Ghost Fishing, a well-known charity, is officially rebranding itself as Ghost Diving to make it easier for the public to understand what it does. In 2012, Pascal van Erp founded the Ghost Fishing organization, a non-profit that works with volunteer divers around the world to carry out environmental diving projects. Since its founding, they have managed to bring the ghost fishing problem into the public spotlight, through key international collaborations, breathtaking underwater photography and impressive results.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Ghost fishing is what fishing gear does when it has been lost, dumped or abandoned in the seas and oceans. It is estimated that 640,000 tons of fishing gear gets lost or abandoned in the seas and oceans each year. (UNEP/FAO, 2009). The issue was first brought to the attention of the world at the 16th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, in April 1985.

“Now that the problem is identified and well known, it’s time to focus on the solution. We
decided to rebrand our organization and bring the divers on center stage, as they are the
ones who recover the lost fishing gear, once it has been lost in the seas and oceans. They
deserve recognition for their truly heroic efforts”

-van Erp.

Ghost Diving will keep some elements of the old logo, so fans of the volunteer chapters
throughout the world should not notice too much of a difference. The logo also includes the
tagline ‘Global Mission’, aiming at reinforcing their extrovert attitude. “Our goal is that in
only a matter of time our new name will become a generic term for all divers working to
remove ghost gear from wrecks, reefs or the seabed” says van Erp.
This change comes at a time when ghost gear has been identified as the biggest plastic
polluter in ocean.ii The Ghost Diving teams around the world are trained to combat this
pollution whether it’s found on shallow reefs or great depths. The name might have changed but the mission and core values of Ghost Diving stay the same.

For more information:

Pascal van Erp
Founder & Chairman, Ghost Diving
Phone: +31 6 27 88 88 83
Email: pascal@ghostdiving.org
www.ghostdiving.org