Chapter VIII — Impacts of Marine Debris 



Table 11. The number and percentage of species worldwide with records of marine debris 



entanglement and ingestion by species group 



Species Group 



Total No. 

 of Species 

 Worldwide 



Sea Turtles 



Seabirds 



Sphenisciformes (Penguins) 

 Podicipediformes (Grebes) 

 Procellariiformes (Albatrosses, 



Petrels, and Shearwaters) 

 Pelicaniformes (Pelicans, Boobies, 



Gannets, Cormorants, 



Frigatebirds, and Tropicbirds) 

 Charadriiformes (Shorebirds, Skuas, 



Gulls, Terns, and Auks) 



Other Birds 



Marine Mammals 



Mysticeti (Baleen Whales) 

 Odontoceti (Toothed Whales) 

 Otariidae (Fur Seals and Sea Lions) 

 Phocidae (True Seals) 

 Sirenia (Manatees and Dugongs) 

 Mustellidae (Sea Otter) 



Fish 



Crustaceans 

 Squid 

 Species Total 



312 



16 

 19 



99 



51 



Entanglement 

 Records 

 No. (%) 



6 (86%) 



51 (16%) 



6 (38%) 

 2 (10%) 



10 (10%) 



11 (22%) 



Ingestion 

 Records 

 No. (%) 



6 (86%) 



111 (36%) 



1 (6%) 

 (0%) 



62 (63%) 



8 (16%) 



One or Both 

 Types of 

 Records 

 No. (%) 



6 (86%) 



138 (44%) 

 6 (38%) 

 2 (10%) 



63 (64%) 



17 (33%) 



The catch of marine life in derelict nets and traps 

 is called ghostfishing and has long been recognized as 

 an inevitable consequence of gear loss. Except for 

 efforts to develop degradable time-release escape 

 panels on fish and crab traps, however, the problem 

 has received little attention from fishery managers and 

 little funding for study. Instead, the issue has been 

 dismissed largely on unsupported or poorly examined 

 assumptions that derelict gear quickly loses its ability 

 to catch marine life because of degradation, collapse, 

 burial, encrusting marine life, or other factors. 



In reviewing marine debris impacts for the Third 

 International Conference on Marine Debris, the 

 Commission examined past studies of ghostfishing. It 

 found that few studies have been done on the subject, 

 and that most of those focus on impacts of lost traps; 

 very few studies have been done on derelict gillnets 

 and other types of nets. The review also found that 

 although netting and corrosion-resistant materials used 

 in fishing gear can now last for decades or longer in 

 the ocean waters, there are almost no long-term 

 studies to assess the length of time different types of 



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