Derelict Fishing Gear – Removing a Source of Microplastics from the Marine Environment

Abstract

Lost fishing gear is omnipresent in the marine environment. The Mediterranean acts as a hotspot for microplastics, with a dominant fraction being fibres. The origin of these fibres – fishing nets, ropes, or land-based waste water, is unknown. Fishing nets take decades to centuries to degrade in the marine environment, remaining a source of microplastic fibres with a potential of entering the marine food web and returning to our plates.