Ghost fishing gear has been snaring fish off the coast of the Lizard peninsula, as well as trapping seals and other marine life in waters from Cape Cornwall to Cawsand.

A new study commissioned by World Animal Protection UK is the first ever assessment of how ghost gear - equipment lost or abandoned by fishing vessels - is affecting the coastline of Cornwall and posing a threat to marine life.

Ghost gear encompasses lines, nets, pots and ropes which are a huge threat to marine animals and coastal wildlife, with entanglement causing huge suffering to animals and in many cases leading to a painful death. Ghost gear is known to travel long distances along ocean currents, with lost gear from the USA and Newfoundland being spotted on beaches across the UK.

A total of 4,226 new ghost gear items were recorded by volunteers on land and by World Animal Protection funded boat-based surveys during the 12 month study period, amounting to 49,917 litres or 51 tonnes from 147 different locations, of which researchers were able to remove 14 tonnes.

The work was undertaken by Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust to support World Animal Protection’s Sea Change campaign and looked at: The types and amount of ghost gear along the Cornish coast, the spread of gear and seasonal changes in appearances, and the interaction and entanglement risks.

Christina Dixon, campaign manager at World Animal Protection, said: “While this research was being conducted we saw lobster pot tags travelling 3,000 miles from Newfoundland to Shetland and pieces of gear hitching a ride on the Gulf Stream from Canada to Cornwall but the lack of research meant finding the right solutions was a real challenge. Ghost gear is a trans-boundary problem, and it’s essential that efforts to address it are undertaken collaboratively across countries. We hope this study can be used as a model for other researchers to get a better idea of the impact of ghost gear in different regions.”

The research is a snapshot of the problem in UK waters and World Animal Protection are hoping this research inspires other researchers to undertake similar projects.

It found that the risk of animals interacting with ghost gear was 40 per cent but doubles to 82 per cent at seal sites, while monofilament line, all types of nets and pots posed the greatest risk to marine animals.

It also found that 58 per cent of items could entangle sealife, although at seal sites this was lower at 54 per cent, possibly because many were buoys and floats, whereas all types of net, line, rope and pots posed the greatest risk.

Ghost gear directly affected 52 individual creatures from at least 12 different species which were recorded as entangled.

A total of 1,398 new ghost gear items were recorded by boat based surveys, amounting to 26 new items a week, over the course of the year long investigation.

A total of 360 land based surveys recorded 2,828 ghost gear items, representing 54 new items being washed in each week.

Sue Sayer from Cornwall Seal Group said: “CSGRT were delighted with the huge effort volunteers contributed to this project. They were motivated by our desire to collect data and knowing that their information would be shared with World Animal Protection who would publicise this issue across a wide international audience enabling cross boundary solutions to be found. We all want to make a difference to reduce the suffering we witnessed during the project as along with partner organisations we rescued a live entangled sea bird being buffeted by waves whilst trapped in a gill net as well as rescuing entangled seals, one of which was choking itself as the net dragged under its body on a beach. We learned that even removing a small looped bit of net can save a marine creatures life and that together we can actually make a difference.”