Indigenous Rangers Remove Ghost Net from Groote Eylandt Beach

On a remote beach of Groote Eylandt, an island in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria, Anindilyakwa Land and Sea rangers led by Kirsten Eden recovered a 60‑meter fishing net that had been burned and melted into a hard plastic lump before being cast overboard. The net floated to shore, where it now breaks into microplastics that will persist in the environment. The island is Aboriginal freehold land, home to songlines and art sites, giving the rangers a strong cultural incentive to clear the debris. Ghost nets—discarded fishing gear that drifts, entangles marine life, and collects trash—are a persistent threat across northern Australia. Removing a net is labor‑intensive; some nets have sat for years, buried or wrapped around driftwood and rock, and can take hours to extract.