GHOST NETS
Fishing gear can end up in the ocean via a variety of routes. Fishing lines break, nets get snagged on rocks and corals, fishermen lose them overboard or can’t find where they deployed nets and lines, and in some cases, broken and old fishing gear is purposely dumped into the sea!
Drifting around on ocean currents, these discarded and lost fishing gears are referred to as ‘ghost nets’. Marine animals are naturally attracted to floating debris, and as a result, ghost nets attract a wide array of pelagic (open ocean) species. Every year, ghost nets are responsible for entangling millions of sharks, rays, fish, dolphins, whales, seabirds, and turtles.
A recent study found that 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is comprised of fishing nets. Straws and plastic bags are terrible for the oceans but compared to the amount of destruction discarded fishing gear causes, they aren’t nearly as big an issue.