Plastic pollution is choking our ocean. You’ll find it wrapped around coral reefs, drifting through marine sanctuaries, washing up onto beaches, and killing wildlife from the surface to the seafloor. In places like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – an area of ocean more than twice the size of Texas – plastic debris has accumulated in staggering quantities, much of it breaking down into microplastics difficult to spot from afar, and even harder to clean up.

And despite popular belief, the majority of that plastic isn’t from straws or shopping bags. Studies show that as much as 86% of the plastics in the Pacific Garbage Patch come from the fishing industry: nets, lines, crates, buoys, and other gear, much of it lost, abandoned, or deliberately dumped at sea. This so-called ghost gear is one of the deadliest forms of ocean plastic, continuing to trap and kill marine wildlife long after it’s been discarded.

Plastic fishing gear doesn’t just kill individual animals, it damages entire ecosystems. Nets smother coral reefs and block sunlight from reaching vital seagrass beds. Traps and lines scrape and break the seafloor. Microplastics shed from degraded gear enter the food chain, accumulating in fish, seabirds, and even top predators. This pollution weakens biodiversity, disrupts breeding grounds, and threatens the survival of species already pushed to the brink of extinction.

Our crews and volunteers find it on all our campaigns, both at sea and onshore: whales drowning in nets, seals tangled in plastic fishing lines, seabeds covered in illegal plastic octopus traps, and even remote sea turtle nesting beaches littered with tons of fishing gear that washes ashore day after day. We’ll never stop cleaning it up where we find it, but a better solution would be to stop it at the source.

And that means it’s time for the industrial fishing industry to stop treating the ocean as its dumping ground. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), plastic waste is projected to triple by 2060. “We will not recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis: we need a systemic transformation to achieve the transition to a circular economy,” says UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

A Treaty to End Plastic Pollution?

Right now, delegations from 179 countries are meeting at the UN’s Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to try to finalize a Global Plastics Treaty, an international legally binding instrument to end the plastic pollution crisis. If successful, it could become the first international agreement to address the full life cycle of plastics, tackling not just how plastic is disposed of, but how it’s made, used, and allowed to flood the environment, especially the ocean.

It’s clear this treaty is urgently needed. But it’s also under serious threat.

The last round of talks, held in Busan, South Korea, fell apart when countries couldn’t agree on whether to limit plastic production or regulate the toxic chemicals used to make it. Behind the scenes, industry lobbyists were out in force, trying to weaken the treaty and protect fossil fuel and petrochemical profits.

Now, delegates in Geneva have until August 14th to come to a consensus, going line-by-line through the 22-page document containing 32 articles drafted by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC). 

How does this treaty – assuming the entire draft is adopted – aim to protect the ocean?

What the Treaty Proposes to Do

Here are a few of the specific measures in the draft treaty that could help protect the ocean from plastic pollution:

     * Plastic Products – requires countries to reduce, phase out, or ban plastic products that are most likely to harm the environment, including those that contain toxic chemicals, are not recyclable, or frequently end up as litter (Article 3).

     * Supply (Sustainable Production) – proposes optional global targets for reducing plastic production, which would be tracked through national-level reporting if adopted (Article 6)..

     * Fishing Gear and Ocean Pollution – calls on countries to prevent plastic waste from entering the ocean, including pollution from abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (Article 7).

     * Product Design – encourages countries to improve plastic product design to make items more durable, reusable, recyclable, and less toxic (Article 5).

     * Tracking and Reporting – requires countries to submit regular reports on their plastic production, use, and actions taken under the treaty (Article 15), and includes optional provisions for tracking plastic supply and production (Article 6).

     * Plastic Cleanup – encourages cleanup and removal of existing plastic pollution, especially in areas where plastic has already accumulated in the environment (Article 9).

     * Support for Developing Countries – calls on wealthier countries to provide financial resources, technical assistance, and capacity building to help lower-income countries implement the treaty (Articles 11 and 12).

Are the Actions Specific Enough to Protect the Ocean?

Diplomatically speaking, the treaty still falls short. While it outlines the right ideas – like reducing harmful plastic products, preventing pollution from fishing gear, and cleaning up existing waste – it leaves most of the details up for interpretation. That’s a big problem when it comes to protecting the ocean.

For example, Article 3 sets out criteria for banning plastic products that are toxic, non-recyclable, or likely to end up in the environment. But it doesn’t name which products those are. That job is left to annexes that can be updated over time. Right now, the draft annexes include things like plastic straws, microbeads, and polystyrene food containers. But they don’t include any mention of fishing gear, even though ghost gear meets every one of the treaty’s risk criteria.

Worse, many of the treaty’s proposals use vague language like “as appropriate” or “based on national circumstances,” which gives countries a lot of wiggle room to do as little as possible. And unless governments in Geneva agree to make the key parts legally binding, nothing will force countries to follow through. A treaty without real rules won’t stop the flood of plastic into the ocean—it’ll just look good on paper while the crisis gets worse.

That’s why a strong treaty must:

     * Set legally binding limits on plastic production, including industrial fishing gear
     * Ban the most damaging and unrecoverable types of fishing gear outright
     * Require countries to retrieve lost gear and hold fleets accountable for dumping it
     * Cut fossil fuel lobbyists out of the negotiation process and put science and frontline experience first

The Ocean Doesn’t Need More Promises. It Needs Action.

Sea Shepherd Global is calling on delegates in Geneva to stand up to polluters and protect the ocean with the urgency it deserves. Marine wildlife doesn’t have time for watered-down compromises. In the meantime, Sea Shepherd Global will continue doing the work on the frontlines, pulling plastic out of the ocean and rescuing the marine wildlife caught in it.

In Greece, our crews have hauled up thousands of illegal plastic octopus traps and lines, freeing hundreds of live octopuses from certain death. In southern Italy, crew on Operation Ghostnet pulled up a massive 5-kilometer-long illegal fishing net just offshore of an area used by loggerhead sea turtles, just in time for nesting season. And last month in the Baltic Sea, the crew onboard the Triton spent hours retrieving a massive 802 kilo ghostnet from a depth of 33 meters just off the coast of Denmark.

But we’re not only working at sea. On shorelines around the world, Sea Shepherd volunteers and partners are clearing beaches, removing tons of fishing gear and other plastic debris that washes up on the shores every day, from Australia and Cape Verde to Spain and the Faroe Islands. 

Whatever happens in Geneva, Sea Shepherd Global will keep fighting on the water, on the beaches, and everywhere plastic gear is destroying marine life.