We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Oceanic plastic pollution caused by Danish seine fishing in Norway
Summary
Researchers estimated that Danish seine fishing in Norway alone contributes 77 to 97 tons of plastic to the sea annually from rope wear caused by dragging gear along the seabed, and extrapolating globally, all fly dragging and anchor seining generates approximately 311 tons of plastic pollution per year. The study identifies fishing gear abrasion as a significant but underinvestigated source of marine microplastic contamination.
Wear and tear on fishing gear is a sparsely investigated source of microplastic pollution in the sea. In Norway, Danish seine ropes and trawls are the fishing gears that contribute most to this pollution. The main reason for this pollution is that the seine ropes are dragged along the seabed over a considerable distance, creating a friction force that results in high ropes wear. This note reports the findings after examining the wear of Danish seine ropes used in Norwegian fisheries. The results show that, in Norway alone, an average of 77 to 97 tons of plastic will be added to the sea annually due to this specific fishing gear. Aggregated to include all fly dragging, anchor seining, and pair seining globally, this number is estimated to be about 311 tons per year.