Ingrid Giskes: Ghost Gear

Everything is connected, and every action we take impacts somebody, something, or someplace. As I get older, and learn more about the world, the connections become clearer. Things that seem straightforward on the surface are incredibly complex, and intersect with things that seem completely unrelated. I love this about the world – how we can seem to be on opposing sides of an issue, yet have a shared goal that will benefit us all.

Ghost Gear is one of those things – A staggering 640,000 tonnes of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing nets, lines and traps are left in our oceans every year, trapping, injuring, mutilating and killing hundreds of thousands of whales, seals, turtles and birds annually. But this doesn’t only affect wildlife – it affects livelihoods, biodiversity, climate and human rights.

To unpack this, I invited Ingrid Giskes on to the podcast. Ingrid is the Director of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) at Ocean Conservancy. The Ghost Gear Initiative brings together a multi-stakeholder approach to solving the problem of ghost gear, with over 100 partners involved, including governments around the world.

Ingrid is reading Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama.

Ingrid is listening to the Yoga Girl Daily podcast.