Found Entangled in Abandoned Fishing Gear... "A Serious Situation in Jeju"

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Cases of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins trapped in abandoned fishing gear continue to emerge in Jeju. Along with dolphins, sea turtles entangled in nets have also been confirmed, marking a continuous ordeal for marine animals.

Reporter Kim Dong-eun from JIBS.

[Reporter]

A pod of about 10 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins powerful cuts through the water.

However, a black line is visible near the tail fin of one individual.

It is tangled in abandoned fishing gear.

Another individual from this pod was also found trapped in abandoned gear—this is Haeng-un, who was first spotted wrapped in discarded gear in November 2024.

It has been confirmed that two dolphins within a single pod are entangled in abandoned fishing gear.

On the 9th, a young dolphin swimming alongside its mother was also spotted with its tail fin caught in fishing line.

Counting living individuals caught in abandoned gear—including two Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins with fishing hooks tangled around their mouths—there are as many as five.

Including unconfirmed individuals such as Jongdal-i, who died due to abandoned fishing gear issues, this poses a substantial threat to the entire population of only 120 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.

[Oh Seung-mok / Documentary Jeju Director : Looking at the total population size, the number of dolphins caught in abandoned fishing gear is greater than expected. It is serious, the cycles (of discovery) have become shorter, and appearing more quickly makes us even more worried about the future.]

The bigger problem is that the trap of abandoned fishing gear is not limited to Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.

Coast Guard officers begin cutting away the net.

A large sea turtle, measuring 1.5 meters in body length, is tangled in the discarded net.

It is a loggerhead sea turtle, an endangered species.

Over the past five years, 34 sea turtles have died after getting caught in abandoned fishing gear in Jeju.

A survey showed that more than 1,600 pieces of abandoned fishing gear were found in over 90% of the 50 survey sites across 16 marine protection areas in the province.

[Kim Byung-yeop / Head of Jeju National University Cetacean and Marine Life Conservation Research Center : We need to designate protection areas in regions where they frequently appear, and even if they are not designated as protection areas, we must devise measures and countermeasures such as establishing no-fishing zones.]

There is a call for precise investigations into the occurrence status and location-specific characteristics of abandoned fishing gear, alongside active follow-up measures including strategies for rescuing marine life.

(Video by Go Seung-han from JIBS, Footage provided by Documentary Jeju and Jeju National University Cetacean and Marine Life Conservation Research Center)

Kim Dong-eun from JIBS
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.