Global Ghost Gear Initiative - Small Grants Program

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Enriched – · Found: 2026-03-13 17:21

Competitive grants for NGOs tackling abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) including recovery, recycling and circular economy solutions in fisheries and coastal communities worldwide. Supports end-of-life gear collection, capacity building, and community-based net recovery in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Source: https://www.ghostgear.org/projects

Funding Details

Funder: Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI)
Funding Goal: Fund projects by GGGI member organisations tackling abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG/ghost gear), including gear recovery, recycling, circular economy solutions for end-of-life fishing gear, capacity building, and community-based net recovery in fishing communities worldwide.
Funding Amount: Small grants; typical GGGI Small Grants involve one or more GGGI members on specific geographic projects. Exact amounts not specified on the website.
Deadline: Unknown (Unknown)
How to Apply: Competitive bid-based programme. Open to GGGI members only. See ghostgear.org/projects for current and past funded projects. Become a member at ghostgear.org/become-a-member. Contact GGGI for current round status.
Target Region: Global - projects documented in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and Latin America
Contact: Global Ghost Gear Initiative, contact via ghostgear.org/contact
Last Checked: 2026-05-07 02:00

Application Checklist

Eligibility

Organisation must be a current GGGI member to apply

Project Scope

Project must address abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG)
Eligible activities include gear removal, EOL collection/recycling, capacity building, data collection, and technology testing

Required Documents

Check ghostgear.org for current open rounds; contact GGGI for application details

Constraints

Competitive bid-based process - not all applications receive funding
Funding is pending available funds - programme may not run in all years

Summary

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) is an international multi-stakeholder alliance focused on addressing the problem of abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), also known as ghost gear. The Small Grants Programme is a competitive, bid-based funding mechanism exclusively available to GGGI member organisations. Thematically, GGGI Small Grants support projects addressing ghost gear across the full cycle: gear removal and recovery from marine environments, end-of-life (EOL) gear collection and recycling, community-based capacity building, fisher interviews and data collection, outreach and education, technology testing for gear recovery, and development of predictive models for ghost gear distribution. The programme covers a wide range of project categories including: Gear Removal (25 projects historically), Outreach and Education (23 projects), EOL Gear Collection/Recycling (14 projects), Data Collection (14 projects), Capacity Building Workshops (12 projects), and Technology Testing (8 projects). Projects with recycling and circular economy angles are well-represented. Geographically, the GGGI operates globally with documented projects in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Projects are concentrated in coastal fishing communities where ghost gear is prevalent. Critically, the Small Grants Programme is open to GGGI members only. Organisations must become GGGI members before they can apply for Small Grants. Membership requirements are available at ghostgear.org/become-a-member. Funding is described as 'pending available funding,' indicating the programme is not guaranteed to run every year. Typical projects involve one or more GGGI member organisations working in select geographic areas. The GGGI Signature Projects are a separate, larger-scale track designed and funded by GGGI itself.

Historical Context

GGGI operates two main project types: Signature Projects (collaborative, GGGI-designed, involving multiple members) and Small Grants (competitive, member-driven, in specific geographies). Multiple rounds of small grants have been funded, with recent examples from 2024 in Bangladesh and other countries.

Sources

https://www.ghostgear.org/projects

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