3 years, 6 months ago

Turtles have to contend with thousands of nets left in the sea. Now there's a new way to help them

Anindilyakwa sea ranger Leyton Hastings loves his job protecting his sea country around the Groote Eylandt Archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Key points: The CSIRO has found the number of nets arriving has quadrupled in 16 years Government agencies are using new GPS trackers to help Indigenous rangers and commercial fishers recover nets The federal government says discussions are continuing with South-East Asian nations over abandoned nets "I love going out on country, just looking after this place," he said. But many patrols involve depressing work collecting marine rubbish, the main type being what he calls "ghost nets". "The main one is the turtles getting caught up in the ghost nets and dying, getting washed up on the beach," he said. "What we found is we see an increase in ghost nets landing on Australia's shores in that northern part of Australia," she said.

ABC

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