The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

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PART 2 
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
entanglement or ingestion, which impacts 
biodiversity. Through its ability to ensnare fish 
after it has been lost or abandoned, ALDFG 
can continue to catch commercially important 
fish species, resulting in the waste of important 
fisheries resources and lost value. In addition, it 
befouls sensitive marine habitats (e.g. coral reefs) 
when on the sea floor or washed ashore, and 
poses hazards to navigation and safety at sea 
when floating on the surface. Animals can die 
after ingesting disintegrated pieces of ALDFG, 
and microplastics from ALDFG can enter the food 
chain with potential health issues for humans. 
While it is estimated that ALDFG may only 
constitute about 10 percent of all marine litter, 
it is recognized as the deadliest form of marine 
debris to ocean wildlife. This is due to its 
inherent nature for fish capture, and because 
ALDFG continues to ghost-fish and entangle 
marine animals for a long time. 
Although no new global estimate of ALDFG in 
the ocean is currently available, its contribution 
to marine litter is estimated at several hundred 
thousand tonnes annually. In 2019, to make a 
better estimate of the contribution of the fisheries 
sector to marine litter, FAO and the International 
Maritime Organization (IMO) formed a working 
group on “Sea-based sources of marine litter 
including fishing gear and other shipping related 
litter” (Working Group 43) under the United 
Nation’s Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific 
Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection 
(GESAMP). The overall objective of the working 
group is to build understanding of the amount 
and relative contribution of sea-based sources 
of marine litter, in particular from the shipping 
and fishing sectors, and the extent of the impacts 
of sea-based sources of marine litter. In order 
to establish a benchmark for monitoring and 
evaluating future mitigation measures, FAO is also 
working with the Commonwealth Scientific and 
Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, 
the University of California, Davis in the United 
States of America, and the Global Ghost Gear 
Initiative on a global assessment to quantify the 
scale and distribution of fishing gear loss. 
The international community as well as 
many regional and multilateral bodies and 
organizations broadly agree that preventive 
measures should be the priority for reducing 
ALDFG and its harmful impacts, together with 
measures to remove existing ALDFG from the 
marine environment. As the custodian United 
Nations agency for SDG Indicator 14.6.1, which 
measures the degree of implementation of 
international instruments to combat IUU fishing, 
FAO developed the Voluntary Guidelines for the 
Marking of Fishing Gear (VGMFG), which were 
endorsed by the Thirty-third Session of COFI in 
2018 (FAO, 2019m). 
The VGMFG recognize the importance of 
identifying ownership of the fishing gear, 
its location and the legality of its use. 
Properly marked fishing gear and an associated 
reporting system as stipulated in the VGMFG 
can reduce ALDFG and its harmful impact. 
Gear marking helps to identify sources of 
ALDFG, aid recovery of lost gear, and facilitate 
management measures such as penalties 
for discarding and inappropriate disposal. 
The VGMFG also encourage incentives for the 
reuse and recycling of used gear, and promote 
best practice for the management of fishing gear, 
including its disposal. Consistent application of 
an approved gear marking system may also help 
identify and prevent IUU fishing, which in turn 
will reduce illegal abandonment and disposal of 
fishing gear.
The VGMFG stress the importance of awareness 
raising and capacity building to facilitate 
their implementation by developing States,