Tioman Island Marine Park in Malaysia, renowned for its coral reefs and vibrant marine life, is facing a silent but potent threat: ghost nets. These lost or abandoned fishing nets are typically made of plastic and could take centuries to break down. In the meantime, they can damage delicate ecosystems and entangle and kill marine wildlife. Ghost nets are widely studied globally, but local information is scarce. To bridge this knowledge gap, scientists analyzed data from a ghost net removal program on Tioman Island. Their findings, published in April in The Palawan Scientist, found a rising trend of ghost nets in the waters surrounding the island and identified patterns in their origin. “Ghost nets are a recurring problem on Tioman,” the study’s lead author, Alvin Chelliah, chief program officer at local marine conservation NGO Reef Check Malaysia, told Mongabay by email. “The main difference now is that we have trained local divers that respond quickly whenever a net is reported.” Numerous fish trapped in a ghost net tangling a coral reef in Tioman Island Marine Park. Video courtesy of Reef Check Malaysia. In 2015, Reef Check Malaysia started the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG), a band of local volunteers trained to remove ghost nets from Tioman Island’s reefs and beaches. The NGO also set up a hotline where anyone can report a ghost net sighting. Once the TMCG divers get enough information, they go to sea to start the removal process. This can be arduous, depending on the net’s size…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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