Detail in beach photo proves $17 billion Aussie issue is 'getting worse'

Yahoo

25-06-2025

A major clean-up effort to rid northern Australia's coastlines of deadly ghost nets is under threat, with a federally funded scheme in place since 2021 yet to be renewed.
Authorities at the Top End warn that should the government permanently discontinue the grant — which is scheduled to expire at the end of June — it would be a "huge blow" to the "critically important" work being undertaken to combat the crisis.
Since 2021, rangers at Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory have removed 140,000 kilograms of rubbish and 800 ghost fishing nets — the abandoned, lost or discarded fishing nets that can drift for years — from the Top End's remote beaches and bays. They often haul them out by hand in punishing conditions, from sites accessible only a few weeks each year.
Parks Australia, a division within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, is responsible for delivering the $15 million Ghost Net Initiative, which has helped 22 Indigenous ranger groups in their clean-up efforts. But, at the end of this month, that support is set to end.
Ghost nets and pollutive debris in the Top End wreak havoc on marine life, trapping and killing turtles, dolphins, and countless other creatures. They silently destroy fragile ecosystems, turning vibrant waters into graveyards.
Scientists estimate that globally between 8 and 10 million tonnes of plastic pollute the ocean every year. Experts warn that, within the next 25 years, plastic waste may even outweigh all the fish in the sea.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for the Northern Land Council (NLC), the body representing the Aboriginal people of the Top End, said the decision not to renew funding is devastating.
"The recent NT Government budget cuts to the Aboriginal ranger grants were a huge blow to ranger groups right across the Territory," a NLC spokesperson said. "We would hate to see more money go from a program that is actually working."
Thanks to funding from the Ghost Net Initiative, researchers have been able to deploy drones and AI technology to detect and retrieve abandoned fishing nets along remote stretches of coastline.
Scientists say they've found ghost nets roughly every kilometre in the region, tangled in rocks, buried in sand, or lodged in mangroves. The drones can spot net fragments as small as 50 centimetres, and AI software then analyses the images and sends exact coordinates to the rangers for recovery.
The NLC spokesperson said the work ranger groups do to de-tangle and remove these harmful nets is "incredibly time-consuming, hard-going and above all critically important" to protecting the flora and fauna of the area. "Our rangers must be funded properly to do this work," they said.
They say the problem is only getting worse. In Arnhem Land, Indigenous rangers have reported finding nets on beaches they had cleared just weeks earlier — the debris carried in once more on seasonal tides.
"When the nets come, they trap animals like buffaloes, turtles and dolphins," senior ranger Clive Nunggarrgalu told the ABC. "We can cut the nets and free turtles, but even young buffaloes get trapped in the nets along the sand."
Ghost nets are a global threat, but northern Australia is at the epicentre. The Gulf of Carpentaria is considered the world's worst hotspot for ghost gear.
Marine plastic pollution is estimated to cause AUD $17.3 billion a year in ecosystem damage and about $132 million per year in local government clean-up costs. "Some of the beaches, they look great, but the rubbish is underneath the sand," Nunggarrgalu said.
Yahoo News Australia contacted Parks Australia on whether there were plans to renew the scheme, but a spokesperson told us its continuation remains dependent on future budget decisions. Meaning, no commitment has been made yet, and the program's future will hinge on government funding allocations in the coming budget cycles.
"Removing ghost nets addresses critical risks to marine species which become entangled, lacerated or strangled by these abandoned fishing nets," the spokesperson said.
"Focused on northern Australian waters and the Gulf of Carpentaria, known as the world's ghost net hotspot, this initiative has helped reduce threats to marine wildlife and supported First Nations economic development."
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The spokesperson said the Indigenous Ranger Coastal Clean-up Project has supported 22 Indigenous Ranger Groups involving 3,400 people, and the government has invested $1.4 million in regional partnerships through the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) Program, which brings together Australia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to address marine pollution.
"We will continue to work with our regional partners to tackle this issue in our shared waters," they said.
Still, those on the ground say global plans mean little without boots in the sand. "We look forward to hearing from the federal environment minister on the next steps for this program and its funding," the NLC said.
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