WASHINGTON, DC – At the International Symposium on Plastics in the Arctic and Sub Arctic Region, the Icelandic government announced it is joining the Global Ghost Gear Initiative® (GGGI), the world’s only alliance solely dedicated to solving the problem of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear. Iceland joins 17 other national governments as a member of the Initiative.

“As the single deadliest form of marine debris to sea life, ghost gear is one of the biggest threats facing our ocean; and it is particularly important for countries like Iceland that heavily rely on healthy fisheries to address this challenge,” said Ingrid Giskes, Director of the GGGI at Ocean Conservancy. “We are excited to work with Iceland as a GGGI member, and look forward to more opportunities for additional collaboration on this critical issue.”

“Iceland is pleased to join this broad spectrum of stakeholders and wishes the GGGI well in its important work,” said Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Cooperation, in his opening remarks at the Arctic Symposium. The event, which is being hosted by Iceland this year, examines the unique challenges plastic pollution poses to the Arctic region, from shipping and tourism to microplastics and ghost gear.

Gear loss occurs wherever fishing takes place, often due to rough weather, snags beneath the surface, and marine traffic accidentally running it over and cutting it loose. In addition to its lethality, it’s also among the most prevalent forms of ocean plastic: research indicates that ghost fishing gear makes up 46-70% of all floating macroplastics in the ocean by weight, and globally, an estimated 90% of species caught in lost gear are of commercial value.

According to the Iceland Ocean Cluster, Iceland’s ocean economy – including fisheries, seafood processing, ocean technology, aquaculture and related service sectors – generates nearly a third of the country’s GDP. With an exclusive economic zone of over 290,000 square miles (754,000 square kilometers, or roughly seven times the island’s area), Iceland has the opportunity to make an outsized impact on the issue of ghost gear.

Iceland has expressed support for the United Nations Fish and Agriculture Organizations’ Voluntary Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear (VGMFG), and nationally, Iceland has an innovative fishing gear recycling scheme in place which can be seen as a model for many other countries trying to implement robust extended producer responsibility schemes for fishing gear. It is also mandatory in the country to attempt to retrieve fishing gear when lost, and to report the details of the lost gear to the coast guard if retrieval is not possible.

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About the Global Ghost Gear Initiative

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) is the only cross-sectoral alliance dedicated to solving the problem of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) – widely referred to as “ghost gear” – around the world. The GGGI brings together more than 100 stakeholder groups, including 17 national governments as well as representatives from civil society, the private sector, public agencies, academia, intergovernmental organizations, and others from across the fishing industry to tackle ghost gear at a global scale. Since its founding in 2015, the GGGI has worked to implement a wide variety of preventative, mitigate and curative approaches to ghost gear, shaping fisheries management policy and building the evidence base around the prevalence and impact of this threat. In 2017, the GGGI developed the Best Practice Framework for the Management of Fishing Gear, which has been adopted by a range of seafood companies and in national and regional marine litter and fisheries management action plans. The GGGI has made meaningful change on the ground in fishing economies and communities, partnering with local fishers to remove ghost gear in places like the Gulf of Maine, Panama City, and Vanuatu. Learn more at www.ghostgear.org.

About Ocean Conservancy

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit www.oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.