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(CNN) -
From a fishing community to a major international port, Hong Kong has a rich maritime history that stretches back hundreds of years.
Yet beneath the surface of its coastal waters lurks a disturbing threat to its marine life.
Ghost nets are abandoned or lost fishing equipment.
They float in the ocean, trapping and killing wildlife, hooking on boats, and even threatening divers.
A local diver saw the problem and decided to take action.
Harry Chan, a self-proclaimed "ghost net hunter," has spent the past decade pulling abandoned fishing nets out of the ocean.
The 68-year-old retired businessman claims he is on a mission to clean up Hong Kong's waters and shoreline.
"If we don't take care of the environment and the ocean, we won't have another one," says Chan.
What are ghost networks?
Ghost fishing nets and gear can end up in the ocean by accident, for example washed away during storms or ripped off rocks, or disposed of on purpose, often to cover up evidence of illegal fishing, and it's not just Hong Kong's problem. Kong.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 640,000 metric tons of ghost fishing equipment end up in the world's waters each year - the same weight as more than 50,000 double-decker buses - although the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit advocacy group, says this is a conservative estimate.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), abandoned and discarded fishing equipment makes up 10% of the ocean's plastic pollution.
In a 2018 study of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a 1.6 million square kilometer collection of garbage that is more than twice the size of Texas, located in the Pacific Ocean, it was found that more than half of the total mass of plastic came from nets, ropes and lines.
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This is a huge problem for both marine life and people, says Laurence McCook, director of oceans for WWF Hong Kong.
"It's called a ghost team because it keeps living and creating problems long after it's really useful," says McCook.
An estimated 136,000 dolphins, seals, turtles and even whales are killed by ghost nets each year, as do countless fish and other small marine life.
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Ghost nets can reduce fish stocks in some places by as much as 30%, impacting the food supply and profits of the fishing industry, as well as fish stock conservation and recovery projects.
Hunting for ghost nets
Once Chan locates a net, removing it can take between three and eight hours, and is dangerous and exhausting work.
But Chan, who has been diving since 1987 with more than 3,000 dives to date, is a passionate obsessive, and his brush with death in pursuit of his goal has not discouraged him.
"A couple of times I almost killed myself, getting tangled up," he says.
"Luckily my teammates were able to free me."
Over the years, Chan has built a small team of volunteers who take turns helping him on his mission to clean up Hong Kong's waters.
The team goes out by boat in search of lost ghost nets with their diving equipment.
Ghost nets also affect the food supply, reducing fish populations by up to 30%.
When they find one, which can be difficult with the poor visibility of the water in Hong Kong, they use a knife or scissors to free the marine life trapped in it or disentangle it from rocks, coral or the seabed where it may be trapped.
Depending on the size and weight of the net and its depth, a small floating device can help raise the net to the surface.
Chan typically does these dives twice a month, in addition to organizing beach and shoreline cleanups.
Over the years, Chan estimates that he has hand-picked more than 80 metric tons of ghost gear with his group of volunteers, and says he is determined to keep hunting this "silent killer."
"As a diver, we can do a lot to protect and save the ocean," he says.
"Ghost Gear Detective" program
While "local heroes" like Chan are doing a great job collecting ghost nets, the potential dangers for even the most experienced divers are not an exaggeration, says McCook of WWF Hong Kong.
"A net is designed to catch things underwater, and it's very good at it," he says.
"It's remarkably easy to get entangled, and after all, we are underwater - we have a limited air supply."
That is why the Hong Kong WWF has developed the "Ghost Gear Detective" or "ghost gear detective" program.
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This citizen science initiative invites recreational divers and boaters to record the location of ghost equipment on a waterproof board using a portable, floating GPS device to identify coordinates.
This information is communicated through an app once they return to dry land.
This data is then used by the Hong Kong government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation to collect the nets safely with a team of expert divers.
Since the program's launch in 2019, WWF Hong Kong says 244 pieces of ghost equipment have been identified, thanks to 225 reports and nearly 280 kilograms of equipment have been recalled.
"The value of data collection is not just about disposal, but that database then helps the government and ourselves to understand the magnitude and nature of the problem, which is critical to discovering solutions," says McCook.
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Labeling and tracking
While cleaning these ghost gear is critical, so is preventing fishing gear from ending up in the ocean.
Creating incentives for fisheries and fishers to keep their nets in good condition and recycle them properly could help "avoid the deliberate and accidental loss of nets," McCook says.
Not only do ghost nets trap dolphins and fish swimming in the ocean, but they also hook on corals and rocks on the seabed, destroying habitats.
Ghost nets are also often "strongly associated with illegal fishing", he adds, so governments have to ensure that maritime police and conservation agencies have "the resources and means to actually enforce the legislation. actively and responsibly ".
Fishing gear tracking technology could also help.
Electronic tagging, such as inexpensive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or coded wire tags, could be used to help marine police scan equipment and make sure it came from legal fisheries.
Chan hopes that improving government policies will eliminate the "root cause" for future generations.
And while the scale of the problem can be daunting at times, he says that as long as there are ghost nets in the ocean, he will continue to dive.
"I'm 60 years old, I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want, and being a diver, I think it's time to really contribute to the community," says Chan.
"Age is just a number. There is a lot we can do, no matter how old you are."
Water Pollution Networks