{"id":241471,"date":"2026-01-19T22:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241471\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T22:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:11:11","slug":"front-lines-in-ghost-net-war-expand-to-australias-north-with-25m-funding-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/241471\/","title":{"rendered":"Front lines in ‘ghost net’ war expand to Australia’s north with $25m funding boost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top End Indigenous ranger groups will be able to continue removing tonnes of discarded fishing gear from Australia’s northern beaches under a refunded federal program, which will also expand operations to Western Australia and the Torres Strait.<\/p>\n

The extended program will also include a new focus on prevention work in the heavily fished seas to Australia’s north.<\/p>\n

“The majority of this funding will go towards maintaining and expanding the number of rangers, but what we are also doing is investing to try to tackle this problem at its source,” federal Environment Minister Murray Watt told the ABC.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ghost nets are considered a grave threat to traditional Indigenous food sources and culture. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

“What we’ll be doing also is funding some work with countries like Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to work with local fishermen and other people in local communities there to reduce the number of ghost nets and other debris that we see ultimately flowing into Australian waters.”<\/p>\n

The ocean’s least natural predator has come for Australia<\/a><\/p>\n

Illegal fishing is ravaging the world’s oceans of fish and shellfish but it is what is left behind that is creating a mess for governments worldwide and of Australia’s most remote beaches.<\/p>\n

The renewed Ghost Nets Initiative funding involves a total spend of $25.1 million over the next four years \u2014 a $10 million increase on the previous program<\/a>, which consisted of $15 million funding between 2021 and its expiry last year.<\/p>\n

Of that total, the money will be divided between $20.6 million for ranger groups to clean up beaches and $4.5 million for prevention work with neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n

The renewed funding, which was announced in last month’s mid-year budget update, has come as a relief to ranger groups, which were last year unsure whether the program would continue<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dedicated staff who coordinated the beach clean-ups were also left in doubt as to whether their positions would continue to exist.<\/p>\n

\"Ghost<\/p>\n

Ocean currents pull discarded fishing gear from the Arafura and Timor seas before carrying them to Top End beaches. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)<\/p>\n

Northern Territory and Queensland beaches in the Gulf of Carpentaria are global hotspots for ghost nets, due to ocean currents that pull in discarded fishing gear from the Arafura and Timor seas.<\/p>\n

The nets ravage otherwise pristine wilderness areas, and are seen by Aboriginal people who live on the Arnhem Land coast as grave threats to traditional food sources and culture.<\/p>\n

Studies by the CSIRO have found the nets kill thousands of sea turtles on their way to shore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keep Top End Coasts Healthy coordinator Adele Pedder said the increased funding was “fantastic news for everyone who cares about Australia’s northern coasts”.<\/p>\n

“These coastlines were some of the most remote and cleanest coastlines in the world and now they’re looking like rubbish dumps,” she said.<\/p>\n

But she said it was regrettable there had been a months-long funding gap during which the program’s future was uncertain.<\/p>\n

“That was of great concern to people of the north and Indigenous ranger groups,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Environmentalists say there is a “huge demand” for recycled fishing gear. (ABC News: James Elton)<\/p>\n

Mr Watt said his office had reached out to ranger groups in the interim to reassure them a new funding deal was on the way, but said it was important the program went through a standard budget process.<\/p>\n

“I recognise that there’s been a degree of uncertainty for people, but this is really great certainty now for the next four years,” he said.<\/p>\n

‘Turning off the tap’<\/p>\n

OceanEarth Foundation managing director Anissa Lawrence welcomed the focus on Australia “turning off the tap” by working with countries such as Indonesia, which she said deserved credit for its own progress in managing its fisheries.<\/p>\n

Indonesia is a fishing powerhouse, with millions of fishers supplying a vital source of protein for the world’s fourth-most populous country. The vast majority of its fishers are small-scale, artisanal operators who use traditional methods and non-motorised boats.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Anissa Lawrence’s research found some Indonesian fishers found it difficult to securely tie nets to their small boats. (ABC News: Marcus Stimson)<\/p>\n

Ms Lawrence said there would need to be “fishing gear recovery systems” set up at ports, as well as work to help fishing communities make money from recycled nets, to reduce the ghost nets coming from countries to Australia’s north.<\/p>\n

“[You need] collection bins, processes for fishers to be able to dispose of end-of-life fishing gear [and] incentives for the industry to participate,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There’s huge demand for the materials that fishing gear is made of.”<\/p>\n

Ms Lawrence has previously researched the reasons ghost nets are discarded, including through surveys with Indonesian fishers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

An Indonesian fishing vessel captured in the Rowley Shoals off Broome in September 2025. (Supplied: Sophie Kalkowski-Pope)<\/p>\n

She found for some, it was difficult to tie nets onto vessels securely because their boats were too small.<\/p>\n

Her research also showed the issue could be due to a lack of navigational tools such as GPS and sonar, making it difficult for fishers to avoid reefs and other obstacles, which could then snag nets, forcing crews to cut them loose.<\/p>\n

Ms Pedder said she agreed there was a need to support legal fishers, as well as continue to crack down on illegal fishing.<\/p>\n

“This really affects Indigenous culture as well as our tourism industry and our fishing, so it affects everyone,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top End Indigenous ranger groups will be able to continue removing tonnes of discarded fishing gear from Australia’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[141967,141962,273,3087,24387,60930,141963,5696,111,139,141964,69,141966,141965,147,60936,72649],"class_list":["post-241471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-arnhem-land","tag-blue-mud-bay","tag-environment","tag-fishing","tag-gear","tag-ghost-nets","tag-indigenous-rangers","tag-indonesia","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nt-beaches","tag-nz","tag-ocean-clean","tag-ocean-clean-up","tag-science","tag-sea-shepherd","tag-turtles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}