

3 IFREMER, the marine development agency of France. 1.3 Objectives The principal objective of the Fantared 2 contract was to identify, quantify and ameliorate the impact of static gear lost at sea in European waters. Lower level objectives were: 1 to investigate gear losses in representative static gear fisheries in all European waters including some Mediterranean and Norwegian métiers; 2 to establish the main causes of gear loss in fisheries not covered by the previous study (contract EC 94/095); 3 to identify métier descriptors which can be used to indicate those métiers most likely to suffer significant gear loss; 4 to establish the extent of gear loss in representative métiers by a range of methods including terrestrial and marine surveys;to determine the physical evolution of gears lost under a range of conditions; 5 to quantify as far as necessary the ecosystem impacts of lost gears particularly with respect to stocks of commercially important marine species; 6 to review a range of mitigating measures with potential to reduce the extent and/or impact of lost gears; 7 to transfer research methods between new research partners; and 9 to maximise the involvement of national and sectoral industry groups in the programme and the transfer of information between all interested parties. 1.4 The Fantaccord workshop National Advisory Groups (NAGs) made very important contributions to the project. One of these was the suggestion that there should be an international workshop involving all the NAGs plus the research teams. This would enable each to find out about the work of the other national teams, to discuss the problems identified and to help to frame appropriate mitigating measures. An additional proposal was made to the Commission to fund a workshop and this was duly held at the end of the Fantared 2 contract. The recommendations from the workshop were incorporated into those of the larger contract and the workshop proceedings are described comprehensively. The objectives of the workshop were: 1. to organise and facilitate a meeting involving fishermen from six nations with an interest in gill netting, 2. to draft a consensus code of good practice to minimise gear conflict and gear loss, and 3. to agree measures which should mitigate the impacts of lost gear on commercially important species. 2 The work programme The work was undertaken by a series of tasks. These involved, variously: preparation and scoping, quantifying gear loss by interviewing fishermen and seabed surveys, determining the physical evolution of lost gears by retrieving naturally lost nets and traps and by simulating loss and monitoring changes over time, iii

4 assessing ecosystem impacts, focussing on catches of commercial species, and placing raised levels in the context of targetted fisheries, discards and other sources of fishing mortality, reviewing possible mitigating measures, matching them with identified applications and assessing the potentials costs and benefits, and industry liaison, reporting and other dissemination. The programme was undertaken as planned and the results bore out the expected progression of the work. The main reasons for gear loss were predictable and consistent. The fate of lost gears was determined by a limited number of environmental factors based upon the prevailing energy levels in any given location. 3 Conclusions The overarching objective of the Fantared 2 contract was met within the broadly commercial focus of the study. The impacts of lost static gears on megafauna were identified and largely quantified through a series of seabed simulations of gear loss and monitoring over appropriate periods. For most of the fisheries that were examined the losses of commercial species attributable to lost static gears were small compared to commercial catches and also compared to other sources of mortality like discarding. Mitigating measures were identified along with strategies by which they could be introduced. In terms of the lower level objectives of the study it was determined that: a methodology was devised which enabled the teams to use national catch information and interviews with fishermen to determine which fishing métiers were sustaining the highest levels of loss. the levels of gear losses in representative European métiers were established along with principal causes of loss, descriptors were developed which can now be used to assess the likelihood of any static gear fishery being vulnerable to gear loss and subsequent sustained fishing by lost gears, the extent of gear loss was established in those fisheries where it was significant. The terrestrial surveys proved to generate very reliable data on gear loss but it was not found possible to undertake satisfactory seabed surveys because of the technical limitations of the equipment used. Typically levels of permanent loss were well below 1% of gear deployed annually. In most shelf fisheries the level of recovery of nets that have been subject to minor damage is now very high. This is because of the almost universal adoption of GPS by fishing vessels. the physical evolution of gears lost under a range of conditions was established by loss simulations. This work was guided by industry advisory groups who were content that the methodology reflected commercial realities as far as possible. Observations by divers, ROVs and via retrievals generated good quality data which described the range of evolutionary pathways for gears deployed in representative conditions. In nearly all simulations the fishing gears showed a rapid decline in fishing performance which reflected physical changes. This often occurred over a period of only a few weeks. The effective life of nets could be substantially longer in low iv

