The term is new to me as well as many of you, I’m sure. It sounds like something from an aquatic Halloween film, but “ghost fishing” has nothing to do with an apparition. It’s a term used to describe the process when lost fishing gear that doesn’t decompose in water ends up being a threat to wildlife and underwater habitat. Fishing nets, for example, billow up on the ocean floors and entangle the animals underwater. They also provide artificial habitat for organisms that shouldn’t be there, thus altering the ecosystem of the ocean floor.
Ghost Net Photo Courtesy of Midway Journey
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has created the Phantom HD2 Remotely Operated Vehicle and unleashed it into the waters for the first time on the 18th of last month. When researchers and deep sea divers see fishing gear, they notify the search team, which sends the robot down to locate the problem. The robot is tethered to a boat by a cable and has a camera which allows the crew to see live video of the sights down in the water. The team controls the robot’s movements using a joystick and can lift small debris as well as heavy things.
This comes as a relief to many divers, who did all the retrieving in the past, because the robot can go much deeper than humans can and it can also light up the seafloor. Since the robot has begun the project, it has helped pick up two large fishing nets, a 20-foot gill net fragment, and a crab trap. The team’s goal is for fisherman to notify them as soon as they’ve lost gear so that it can be retrieved before it causes major damage, eventually leading to a more pristine marine habitat. To view the original article, click here.
Personally, I think this is a great gesture to help out these organisms. Many animals suffer in waters because humans carelessly leave their fishing paraphernalia in the waters without considering how it might affect the animals and ecosystem. Actual fishing by humans is not the only way that aquatic ecosystems are being damaged and this is a great example of that.
