The federal government has allocated $15 million over the next three years to help locate, prevent and retrieve ghost gear.

The term is used to describe lost or abandoned nets and gear that continue to fish unseen.

Applications are now open for the federal government’s ghost gear fund.

Eligible recipients include companies, businesses and organizations, not-for-profit and charitable groups, researchers and academics, Indigenous groups, individuals and other levels of government and Crown corporations.

Activities eligible for funding include training and skills development, project monitoring, piloting or adoption of innovative technology for existing fisheries, and developing or promoting sustainable fishing practices to reduce lost gear.