To report a net on the beach, contact Project Manager Barbara at 808-635-2593 or Bwiednerrealtor@aol.com.
Net Patrol events are usually scheduled a month in advance, on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00pm to 6:30pm. Please check on social media for the latest location.
On Kauai’s windward shores, thousands of pounds of plastic pollution wash ashore every year – most from commercial fishing operations, with fishing nets being the main culprit. The tides bring in tangled masses of ropes and lines, many weighing over 1,000 pounds. We launched “Net Patrol” in 2007 in response to the growing problem of debris on outlying beaches and coastlines. Removing the net masses requires digging, cutting, dragging, and hauling. It is important to get to the nets before the next high tide, so we mobilize Net Patrol to remove them. If left on the coastline, the ocean will wash them out again, where they can entangle fish, monk seals and turtles – or ensnare coral heads.
Surfrider Kauai and the Hawaii Wildlife Fund have partnered to share knowledge and interpret three decades worth of debris data. Learn more about what 30 years of regular cleanup activities reveal about marine debris recovery efforts in Hawai’i.
Tracking and categorizing the collection of marine debris over the years has highlighted trends in the types of marine debris that wash ashore.