In the small fishing village of Abdul Rehman Goth on the outskirts of Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi, fisherman and lifeguard Asif Baloch walks along the beach, scanning the shoreline for ghost gear that may have washed ashore.
On the clear beach, he spots two large fishing nets within 50 meters of him, tangled in cloth, plastic, seaweed and other odds and ends. From the corner of his eye, he sees children playing in the water, their mother sitting at a distance, keeping a watchful eye.
“Five years ago, none of us knew the dangers of ghost nets. If a net got caught in outcrops we would cut it loose and toss it into the water,” he says. “Even our shoreside was choked with trash; our feet would get caught in fishing nets and other litter, that’s how bad it was. Our village was unrecognisable.”
Ghost nets are abandoned, lost or discarded fishing nets at sea which pose a threat to marine life and the environment. If left ignored, they can result in sea animals getting netted as bycatch and consequently, ending up injured or dead.
Baloch went on to explain that “ghost nets are without discrimination and contribute towards ghost fishing”— a deadly cycle that repeats itself endlessly.
It goes like this: abandoned nets in the ocean catch marine/non-marine life which then either die or get injured. The longer the net drifts in the water, the more animals it catches. With time the dead animals weigh the net down causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Once the dead animals decompose, the net resurfaces and the cycle begins all over again.
“Thanks to Olive Ridley Project (ORP) Pakistan, we are conscious of our actions and our beach and water are once again clean and functional.”
ORP is an international NGO with a mission to protect sea turtles and conserve their habitat through rescue and rehabilitation. The 22-member team currently has bases in the Maldives, Oman, Pakistan and Kenya.
Read more:
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/exorcising-ghosts-to-save-the-seas-in-pakistan-53373