BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:EventsCalendar PRODID:-//hacksw/handcal//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York LAST-MODIFIED:20240422T053451Z TZURL:https://www.tzurl.org/zoneinfo-outlook/America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:SMAST,Thesis/Dissertations DESCRIPTION:Department of Fisheries OceanographyPhD Dissertation Defense "A bandoned, Lost, and Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear as a Source of Plasti c Pollution in Inland Fisheries."By: Drake Ssempijja Advisor: Dr. Pingguo He (UMass Dartmouth) Committee Members Dr. Steven X. Cadrin (UMass Dartmo uth) Dr. Chris Rillahan (UMass Dartmouth) Dr. Paul Winger (Memorial Univer sity of Newfoundland) Thursday October 1, 20261:00 PMSMAST East 102-10383 6 S. Rodney French Blvd, New Bedfordand via Zoom Abstract: Abandoned, lost , and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is an increasingly pressing concern for global fisheries resources and the aquatic environment. This has negative impacts on the aquatic ecosystem, including ghostfishing mort ality of commercial, recreational, and protected species; degradation of s ensitive habitats; negative effects on the recreational use of beaches and shorelines when gear drifts ashore; and hazards to navigation when gear f loats in shipping lanes and coastal areas. Most research on the status, ex tent, and solutions to the ALDFG challenge has focused on marine fisheries in the developed world, with very few studies on inland fisheries. The ob jectives of this research are to improve understanding of the status, exte nt, and management of ALDFG by providing evidence-based estimates of ALDFG , its drivers, and current management regimes to aid in developing mitigat ion strategies specific to inland fisheries. The thesis includes: 1) an in -depth global account of the state of ALDFG in inland fisheries over the l ast 50 years through a systematic review and analysis; 2) estimates of gea r loss, an understanding of the drivers, and an analysis of available ALDF G management strategies for gillnet and hooks and lines fisheries in Lake Victoria, East Africa; 3) use of a gap analysis framework to assess the ro bustness of the existing policy environment and legislative arrangements c oncerning the management of ALDFG in Lake Victoria at the regional and rip arian country levels to identify gaps and provide recommendations for impr oved management; and 4) a comparative analysis of the transboundary manage ment of ALDFG in Lake Victoria and the American Great Lakes to advance und erstanding of cross-jurisdictional ALDFG management in inland fisheries. T he thesis is a pioneering work on ALDFG and fishery-related plastic pollut ion in inland waters. Join Meetinghttps://umassd.zoom.us/s/98433910843 Not e: Meeting ID and passcode required. Please email contact to obtain. For a dditional information, please contact Callie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu \nEvent page: https://www.umassd.edu/events/cms/10-1-26-defense---abandone d-lost-and-otherwise-discarded-fishing-gear.php\nEvent link: https://umass d.zoom.us/s/98433910843 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Department of Fisheries Oceanog raphy
PhD Dissertation Defense

"Abandoned\, Lost\, and Otherw ise Discarded Fishing Gear as a Source of Plastic Pollution in Inland Fish eries."
By: Drake Ssempijja

Advisor: Dr. Pingguo He (UMass Da rtmouth)

Committee Members

Dr. Steven X. Cadrin (UM ass Dartmouth)
Dr. Chris Rillahan (UMass Dartmouth)
Dr . Paul Winger (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Thursd ay October 1\, 2026
1:00 PM
SMAST East 102-103
836 S. Rodne y French Blvd\, New Bedford
and via Zoom

Abstract:

Ab andoned\, lost\, and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is an increa singly pressing concern for global fisheries resources and the aquatic env ironment. This has negative impacts on the aquatic ecosystem\, including g hostfishing mortality of commercial\, recreational\, and protected species \; degradation of sensitive habitats\; negative effects on the recreationa l use of beaches and shorelines when gear drifts ashore\; and hazards to n avigation when gear floats in shipping lanes and coastal areas. Most resea rch on the status\, extent\, and solutions to the ALDFG challenge has focu sed on marine fisheries in the developed world\, with very few studies on inland fisheries. The objectives of this research are to improve understan ding of the status\, extent\, and management of ALDFG by providing evidenc e-based estimates of ALDFG\, its drivers\, and current management regimes to aid in developing mitigation strategies specific to inland fisheries. T he thesis includes: 1) an in-depth global account of the state of ALDFG in inland fisheries over the last 50 years through a systematic review and a nalysis\; 2) estimates of gear loss\, an understanding of the drivers\, an d an analysis of available ALDFG management strategies for gillnet and hoo ks and lines fisheries in Lake Victoria\, East Africa\; 3) use of a gap an alysis framework to assess the robustness of the existing policy environme nt and legislative arrangements concerning the management of ALDFG in Lake Victoria at the regional and riparian country levels to identify gaps and provide recommendations for improved management\; and 4) a comparative an alysis of the transboundary management of ALDFG in Lake Victoria and the A merican Great Lakes to advance understanding of cross-jurisdictional ALDFG management in inland fisheries. The thesis is a pioneering work on ALDFG and fishery-related plastic pollution in inland waters.

Join Meeti ng
https://umassd.zoom .us/s/98433910843

Note: Meeting ID and passcode required. Plea se email contact to obtain.

For additional information\, please co ntact Callie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu

Event page: https://www.umassd.edu/events/cms/10-1-26-d efense---abandoned-lost-and-otherwise-discarded-fishing-gear.php
Ev ent link: https://umassd.zo om.us/s/98433910843

DTSTAMP:20260901T152713 DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261001T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261001T140000 LOCATION:SMAST East 102-103 SUMMARY;LANGUAGE=en-us:Abandoned, Lost, and Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gea r as a Source of Plastic Pollution in Inland Fisheries. UID:c69aa917dc78a0bde1a3a74f418d292c@www.umassd.edu END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR