The fishing nets can become wrapped around the animals body, preventing them from swimming. Fishing nets make up 46% of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Every year, over 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear is abandoned in our oceans ( 6), entrapping many marine animals. If you eat fish, it is more than likely that you will have ingested plastic - this can increase the risk of serious health issues including infertility and cancer.Ībandoned fishing nets or ‘ghost nets’ pose a great threat to marine mammals, sea birds and fish. The microplastics accumulate up the food chain ( 5). These organisms are then ingested by slightly larger fish, who are then eaten by even larger fish. They are ingested by filter feeding or sediment ingesting organisms that mistake it for suspended particulate matter or sediment ( 4). Microplastics accumulate lower down the food chain. What are the effects of all this plastic in our oceans? Reducing our plastic consumption does have an impact, but we should be addressing the main issue. Whereas, discarded fishing gear accounts for 37% of all plastic in the oceans. Plastic straws gain a lot of media attention, but they account for less than 1% of marine litter. But the main, and not as well known, contributor is a by-product of the fishing industry. The plastic enters through various sources including run-off from land - landfill, wastewater treatments or simply from people littering. Plastic enters our oceans in a variety of different forms and their presence has been detected in every ocean from the shorelines, down to the deep sea ( 3). It can enter either as whole pieces, such as plastic packaging, abandoned fishing nets, or as microplastics, less than 5mm long (whole pieces can also break down to become microplastics). This is having a profound impact on human health as well as the health of the oceans ( 2).
Over the last decade we have produced more plastic than the whole of the last century ( 1). Globally, over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, 50% of which is for single use items and a staggering 8 million tonnes of this ends up in our oceans.
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