The issue of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) has been recognised for decades. This study aims to provide the current profile of marine capture fisheries of five selected Southeast Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand), update the status of ALDFG in the coastal and marine areas of the five selected countries, and provide recommendations to address ALDFG and related issues. A desktop study was applied to obtain secondary data from various sources, and a questionnaire was used to obtain primary data from key informants. The five selected countries contributed significant fisheries production to the global markets through their multi-gear and multi-species fisheries. We also found that the common ALDFGs include gillnets, traps, and hooks and lines; with other potential sources of ALDFG as anchored fish aggregating devices, trawl nets, and fishing gear components. Our study categorised the impacts of ALDFGs into ecological, economic, and human well-being aspects. There have been various initiatives and projects carried out in the five selected countries to address ALDFG. For ALDFG management, we described the related legislation and national plan of action frameworks, the resolutions and management measures of regional fisheries management organizations, and the tools of inter-governmental bodies. The five selected countries had similar limitations/gaps in ALDFG including insufficient baseline information, weak ALDFG retrieval programs, and poor end-of-life fishing gear (EOLFG) management, while we found that the needs/recommendations of the five selected countries were similar. We provided recommendations to support fisheries stakeholders in the Southeast Asian region.
Chumchuen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.