Ottawa launches new ghost gear fund as debris continues washing onto B.C. shores

Minister Thompson launches call for proposals to help clean and protect our waters from ghost gear.

Lost fishing gear continues washing onto some of British Columbia’s most remote beaches, tangling wildlife and littering coastlines, but Ottawa says new funding could help turn the tide.

Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson announced Wednesday that the government is reopening applications for Canada’s Ghost Gear Fund, with $15 million allocated over three years to help prevent, retrieve and safely dispose of abandoned fishing equipment.

The funding is part of Canada’s broader nature protection strategy and builds on cleanup efforts already underway across the country. Since 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada says more than 2,563 tonnes of ghost gear and more than 985 kilometres of rope have been removed from Canadian waters.

For groups working directly along the B.C. coast, the announcement is being welcomed as a needed boost in the fight against marine pollution.

“We’re overjoyed to see that the federal government is sticking to their strategy of finding a solution to this issue,” said Katie Keats, beach cleanup program manager with Surfrider Foundation Canada.

Keats said environmental organizations were discouraged when earlier funding ended in 2024, especially as cleanup crews continued finding fishing debris along remote coastlines.

“The work always continues until we have upstream solutions,” she said. “We continue to need to fund these large cleanup efforts.”

Ghost gear refers to lost, abandoned or discarded fishing equipment including ropes, traps, nets and floats. The debris can continue trapping marine life long after it disappears beneath the surface and can damage sensitive marine ecosystems.

Keats said some of the largest debris accumulations are being found far from urban centres along exposed sections of the B.C. coast.

“In more remote areas where there’s less population and more exposure to open ocean waves and wind, we’re finding huge wash-ups of debris,” she said.

Among the most common items recovered during shoreline cleanups are ropes, foam floats, traps and barrels.

While beaches near Victoria and Vancouver often collect consumer plastics and packaging waste, Keats said isolated coastal areas are increasingly seeing large amounts of marine debris pushed ashore by storms and ocean currents.

“Those are often considered pristine wilderness areas,” she said. “But nowhere is safe from this type of pollution.”

She said the problem is especially concerning because many of those remote areas are also important wildlife habitats.

Globally, ghost gear is estimated to make up roughly two-thirds of large marine debris found in oceans worldwide. Experts estimate between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tonnes enter the ocean each year.

Much of the gear is lost during storms, rough seas or after becoming snagged on the ocean floor.

“We are on a coast that gets some pretty intense storms in the wintertime,” Keats said. “A lot of that gear is buoyant and lightweight, which means it can easily get damaged and lost.”

Under Canadian regulations, commercial harvesters must report lost fishing gear to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Federal officials say the reporting system helps recovery crews locate debris and, in some cases, return equipment to its owner.

In a statement, Thompson said the funding is aimed at protecting both marine ecosystems and coastal economies.

“Cleaning up this debris will help our fisheries continue to thrive,” she said.

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said the program also supports Indigenous communities, harvesters and coastal organizations working to reduce marine pollution.

Keats said while cleanup programs are making progress, preventing plastic pollution at its source remains critical.

“Nowhere is really untouched by this anymore,” she said.

Applications for the Ghost Gear Fund are now open through Fisheries and Oceans Canada.