According to research, fishing nets suffocate and kill the coral reefs that surround the coasts.
Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/Getty Images
The Marine Debris Research Center of the Pacific University of Hawaii launched a project to pay fishermen to help clean up the environment and remove fishing nets at sea before they hit coral reefs or Hawaiian wildlife.
According to the statement, fishermen will be paid a reward of between $1 and $3 per dry pound of abandoned fishing nets found at sea and brought to Oahusaid the research center.
The research center first tested the program between 2020 and 2021, according to Raquel Corniuk, research manager at the Center for Marine Debris Research.
The research center recognized a “vessel of opportunity” once it began receiving positive feedback from participating fishermen, Corniuk said.
Now, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, the Hawaii Longline Association, and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, The program has sufficient funds to pay for the removal of 100 metric tons, or 220,462 pounds, of abandoned fishing nets over the next two years.
These nets represent an “alarming” amount of plastic in the ocean, according to The Nature Conservancy. More than 100 million pounds of plastic pollution from lost or abandoned industrial fishing tackle enters the ocean each year, according to a 2021 report.
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