5 energy environments typically in sheltered conditions or in water depths >200m. the ecosystem impacts of lost gears were assessed, particularly with respect to stocks of commercially important marine species. Impacts were identified and quantified where the level of net loss was significant and the lost gears were observed to maintain fishing capacity for a sensible period. For most fisheries the estimated impacts were very low compared to fishing mortality from targeted commercial activities, generally well under 1%. This compares very favourably with other sources of unaccounted mortality such as discarding. a range of mitigating measures were reviewed which had the potential to reduce the extent and/or impact of lost gears. A global review was undertaken which included a field visit to North America. The key strategic options were identified and assessed for their relevance to the fisheries in this study. Clear recommendations were agreed as to the most effective means of mitigating the impacts of lost gears where these are a cause for concern. For most shelf fisheries these involve fishermen s associations adopting codes of good practice, improving communications between the towed and static gear sectors and zoning of effort from these sectors to reduce conflicts. More urgent recommendations are made for fisheries in the Southern Baltic and the deep water fisheries to the north and west of Europe. the involvement of national and sectoral industry groups in the programme was extremely successful. Effective national advisory groups were established in all countries. Some of these have since achieved a semipermanent status and independent funding. The contribution of the NAGs to the work and the Fantaccord workshop was very valuable. The Fantaccord workshop was also very successful. It comprised mainly fishing professionals. They contributed to and endorsed all the above conclusions and helped to draft a generic code of good practice for their sector. All the objectives of the Fantaccord workshop were met and the proceedings are described in the main report. 4 Recommendations The recommendations from this study mirror closely those agreed at the Fantaccord workshop. They cover 7 main areas: 1 the value of strong industry liaison has been recognised by all parties to this study. Researchers, technologists and, most importantly, fishing professionals urge all similar work to include this aspect of cooperation. 2 A consensus was reached that codes of good practice were the most appropriate vehicle to reduce gear losses in coastal fisheries. A generic European code for gill netters was drafted at the workshop which should form the basis for further, fishery-specific codes. It was agreed that all relevant reports to the Commission should emphasise the need to v

6 facilitate adoption of such a code as a broad framework which would enable local variations to be introduced. 3 The towed gear sector should also consider developing a matching code in order to improve its own performance. There was also a case to be made for decriminalising the landing of gill nets by trawlers current provisions often encouraged the illegal dumping of gear at sea. 4 Recent initiatives by the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission to reduce gill net losses were supported with the proviso that more comprehensive action needs to be taken within a shorter time scale that currently seems likely. 5 It is believed that the situation on deep water grounds demands that urgent action be taken to reduce the levels of gear conflict and loss in these fisheries. Specific recommendations from the workshop outline a means by which could be achieved. 6 A major element of any strategy to reduce conflict between competing sectors is effort management by zoning. Very successful models are available which should be drawn upon in order to achieve significant improvements in the performance of the competing sectors. 7 Further research on the consequences of gear conflicts should be undertaken. These would comprise a number of simulations of interactions between static and towed gears. Further work The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries is continuing its programme of targeted static gear retrievals. In addition a number of new initiatives are being taken: The European Commission, which is the competent fishery management authority, is introducing requirements for gillnets to marked consistently and in a way that will reduce conflicts with towed gears, codes of good practice are being drafted by Seafish that will help all fishing métiers to improve their conservation performance, a workshop is being organised to address the problems of gear conflict and loss in deep water fisheries. This will involve the European Commission and the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission along with fishing professionals from all the countries operating in the areas concerns, and a programme of retrieving lost gears has been introduced which encourages the skippers of towed gear vessels to bring ashore all recovered nets with no risk of action being taken against them. vi