In one of the island’s most challenging and inspiring cleanup efforts, Surfrider Foundation’s Kauaʻi Chapter has successfully completed its seventh annual Operation Airlift — a helicopter-assisted mission to remove abandoned fishing nets and plastics from some of Kauaʻi’s most remote and rugged shoreline.
Over the course of nine Net Patrol missions between May and July 2025, dedicated volunteers hauled 36 “super sacks” — averaging 250 pounds each — of derelict and entangled nets and marine debris across rough coastal terrain south of Moloaʻa. On August 9, with the help of Jack Harter Helicopters and in partnership with Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund, the debris was airlifted out.
Once airlifted, the super sacks were transported to a private property, where over the course of the next week, volunteers will transport the sacks to Surfrider Kauaʻi’s Marine Debris Baseyard in Kapaʻa for processing. The nets and plastics, which make up roughly 60% of the debris, pose a serious theat to marine ecosystems and can continue “ghost fishing” for decades if left in the ocean.
The debris — roughly 60% of which consisted of so-called ghost nets (lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing nets) — poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems. Ghost nets can continue to “fish” for decades, entangling humpback whales, Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, and other marine animals, often causing injury, suffocation, or starvation.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of ghost nets, most originating from commercial fishing operations, wash up on Kauaʻi’s shores every year. Many weigh well over 1,000 pounds and arrive as massive, tangled bundles of rope, line, and netting.
Surfrider Kauaʻi launched its Net Patrol program in 2007 in response to the growing crisis. Volunteers meet weekly to remove nets wherever they are reported — often hiking into remote stretches of coast, cutting through heavy netting, and carrying debris across difficult and rocky terrain
“This is a team accomplishment that wouldn’t be possible without our core Net Patrol volunteers,” said Scott McCubbins, Surfrider Kauaʻi Treasurer and Co-Coordinator of Beach Cleanup and Net Patrol. “Every week they show up, rain or shine, to protect our ocean and wildlife. But we also need to address the root cause — about 85% of these nets and other fishing-related plastics come from the commercial fishing industry. There are already rules for proper disposal, and it’s critical that we enforce them.”
Operation Airlift was coordinated by Scott McCubbins, and is one of the programʻs most logistically challenging and rewarding efforts each year, using helicopter support to reach otherwise inaccessible stretches of coastline. To report nets or other marine debris, or to join a Net Patrol, call the Surfrider Kauaʻi Net Patrol Hotline at (808) 635-2593.
Huge mahalo to Jack Harter Helicopters for their continued dedication to protecting our coastlines.