PORTLAND, Maine (AP)   A pair of groups says it expects to remove about 5,000 pounds of lost and abandoned fishing gear from New England waters during an effort to clean up the debris.

The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation is working with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative on the project Friday. They’re removing the gear from the Gulf of Maine. The groups say they’re cracking down on “ghost gear,” which is a threat to marine life and ecosystems.

The work was intended to take place Thursday but was pushed back by bad weather.

Ocean Conservancy took over the leadership of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative this year. Nicholas Mallos, the director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program, says the lost gear “impacts marine habitats and the fishers and coastal economies that depend on a healthy ocean.”