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'Ghost fishing' is a nightmare

According to a BBC article (among many others), "More than half a million tonnes of fishing gear is estimated to be lost or abandoned every year in the world's seas and oceans. Some of it entangles and kills wildlife at sea and on shore. Conservationists call it "ghost gear."

Photo of sea turtle caught in old fishing net. Photo credit: (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Young/Released)

Ghost gear is made up of nets, lines, fish traps and lobster pots and all other manner of fishing paraphernalia that has been lost or discarded at sea. It continues to trap and kill marine life, a process known, not surprisingly, as ghost fishing.

The best way to curtail the amount of fishing gear lost at sea is what Wild Planet Foods call “best practice” fishing methods: pole and line, and trolling. Pole and line fishing is literally what it says on the tin and involves single line/single fish fishing. The size of tuna caught this way is almost exclusively younger migratory tuna that are also lower in mercury than the older tuna caught deeper with long-lines. Trolling means to catch fish by towing a lure or baited hook behind a slow-moving boat; this usually involves several single lines. With this method, surface swimming albacore tuna, the healthiest and most sustainable of the breed, will be caught.

You can read about all methods of fishing, theirs and others', in detail on the Wild Planet website here.

Wild Planet was granted No. 1 for Sustainability by Greenpeace. Wild Planet's products are available in Ocado, Whole Foods Market stores, Planet Organic stores and many independent stores throughout the UK.

For more info about Wild Planet in the UK, contact Ted Horton here

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