Many people don't realise the sheer magnitude of nylon fishing line and nets drifting around the ocean. Even when you are aware of it, the amount of it is so staggering that it's hard to comprehend. Firstly for the sheer size of one net - I remember clearly the first time Paul Watson talked about the Sea Shepherd stopping a long line fishing boat and confiscating 8km of (one) fishing net. I was gob smacked. And then there is fishing line. One long line fishing line can be up to 80 kilometres long (and carry thousands of hooks.)
The reality is that many of these massive nets and lines are lost at sea or simply abandoned all the time, all over the world. And nets move as they are pushed along by currents and gyres. (In Australia, most ghost nets are fished out of the top end of Gulf of Carpentaria. Around 10 percent of all nets found there, literally thousands of them, come from Australia. The rest come in mostly from the Arafura Sea during the monsoonal season before getting caught up in the Gulf gyre.)
Econyl and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society released a story earlier this month regarding the salvage of 2800 km of fishing line, 34 tons of marine garbage and other fishing gear that had been stockpiling on an otherwise pristine Cocos Island for 25 years (a remote national park 500 miles off the mainland). Sea Shepherd worked in partnership with Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment on the mission.
The Cocos island is part of a globally significant biodiversity area and the removal of the debris was extremely important, not just for Costa Rica, but for the entire world. The logistics of the operation were enormous - because of the significant amount of garbage and the challenge of physically moving so much weight in such a remote place. The mission was completed successfully and Paul Watson said,"PLASTICS ARE A SERIOUS THREAT TO MARINE ECOSYSTEMS. REMOVING ILLEGAL NYLON FISHING GEAR FROM SUCH A PRISTINE ENVIRONMENT, REPURPOSING THE MATERIAL AND ENSURING IT WILL NOT BE USED TO KILL SHARKS AGAIN IS A BIG STEP IN PROTECTING SHARKS AND THE TROPICAL EASTERN PACIFIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT"
The waste was shipped to Aquafil for regeneration into nylon 6. Aquafil are the creaters of ECONYL® regenerated nylon, which is used for carpet flooring and fashion items.