Drift Net (Fishing)

Drift-net fishing suspends a wall of gillnet from floats so it hangs in the water column and drifts with current, catching pelagic fish by the gills. Large-scale pelagic driftnets are banned on the high seas: UN General Assembly Resolution 46/215 (20 December 1991) called for a moratorium on all large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing (nets above 2.5 km) from 31 December 1992, citing bycatch of dolphins, turtles, and seabirds. The EU prohibits driftnets for listed species under Regulation (EC) No 894/97 as amended, and the 1992 moratorium remains the controlling high-seas instrument.