Ghost Nets of Mergui
A group of international divers arrives for a four-day initiative to retrieve abandoned fishing gear from the sea. We look at the big picture and get the inside scoop from a biologist on the ground
A team of experienced divers from around the world have launched a campaign to clear lost and disused fishing nets – known as ghost nets – from the coral reefs in Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago. From
May 8 to 11, 2019, the team of nine divers and five surface support crew – from as far afield as Brazil, Sweden, Lithuania and Romania – set out from Awei Pila on the island of Kyun Pila in the heart of the archipelago, which is home to some 800 islands and atolls.
Ghost nets, or ALDFG (abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear), include fishing nets, lines and traps which are left in the ocean and become entangled in rocks and reefs, ultimately killing fish and other marine life and suffocating coral. Within four days, the divers recovered, only using scissors, some 300 kilograms (660lbs) of ALDFG from the surrounding reefs at depths of up to 25 metres (80 feet).
The team was led by Anuar Abdullah, the founder of Ocean Quest Global, a Southeast Asia-based organisation dedicated to the protection and rehabilitation of coral reefs. “The importance of healthy coral reefs to their surrounding communities cannot be understated,” the group says in its mission statement.
“In 2009, the United Nations estimated that 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear were littering the world’s oceans,” says Marcelo Guimaraes, a marine biologist working for Awei Pila Resort, which hosted the
expedition. “Most of the nets are made of nylon and will not biodegrade for the next 600 years. These are the silent killers of our ocean marine life and we must do something about it.”
Awei Pila is one of a handful of resorts or hotels in the archipelago, which only in recent years opened to tourism. General Manager Steffen Kroehl says that the goal of his resort is to have a “minimum impact on a pristine environment.” The Awei Pila initiative follows closely on the heels of a similar ghost net clearance campaign in the Mergui Archipelago by the Myanmar Ocean Project. Marcelo says plans are in place for both teams to cooperate in a joint effort to clear more fishing gear from the sea in September or October. To learn more about the area and the team’s efforts, we asked Marcelo a few more key questions.
“In 2009, the United Nations estimated that 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear were littering the world’s oceans” - Marcelo Guimarae