Study Finds: Fishing Gear Plastic Found To Cause Most Of Coral Reef Plastic Pollution

The majority of coral reef plastic pollution has been linked to plastic fishing gear. According to new research published in the journal Nature, fishing gear plastic made up approximately three-quarters of the plastic trash identified by underwater visual surveys of coral reefs throughout the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic seas.

Global Research

An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford (UK), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), California Academy of Sciences (US), and other collaborators discovered that debris increased with depth and is related to proximity to marine protected areas, revealing the extent of plastic pollution on coral reefs.

Over 1,200 visual surveys were undertaken by the researchers in 84 shallow and mesophotic reef ecosystems spread across 14 nations. Between 30 and 150 meters below the surface are coral reefs known as mesophotic, or “twilight zone” reefs. Macroplastics greater than five cm made about 88% of the overall debris.

Nearly every area investigated included human-made garbage, even some of the planet’s most distant and unspoiled coral reefs, such as those on deserted islands in the Central Pacific. The Marshall Islands, a coral island chain in eastern Micronesia (Oceania), had the lowest density of plastic pollution, and Comoros, an island chain off the southeast coast of Africa, had the highest, with approximately 84,500 items per square kilometer.

The study discovered that plastic pollution on coral reefs was higher than in other marine ecosystems examined and that it peaked in the mesophotic zone after increasing with depth.

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Expert’s Advice

“It was surprising to find that debris increased with depth since deeper reefs, in general, are farther from sources of plastic pollution,” said Luiz Rocha, Academy curator of ichthyology, and senior author on the study.

“Fishing gear, which even as debris continues to catch marine life through what we call ghost fishing, appears to contribute a large proportion of the plastic seen on mesophotic reefs,” said co-author Lucy Woodall, associate professor in marine conservation biology and policy at University of Exeter, UK.
“Unfortunately, fishing gear debris is often not reduced by general waste management interventions; therefore specific solutions related to the needs of fishers should be considered, such as no-charge disposing of damaged gear in ports or individually labeling gear to ensure fishers take responsibility for misplaced equipment,” said Woodall

“From macroplastics that spread coral diseases to fishing lines that entangle and damage the structural complexity of the reef, decreasing both fish abundance and diversity, pollution negatively impacts the entire coral reef ecosystem,” said Hudson Pinheiro, the study’s lead author and a biologist at the University of Sao Paulo.

“As marine resources around the world dwindle, humans that rely on those resources are turning to deeper habitats and those closer to marine protected areas where fish remain abundant,” said Pinheiro. The scientists believed that conservation efforts may be refocused to better safeguard and guarantee a prosperous future for coral reefs on Earth.

Author of the study and marine biologist at the University of Oxford Paris Stefanoudis stated that “the findings of our global study shine a light on one of the many threats that deep reefs face today.” These habitats need to be preserved and specifically taken into account in management plans since they are ecologically and biologically distinct, similar to their shallow-water siblings.