The Gulf of Maine is 10,000 pounds lighter and cleaner after divers and fisherman worked to haul a giant mass of lost and abandoned fishing gear from the ocean floor.
The Ocean Conservancy along with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation all worked together Friday, June 7, for more than seven hours to haul the debris from the ocean floor to the shore.
The debris was found off the coast of Cape Elizabeth, located by fishermen who noticed the mass on sonar and later confirmed by divers, to be what is called 'ghost gear' - lost or abandoned fishing fear. Divers placed buckets under the debris and then filled those buckets with air to buoy it to the surface.
Nick Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy, said most of the 10,000 pounds was old ropes and broken traps.
"In 2015 Ocean Conservancy did a study that showed that ghost gear is the most deadly form of marine debris littering our oceans and we know that it impacts wildlife..affects fisheries and fisherman and...coastal economies," said Mallos.
Erin Pelletier with the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation says the massive ghost gear ball acts like a tumbleweed on the bottom of the ocean that collects active gear as it moves with currents and tides.
Experts estimated Friday's ghost gear haul would be 5,000 pounds but it ended up being closer to 10,000 pounds. The haul was so heavy the boat could only bring about 1/3 of it on board and the rest of had to be towed behind the vessel.
Most of the gear will be converted into electricity at Ecomaine. Mallos says any gear that is usable will be returned to fishermen.