Unfortunately, over 65 percent of all entanglements involved monofilament fishing line, nets, fishing gear, ropes, crab and lobster traps. While the percent concentration of each category varies from site to site and county to county, the over all percentage breakdown is fairly consistant for spring and fall cleanups throughout the years. The most prevalent type of debris found on New Jersey's beaches and waterways is plastic. The major reason that plastic ranks so high, is that almost everything we buy has some type of plastic associated with it, the longevity of plastic in the environment, inproper desposal, and non-recycling of plastic items by consumers. Items made of plastic cause the most needless deaths of marine animals because of the strength of the plastic material and its ability to last a long time in the environment without breaking down.
Plastic affects marine life in two ways, by entanglement or ingestion.
The effects of ingested plastic are harder to detect. A number of deaths of sea turtles, whales and seals have been attributed to plastic blocking the digestive system.