Bruce Media

Ghost Fishing NZ is the NZ branch of an international organization who collaborate worldwide with various local groups of technical and salvage divers to remove lost fishing gear. GFNZ have embraced this concept and diversified it by also removing rubbish and debris (bottles, cans, street cones, shopping trolleys), fishing gear (hooks, line and sinkers), abandoned fishing nets and various other dumped items we find (cray pots, sea cages) from the local environment.

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Officially established in 2015, GFNZ is a proactive clean-up crew consisting entirely of voluntary scuba divers, free divers and shore crew. Unlike most other clean-up events which are organized through local dive clubs, GFNZ utilizes technical and GUE trained scuba divers and a free-diving team for all their in-water activities. The unique combination of scuba and free divers enables litter/rubbish/nets to be lifted and taken to the shore in the safest possible manner, with the least exertion to the working scuba divers at depth.

GFNZ also utilizes a dedicated crew of shore support who are tasked with removing the marine life from the rubbish which has been recovered. This marine life is either returned to the ocean, or re-homed in the Island Bay Marine Education Center, where it is on display to the public and used for public outreach and education.