Legal aspects of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear.

Abstract

The growing quantity of plastic waste in the marine environment, including abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), is a global problem. A particular feature of ALDFG is the potential for some gears to continue fishing for many months or even years after they have been left in the marine environment. This study examines the legal responses to ALDFG in the context of marine fisheries. Following a discussion on the nature of ALDFG and some of the reasons why fishing gear is abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded, the study examines the international community’s response to the problem. One key finding is that ALDFG is simultaneously a fishing problem, a maritime transport problem (regarding vessel source pollution) and an environmental problem resulting in the involvement of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in seeking solutions. After an examination of potential legal approaches to the problem, the study describes the basic legal and institutional arrangements in four case-study jurisdictions that have adopted legal measures to address ALDFG: Australia, the European Union and its Member States, Norway and the United States of America. These case studies once again reveal a tripartite responsibility shared between fisheries, maritime transport and environment agencies. The intersectoral nature of ALDFG suggests the need for a collaborative and coordinated approach. While not all of the case-study jurisdictions make use of each of the ten individual legal measures identified, the analysis clearly shows that ALDFG is a problem that can be addressed through a legal response at the national or regional level, including through the use of extended producer responsibility schemes, various reporting requirements and gear standards. The legal tools to address the problem of ALDFG clearly exist; however, the extent to which some or all of these are necessary or appropriate in a given context – whether at the national, regional or global level – is ultimately not a legal question, but a political one.