Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), also called derelict fishing gear, cause substantial ecological and socio-economic problems. An estimated 6.4 million tonnes of marine debris are added to global seas annually (UNEP, 2005a). ALDFG is estimated to compose less than 10 percent of total marine debris by volume at a global scale but the composition of marine debris and density of ALDFG is highly variable at small spatial scales (Macfadyen, Huntington and Cappel, 2009; Pham et al., 2014). The amount, distribution and effects of ALDFG have risen substantially in past decades with the rapid expansion of fishing effort and fishing grounds, and the transition to synthetic, more durable and more buoyant materials used for fishing gear (Derraik, 2002; Macfadyen, Huntington and Cappel, 2009; Gilardi et al., 2010).
