Morrisons acts for ocean animals
News
Leading supermarket Morrisons has acted to prevent beautiful animals from being maimed and slaughtered by Ghost Gear - nets, lines and ropes that have been lost or discarded by fishing boats. Thousands of you signed our petition calling on supermarkets to act.
Lost fishing nets and lines kill hundreds of thousands of whales, seals, turtles and birds annually and contribute to the ocean’s plastic problem, with more than 70% of microplastics thought to be fishing related.
Supermarkets have a huge role to play in tackling the problem by looking at their seafood supply chain. Our recent report estimates 5 to 30% of the decline in some fish stocks is caused by ghost gear which can take up to 600 years to decompose. 640,000 tonnes of this plastic waste is left in the ocean each year and over 817 species of marine life is affected.
Morrisons is committing to introducing best practice to fight lost fishing gear in its supply chain. Whether this is improving reporting of lost fishing gear, promoting improvements in gear traceability and recovery or the uptake of gear with inbuilt escape mechanisms to prevent animal entanglement if it is lost.
The Morrisons Foundation is also supporting volunteer diver group Fathoms Free, who will be conducting 12 retrieval dives and beach clean ups this year throughout the south west of England. The project will be helping to clean up the seas around our coastline, raise awareness amongst local fisherman and communities and provide some of the infrastructure needed to enable these materials to be recycled.
You can help us persuade more supermarkets to act on Ghost Gear. Sign our petition now.
Morrisons is committing to introducing best practice to fight lost fishing gear in its supply chain. Whether this is improving reporting of lost fishing gear, promoting improvements in gear traceability and recovery or the uptake of gear with inbuilt escape mechanisms to prevent animal entanglement if it is lost.