This site showcases the creative work of 11 Cornell University undergraduates who spent Spring Break 2023 cleaning up 8 tons – 15,750 pounds – of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded gear (aka ghost gear) from the fishing and lobster industries on the island of Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts. Through an effort spearheaded by the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Debris and Plastics Program in Provincetown, Massachusetts, these students, two graduate student assistants, and I worked with a small and committed team of artists, conservationists, island residents, and volunteers to assist with a decades-old problem of ghost gear piling up on Cuttyhunk in staggering amounts.
Student creative projects draw from their significant physical, intellectual, and emotional labor reckoning with the scale of the ghost gear problem, as well as with the fishing and lobster industries’ impact on marine life, coastal habitats, and the Cuttyhunk community. We invite you into the tangle to explore these issues with us.
Annie Lewandowski
Department of Music
Cornell University
Photo by Josh Biggs. Project supported by the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement and
Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Implementation Grants.