Govt-funded study proposes incentive-based plan to deal with Ganga's 'ghost gear' crisis

IN a bid to combat escalating plastic pollution in the Ganga, a govern-ment-funded study has proposed a 'cash-for-nets' scheme aimed at incon-tivising fishers to return worn-out or abandoned fishing nets.

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These abandoned, lost or discarded synthetic nets – referred to as “ghost gear” – pose a severe, long-term threat to aquatic ecosystems.

Conducted over five years by the Wildlife Institute of India, the study forms part of the long-term conserva-tion initiative – “Planning and Management for Aquatic Species Conservation and Maintenance of Ecosystem Services in the Ganga River Basin for a Clean Ganga”.

Based on extensive riverine and socioeconomic surveys, the study recorded 72 incidents of aquatic species becoming entangled in fishing gear both active and abandoned. The researchers documented fishing gear and materials every five kilometres along the river.

For the socioeconomic survey, 150 key informant interviews, 10 focus group discussions with fishers, and per-sonal observations were used.

The 'vulnerable' Indian flapshell tur-tle accounted for the highest number of entanglements with 21, followed by 11 critically endangered gharial with 11.

However, the study cautioned that these figures likely underrepresented the actual scale as it was limited to inci-dents observed during the brief survey window (30 days per year) or reported by local communities.

Approximately 40 per cent of the respondents reported witnessing aquat-ic species trapped in ghost gear.

Low level of education among fish-ing communities was identified as a key barrier to awareness about the environ-mental and economic impact of ghost gear.