Gear tampering becoming more frequent in Gulf region, says DFO and that means more ghost gear [Video]

Gear tampering in the Gulf of St. Lawrence region off P.E.I. is more common than it used to be, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans — and the environmental cost can be high.

“Gear tampering is any action that interferes or disrupts a legal fishery,” said Matthew MacEwen, the detachment supervisor in Charlottetown for Conservation Protection with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

“Examples of this could be tampering with traps, nets or lines… causing damage to that fishing gear that renders them incapable of doing their job fishing.”

MacEwen said it could include cutting the ropes off traps, making them unretrievable, or bringing traps up from the waters and destroying the webbing and mesh that keep lobsters inside once they enter the traps.