The Controversial Driftnet Fishing in the South Pacific And the Duty Of Conservation And Management of the Living Resources of the Sea

Abstract

The driftnet fishing technique involves the deployment of flat nets made of fine mono or multi-filament nylon mesh lying in straight lines to hang vertically in the water like curtains. The operation is controlled through the adjustment of the buoyancy of the nets with its floats on the surface and its bottom weights under the water. It can be anchored to fish at one place or left to drift with wind and current overnight and then retrieved. It is a passive fishing device capable of entangling bodies of fish and other marine creatures that swim into it. It is also called "gillnet" as the mesh entraps victims behind the gills. Since it is visually and acoustically invisible and nearly unbreakable, virtually nothing larger than the size of the mesh can pass through its path. A driftnet can be as much as 15 metres deep and 60 kilometres long.