Team Herald
MARGAO: An awareness meeting was held to address the growing concern of ghost nets and their impact on marine life at Cavelossim’s Mobor beach, on Thursday morning. The village panchayat of Cavelossim, in collaboration with TREE Foundation, organised a community interaction programme focused on the conservation of endangered marine organisms through ghost net retrieval. A ghost net is a fishing net that’s been lost or abandoned in the ocean.
The event, which took place during the early hours of the day, when the fishermen typically cast their nets, saw the participation of Sarpanch Dixon Vaz, local panch and fisherman Jesus Da Costa, and Melita Vida Pereira, Programme Coordinator for TREE Foundation.
Pereira demonstrated proper techniques for rescuing entangled turtles without causing harm to the species, emphasising the importance of careful handling.
According to studies, a 100 sq mtr ghost net causes the death of more than 300 sea creatures before the net completely disintegrates. Ghost nets are responsible for entangling and killing millions of marine creatures each year, including sharks, turtles, rays, dolphins and whales. When the net reaches the sea bed, it threatens the lives of crabs and crustaceans.
A significant focus of the programme was encouraging fishermen to collect and properly dispose of old fishing nets rather than discarding them on the beach.
To incentivise this responsible behaviour, the Foundation announced plans to collect waste nets and offer rewards to participating fishermen, fostering a collaborative approach to marine conservation in the coastal community.