Grey literature

Economic assessment of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the fishery sector of The Republic of Cyprus

This report gives an overview of the relevant literature concerning the sources, impacts and possible management and/or policy measures of ghost gear, which is supplemented by the outcomes of a survey to give insight into the situation in the Republic of Cyprus. Building upon this, a selection of management and/or policy measures have been assessed by means of a cost analysis to identify the preferred measures from an economic point of view in order to support policy-makers in adopting cost-effective leakage reduction measures.

Economic assessment of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the fishery sector of The Republic of Cyprus

 

This report focuses on the Republic of Cyprus and builds upon previous assessments titled “National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting and Shaping Action Report for the Republic of Cyprus” (IUCN-EA-QUANTIS, 2020) and “Governing plastic waste management in the Republic of Cyprus: Assessment of legal, policy and institutional frameworks” (Iovinelli A., 2021). To support this project, an economic assessment was performed of costs of current plastic flows and costs of potential future intervention scenarios were modelled. The focus on the fishing sector was chosen as it was identified to be one of the main contributors to plastic leakage in the Republic of Cyprus due to the high leakage of fishing gear into the marine environment. This phenomenon is often referred to as ‘Derelict Fishing Gear’ (DFG), ‘Abandoned, Lost or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear’ (ALDFG) or ‘Ghost Gear’ (GG). Due to its increasingly recognized importance by the global community, it is the focal point of this report.

 

This economic brief was prepared as part of the ‘Plastic Waste Free Islands - Mediterranean’ (PWFI-Med) project, which was implemented in Menorca (Spain) and the Republic of Cyprus, funded by the Didier and Martine Primat Foundation. The project is part of the IUCN ‘Close the Plastic Tap’ programme.

 

The full report can be read here: