Why lost fishing nets are such a problem

Reggie

They keep catching.

18 May 2026

The short answer

Lost or abandoned fishing gear can keep trapping animals after it has stopped being useful to people. That is the brutal bit.

10:00

A net does not know the fishing trip is over. It just keeps doing net things.

10:03

Lost gear is a design, recovery and enforcement problem.

Animals can become entangled, injured or drowned. Gear can also damage habitats and create hazards for boats.

10:11

This is why ocean plastic is not only bottles and bags. Some of the hardest waste is industrial, heavy and difficult to recover.

10:18

The lesson is not that kitchen choices solve fishing gear. The lesson is that plastic waste needs a route after use.

10:26

That is the same principle behind better caddy routines and clear product claims. Read more Field Notes.

10:32

Sources and proof