Ghost Fishing

Ghost Fishing.

Ghost fishing is defined as the ability for lost fishing gear to continue catching and killing fish. Most of the research on ghost fishing focuses on the impact of industrial fishing, such as trawling and long lining, when gear is lost with little attention or research placed on the impact of recreational surf fishing.

Lost Hooks.

Research has shown that a snagged fishing hook has the latent ability to 'ghost fish' up to 10 fish before it disintegrates. The ramifications on inshore fishing stocks is severe.

Cleaning up the Reef

Strandloper Project.

Based in the Garden Route, South Africa, our clean up dive program is arranged on a volunteer basis with dives scheduled when sea and weather conditions are ideal.

Reef Clean Up.

All diving is free diving in depths of 2m to 8m. To date we have dived on three site which have become regular transects.

Garden Route Collaborations.

We currently dive at Gericke's Point, Paquita Wreck and in Kingfisher Creek and have a collaboration in Knysna with the Knysna Basin Project and in Mossel bay with Keep Fin Alive. We are looking to extend our research to Plettenberg Bay and Nature's Valley.

Coastal Survey Hike

Coastal Baseline.

In an effort to measure the amount of snagged fishing tackle and to raise awareness of the threat of ghost fishing as a result of recreational fishing in the Garden Route, in May 2019 the Strandloper Project conducted a 210km expedition hike between Blombosi and Wilderness.

Ongoing Research.

To gain a comprehensive baseline of the ghost fishing threat from recreational line fishing in the Garden Route, a second expedition from Nature's Valley to Wilderness is planned for 2020.

Expedition Reports.

On our 2019 expedition we recorded 117 Dirty Dozen surveys, 45 Plastic Bottle surveys and 904 Incidental Sightings.

Our findings can be read in the reports below.

Great Brak Report

Duineveld Report