Marine debris including abandoned fishing gear, plastic bags, and packing bands cause entanglement injuries and death in sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, and fish worldwide.
Key Facts
Ghost gear -- abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing equipment -- is estimated to affect 136,000 whales and dolphins annually
Sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to entanglement in debris including plastic bags and packing bands
Entangled animals may carry debris for months or years, causing wounds, restricted movement, and death
NOAA estimates over 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually by marine debris entanglement
Ghost Gear Initiative and similar programs retrieve abandoned fishing gear from ocean environments
Welfare Considerations
Marine debris entanglement causes prolonged welfare harm to conscious marine animals. Sea turtles entrapped in plastic rings or packing straps experience progressive constriction as they grow around the debris. Marine mammals entangled in ghost gear may carry hundreds of pounds of rope and net for months, sustaining infected wounds and exhaustion. The scale -- hundreds of thousands of animals annually -- combined with the preventable nature of the harm makes marine debris entanglement a priority welfare issue. Source reduction through better fishing gear management and plastic reduction addresses the problem more effectively than cleanup alone.
What You Can Do
Support ghost gear retrieval and responsible fishing gear management programs
Reduce plastic consumption that enters marine environments as entanglement debris
Never release balloons or leave plastic waste near water or beaches
Participate in beach cleanups that remove debris before it becomes marine entanglement hazard