The term âabandoned fishing gearâ means fishing gear over which that operator/owner has control and that could be retrieved by owner/operator, but is deliberately left at sea due to force majeure or other unforeseen reasons. The term âlost fishing gearâ means fishing gear over which the owner/operator has accidentally lost control and that cannot be located and/or retrieved by owner/operator. The term âdiscarded fishing gearâ means fishing gear that is released at sea without any attempt for further control or recovery by the owner/operator.
Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 523, FAO and UNEP, 2009 9http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0620e/i0620e00.html