Divers Remove Ghost Gear to Protect Marine Ecosystem Off Nagasaki Prefecture’s Goto Islands

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:13 JST, July 11, 2025

NAGASAKI — A group of divers worked to remove fishing nets and other marine debris, which pose serious threats to ecosystems and ship navigation, off Nagasaki Prefecture’s Goto Islands on Thursday.

Known as ghost gear, fishing gear that has drifted away from human control is known to kill marine life and cause damage to ships, but the exact impact remains unclear.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan, a public interest incorporated foundation, began comprehensive surveys in Japanese coastal waters two years ago and found fishing nets on the seabed near Tatara Island in Goto in the prefecture.

As one of the world’s largest colonies of Osuribachisango coral, also known as turbinaria peltata, is located about 200 meters north of the spot, WWF Japan decided to remove the gear before typhoon season began.

Relevant surveys and removal operations are planned in seven marine areas nationwide through September next year.

Four divers pulled ashore a tangle of fishing nets measuring about 3 meters in length and a meter in width from a depth of 4 meters below the sea surface.

“I’m worried because once these nets get tangled in my fixed nets, it could affect my catch,” said a 41-year-old fisherman who participated in the removal.