Dear GGGI Members,

June has arrived and we hope this message finds all of you well and thriving!

The season has kicked our team into high gear here at GGGI and there is a great deal of information to share in this newsletter: participation in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Paris (INC2); the launch of the North American Net Collection Initiative (NANCI) in Ensenada, Mexico; the announcement of the GGGI 2023 Small Grants and Joanna Toole awards; ghost gear removals in Huatulco, Mexico, , participation in the Oslo and Paris Conventions for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) in Amsterdam; and the release of our Let’s Talk Ghost Gear webinar on ALDFG and Small Island developing States.

The GGGI community draws strength from the success of its members: if you have news you’d like shared in a future edition of the newsletter, please send it to our GGGI Coordinator, Laura Walker at lwalker@oceanconservancy.org. If you know someone who might like to hear future news from us, ask them to subscribe!

Sincerely, 

The GGGI Team

The GGGI is working with governments and other partners to ensure that ghost gear is specifically included in the  United Nations International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution (ILBI), also known colloquially as the “Plastics Treaty.” At the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2), which took place in Paris on May 29 - June 2, 2023, GGGI’s Policy Specialist Hannah Pragnell-Raasch delivered a statement from the floor encouraging member states to support the addition of a new core obligation in the ILBI that specifically calls for the reduction of ALDFG in wild capture fisheries and aquaculture with dedicated measures across the full life cycle for its prevention, mitigation, and remediation. The team also participated in a side event organized by PROBLUE and the World Bank highlighting the need to include ALDFG in the ILBI as a distinct form of plastic pollution, where GGGI Associate Director presented and moderated one of the sessions. While the first two days of negotiations were stalled due to  procedural issues, discussions moved into contact groups on days 3 - 5, facilitating discussion of the substance to be included in the ILBI. The week resulted in a clear mandate for the preparation of the zero draft in advance of INC-3 that will take place in November in Nairobi. Learn More Here

GGGI Project Specialist Claudia Cecilia Olimon spearheaded the official launch of the next phase of the North American Net Collection Initiative (NANCI), the first transboundary initiative to address abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the coastal waters of western Mexico.

On June 13, 2023, NANCI partners gathered to share knowledge, lessons learned, challenges and joy. Participants included CONANP and INAPESCA; Wildcoast; Pronatura; Hagamos Mas; Natural Resources Consultants; CEDO Intercultural; CANAINPESCA; Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana; and fishing industry partners such as Pesca Azteca and Baja Aquafarms, among others. The launch included a visit to the Bureo’s Ensenada hub, where retrieved and end-of-life gear is made into products for resale.

The GGGI 2023 Small Grant awardees have been announced! This year, we received more applications than ever before requesting over $550,000 USD. Selecting successful organizations/projects was, as always, extremely challenging, and we thank everyone who sent in an application - your work is extremely valuable.

In the end, the selection committee, consisting of GGGI staff and our Expert Advisory Council, selected the following six projects for funding. Congratulations to all successful applicants!

2023 GGGI Small Grants Recipients

Environment and Food Foundation Cameroon

Fundacion Tuna Conservation Group, Ecuador

Go Green Save the Environment, Malawi

Mare Nostrum, Romania

Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation, United States

Wolffish Limited, Thailand/United Kingdom

2023 Joanna Toole Awardees

Ocean Legacy Foundation, Canada

Surfrider Foundation, Kauai

On May 22-28, GGGI Project Coordinator for Latin America, Claudia Cecilia Olimon, worked with Wildcoast, an international marine conservation organization, to perform ghost gear removals in the coral reefs of Huatulco National Park, Mexico. Activities included training, action plan design, dives and evaluation. The team was integrated by Wildcoast, park rangers from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas of Mexico (CONANP), Port authorities, Navy, local divers, as well as experienced divers from the ngo’s CAT and CoBi. Nine sites were visited in this period, removing nets, fishing lines, leads, among others. Additional removals will be scheduled in coming weeks.

This month, the Intersessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter for the Oslo and Paris Conventions for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) meeting took place in Scheveningen, The Netherlands. As an observer to the OSPAR Convention, GGGI Project Specialist Hannah Pragnell-Raasch was invited to attend alongside contracting parties and other observer organizations that were also at INC-2 (see article above). The primary topic of discussion was marine litter and monitoring in the OSPAR region as well as reviewing the actions in OSPAR’s 2nd Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter including ALDFG. GGGI is looking to lead on actions regarding  ALDFG with support of contracting parties. GGGI will be attending the next OSPAR meeting which will take place in September. 

Building on the success of the project “Raising Awareness and Collecting ALDFG and MPL Along the Central West Coast of the Gulf of California.” and thanks to the Lenton PARKS Fund, the GGGI is renewing a grant to Hagamos Mas for expanding their project to also the Pacific side. This project is an expansion of work will improve marine ecosystem health, safeguard human health and livelihoods, and protect aquatic life from harm along the central west coast of the Gulf of California.

GGGI's Policy Specialist Hannah Pragnell-Raasch joined esteemed fellow panelists in a webinar discussing the “remediation of legacy plastic pollution in the marine environment”. With over 100 attendees, Hannah shared insights about GGGI’s existing work managing ALDFG in SIDS including the Caribbean and Vanuatu and also highlighted the importance of including ALDFG in the international legally binding instrument. We also highlighted the opportunities the instrument offers in supporting SIDS, with particular consideration of them being disproportionately impacted by ALDFG. The webinar was part of the “SIDS Talk Plastic Series” hosted by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

• The world moves closer to a global plastics treaty at INC2. This article from China Dialog Ocean includes interviews with GGGI Associate Director Joel Baziuk, and Ocean Conservancy Associate Director of US Plastics Policy Anya Brandon.

• Patagonia launches NetPlus line of clothing made of recycled fishing gear by GGGI member Bureo.

• The Balıkesir Municipality has stated that 50,000 square meters of ghost nets have been removed from the Aegean and Marmara seas over the past three years as part of a comprehensive campaign to combat the threats posed by these nets to marine biodiversity.

• GGGI published a white paper ahead of INC-2 outlining why ghost gear needs a specific inclusion in the ILBI and highlighting several possible voluntary and mandatory measures that could be included in the final text.