While public consciousness of the extent of waste plastic in the oceans continues to grow, it’s something the fishing industry has been aware of for a long time.
UNEP estimates that more than 6 million tonnes of plastic garbage finds its way every year into the world’s oceans. Environmental organisation KIMO estimates that around 20,000 tonnes of waste is dumped into the North Sea every year and around 70% of this drops to the seabed.
Danish fishermen working in the North Sea and Skagerak have long been aware of the problem, and several Danish ports each take delivery of hundreds of tonnes of this garbage every year – along with the disposal costs for this waste.
According to skipper Jørgen Olesen of the Hvide Sande trawler Anette-Helene, cod are aggressive predators and scavengers – and plastic in a cod’s stomach is nothing unusual.
The video was shot on board Anette-Helene while fishing 150 nautical miles north-west of Hvide Sande in Norwegian waters.
