Finds and lifts lost fishing nets from the seabed, with weighed proof
TL;DR Lostline locates lost fishing nets on reefs, wrecks and harbour beds using sonar and small underwater robots, then sends dive teams to lift them. Every kilo is weighed, photographed and logged by location. CSR funders and coastal agencies pay for verified removal, and sorted nylon goes to recyclers.
Fishing gear is a large share of the plastic on India's seabed. A 2022 study of 390 Kerala fishers found they lose, abandon or discard about 21% of their gear each year, against a global figure of 1.82%[1]. Each Kerala vessel loses an average of 167.5 kg of gear a year, and the state has 28,000–34,000 marine fishing vessels[1].
Nobody owns the problem. India has no unified system to track or retrieve lost gear, and the work is split between fisheries departments, pollution boards and wildlife officials[1].
Incentive schemes that pay fishers for returned nets have been gamed with staged retrievals too. So what did the funder actually pay for? Often they can't tell[1].
Lostline sells verified removal. Small boats tow side-scan sonar over reefs, wreck sites and harbour approaches that fishers flag, and a small ROV checks each target on video. Trained dive teams then cut and lift the nets.
Every lift is logged with GPS, time, photos and a weight slip at the landing site, and the report links each kilo to a place. Fishers earn money for tip-offs that lead to confirmed finds, not just for bringing in nets, which makes fraud harder. Nets are sorted by material and clean nylon goes to recyclers to offset part of the cost.
The seed wanted robot swarms cleaning microplastics and seabed pollution, and I reframed it. Microplastic particles are scattered through sediment and can't be swept up at any useful scale. Lost nets are large, findable and the source of a lot of that plastic, so removing them is where money buys a result you can measure.
CSR teams already fund this work - one Chennai nonprofit's net programme is backed by a drugmaker, a family foundation and a motorcycle brand[2]. Funders want numbers they can report.
State fisheries and coastal agencies are a second buyer, though their budgets are uncertain[1]. Recyclers pay for clean nylon, but that money alone won't cover the dives. I found no public per-kilo rate for removal.
Ghost gear is in the news. An environmental news site reported in July 2026 that west coast fishers are confronting the problem and that verification is the weak point in current incentive schemes[1]. That Chennai nonprofit has collected over 200 tonnes of ghost nets along the Chennai and Chengalpattu coast[2], which shows the scale and shows funders will pay. Small ROVs now start at about ₹4.7 L (US$4,900)[3].
There's no public figure for India's ghost-gear removal market. The narrow signal is funded activity - 200+ tonnes recovered through one CSR-backed programme[2], and state and NGO payouts of ₹15,000–70,000 for safe releases or returned nets[1].
How fast can it go? Nine divers lifted 400 kg at Vizhinjam in 90 minutes[4].
A coastal nonprofit runs fisher incentives in Tamil Nadu[2]. A marine conservation trust retrieves ghost nets in Goa and Karnataka[5]. A volunteer group has run diver clean-ups in Kerala[4]. In Europe, one well-known initiative works with volunteer divers and corporate partners to recover and recycle nets.
The gap in India is a paid operator with sonar search and audit-grade records.
| Difficulty | Moderate (43/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹45–90 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
The kit is simple and cheap. The hard parts are diver safety in currents and poor visibility, a season the weather keeps cutting short, and keeping fisher tip-off networks honest. Selling multi-year contracts to CSR teams that usually fund one-off beach events takes steady work too, and it won't happen in a quarter.
No single licence covers ghost-net removal. Authority is split between several offices, so you collect letters rather than one permit[2].
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't trust AI with diver safety calls or weather decisions. Those stay with an experienced dive supervisor on the boat.
Want to work out the AI layer for Lostline? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I like this one for a commercial diver or marine NGO veteran who can run safe operations and talk to CSR teams. If you're expecting a robotics product then it isn't for you.
Before you buy more equipment, prove one thing - a funder will pay a fixed rate per verified kilo for a full season.
Plan for about ₹45–90 L for boats, side-scan sonar, a small ROV, dive kit and a season of crew costs.
There is no single licence. You need letters from fisheries, pollution control and forest offices for each area, and you must send nets to registered recyclers.
Yes, lost fishing gear is a problem on every coast. Check local waste, fisheries and commercial diving rules before your first lift.
The free Lostline validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the permits and safety checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for funders and fishers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Lostline or something close to it? The make-or-break work is pricing verified removal so a funder renews next year, and pricing is something I help founders with all the time. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.