Ghost fishing: Ghost fishing occurs when fishing gear is lost or abandoned at sea.

The
gear can continue to catch fish, dolphins, whales, turtles, and other creatures as it drifts through
the water and after it becomes snagged on the seabed. When driftnets were used on the High
Seas, an estimated 1,000km of ghost nets were released each year into the North Pacific Ocean
alone.
Although the current contribution of ghost fishing to bycatch is unknown, it is likely to have a
large impact. One survey estimated that a quarter of the rubbish on the bottom of the North Sea is
fishing nets, while fishers speak of a dolphin and turtle graveyard among the nets that drape the
cliffs of Cape Wessell, Northern Australia.