Pollution in the world is an urgent and growing problem, and that’s particularly true of the increasing amount of ocean plastic. Every year, about 12 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean, which is equivalent to dumping a garbage truck of trash into the ocean every minute. Among this yearly pollution, over 640,000 tons of it come from lines, nets, pots, ropes, and traps used in the fishing industry worldwide.
All plastic in the oceans can kill, smother, trap, or entangle animals. However, the most deadly plastic pollution is abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, known as “ghost gear.” This discovery is not surprising because, after all, the fishing gear is designed to catch and kill marine wildlife.
Fishing gear can get lost in the ocean by accident, but in some cases, it’s tossed into the sea deliberately. Once the gear is in the sea, it poses a severe threat to wildlife, endangering tiny fish, crabs, coral reefs, clams, turtles, seabirds, and even big whales. Lost and discarded fishing gear spreads throughout the ocean on currents and tides, floating to coastlines, washing up on beaches, on remote islands, and even littering the deep sea.
In 2018, about 300 sea turtles were found dead from the entanglement of ghost gear off the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Fishing-related plastic is a documented problem in Mexican waters: a 2026 study found microplastics in 93% of Maya octopus sampled off nearby Campeche, with abandoned fishing gear named among the sources. Recently, the same thing happened to a pregnant whale. The whale was found off the Orkney coast entangled in ghost gear. The gear got stuck in the animal’s baleen, which is the filter-feeder system inside its mouth.
A report from Greenpeace UK, which draws on the most recently updated research on ocean pollution caused by ghost gear, calls for international action to stop plastic pollution once and for all.
Louisa Casson, from Greenpeace UK, said, “Ghost gear is a major source of ocean plastic pollution, and it affects marine life in the UK as much as anywhere else. The UK’s waters do not exist in a vacuum as oceans have no borders. The world’s governments must take action to protect our global oceans, and hold the under-regulated fishing industry to account for its dangerous waste. This should start with a strong global ocean treaty being agreed at the United Nations next year.”
It’s estimated that ghost gear makes up 10% of plastic pollution in the ocean. One study found that 70%, by weight, of macro-plastics found drifting on the surface of the sea was from fishing gear. Another study of the “great Pacific garbage patch,” estimated that it had 42,000 tons of mega-plastics, of which 86% was from fishing nets alone.
Greenpeace said, “Poor regulation and slow political progress in creating ocean sanctuaries that are off-limits to industrial fishing allow this problem to exist and persist.”
Greenpeace is pushing for the UN treaty to provide a comprehensive framework for marine protection, aiming for a worldwide network of ocean sanctuaries covering 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
