Initiative overview
The prevailing currents and conditions in the Arafura and Timor Seas and the Torres Strait cause marine debris to accumulate in the Gulf of Carpentaria, which is recognised as a global marine debris ‘hot spot’. Although this area is remote and sparsely populated, it has one of the highest rates of marine debris accumulation in Australia.
Numerous marine species are regularly entangled in derelict fishing gear, including four vulnerable or endangered marine turtle species found in Australian waters – olive ridley, hawksbill, green and flatback turtles. Ghost nets that wash up or are left on beaches can re-enter the marine environment during large tidal and storm events. They also have the potential to disturb and displace coastal plant and animal communities, especially turtles and other nesting species. The materials that make up these ghost nets slowly deteriorate to eventually form microplastics, which can damage natural food webs and ecosystems.
The first Ghost Nets Initiative (GNI) was delivered by Parks Australia from 2021–2025 in partnership with government agencies, Indigenous groups and other key stakeholders. Over $14 million was delivered to innovative projects aimed at addressing the challenge of ghost nets and plastic waste in the waters and beaches of northern Australia.
Building on the efforts of Indigenous communities, environmental groups and private industry, the GNI was focused on the following activities:
• Delivering new technology and other projects to better detect, collect and dispose of ghost nets, including the $3 million Ghost Nets Innovative Solutions grant program.
• Working with Indigenous ranger groups to collect data on the source of ghost nets and coordinate retrievals and marine debris beach clean ups in the Gulf of Carpentaria, one of the nation’s hot spots for ghost nets drifting from foreign waters.
• Conducting new trials in collaboration with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and Maritime Border Command (MBC) – a multi-agency taskforce, within the Australian Border Force - to attach GPS tracking devices to ghost nets when an initial retrieval is not possible due to unsafe conditions.
• Commissioning research into the source and distribution of ghost nets and possible recycling solutions in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
One of the program’s key initiatives focuses on tracking and managing marine debris – particularly drift nets and plastics – that wash up along Northern Australia’s remote coastlines. Data collection, model training and platform build has been delivered through First Nations led design workshops, and a labelling platform for rangers has been codesigned to allow drone data to be annotated and labelled so that images captured of marine debris by First Nations rangers can be used to train AI models.
