http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12355/abstract

WILCOX, C., HEATHCOTE, G., GOLDBERG, J., GUNN, R., PEEL, D. and
HARDESTY, B. D. (2014), Understanding the Sources and Effects of
Abandoned, Lost, and Discarded Fishing Gear on Marine Turtles in
Northern Australia. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12355

Abstract
Globally, 6.4 million tons of fishing gear are lost in the oceans
annually. This gear (i.e., ghost nets), whether accidently lost,
abandoned, or deliberately discarded, threatens marine wildlife as it
drifts with prevailing currents and continues to entangle marine
organisms indiscriminately. Northern Australia has some of the highest
densities of ghost nets in the world, with up to 3 tons washing ashore
per kilometer of shoreline annually. This region supports globally
significant populations of internationally threatened marine fauna,
including 6 of the 7 extant marine turtles. We examined the threat ghost
nets pose to marine turtles and assessed whether nets associated with
particular fisheries are linked with turtle entanglement by analyzing
the capture rates of turtles and potential source fisheries from nearly
9000 nets found on Australia's northern coast. Nets with relatively
larger mesh and smaller twine sizes (e.g., pelagic drift nets) had the
highest probability of entanglement for marine turtles. Net size was
important; larger nets appeared to attract turtles, which further
increased their catch rates. Our results point to issues with trawl and
drift-net fisheries, the former due to the large number of nets and
fragments found and the latter due to the very high catch rates
resulting from the net design. Catch rates for fine-mesh gill nets can
reach as high as 4 turtles/100 m of net length. We estimated that the
total number of turtles caught by the 8690 ghost nets we sampled was
between 4866 and 14,600, assuming nets drift for 1 year. Ghost nets
continue to accumulate on Australia's northern shore due to both legal
and illegal fishing; over 13,000 nets have been removed since 2005. This
is an important and ongoing transboundary threat to biodiversity in the
region that requires attention from the countries surrounding the
Arafura and Timor Seas.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12355/suppinfo

Disclaimer: Supplementary materials have been peer-reviewed but not
copyedited.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/cobi.12355/asset/supinfo/cobi12355-sup-0001-SupMat.docx?v=1&s=bbdd128d52aa28153b8fe2a594bf41504b8d7270

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1523-1739/earlyview

Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an issue)

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Jennifer L. Lavers, Jarrod C. Hodgson, Rohan H. Clarke, Prevalence and 
composition of marine debris in Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) nests at 
Ashmore Reef, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 77, Issues 1–2, 15 
December 2013, Pages 320-324, ISSN 0025-326X, 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.09.026.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X13005778)
Abstract: Anthropogenic debris is ubiquitous in the marine environment 
and has been reported to negatively impact hundreds of species globally. 
Seabirds are particularly at risk from entanglement in debris due to 
their habit of collecting food and, in many cases, nesting material off 
the ocean’s surface. We compared the prevalence and composition of 
debris in nests and along the beach at two Brown Booby (Sula 
leucogaster) colonies on Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, a remote area known to 
contain high densities of debris transported by ocean currents. The 
proportion of nests with debris varied across islands (range 3–31%), 
likely in response to the availability of natural nesting materials. 
Boobies exhibited a preference for debris colour (white and black), but 
not type. The ephemeral nature of Brown Booby nests on Ashmore Reef may 
limit their utility as indicators of marine pollution, however 
monitoring is recommended in light of increasing demand for plastic 
products.

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