June 10, 2025 — Commercial fisheries entities are collaborating with a rising star in plastics recycling, Net Your Problem, to keep thousands of pounds of worn-out fishing gear and washed-ashore plastic debris out of landfills and get it refurbished into useful products.
“Fishing gear doesn’t last forever, but it also doesn’t have to go to waste,” said Tim Fitzgerald, chief sustainability officer at American Seafoods, part of the catcher-processor sector of the Alaska pollock industry. “As we continuously improve our nets and gear, it is encouraging to know that the gear that has served one useful purpose can now serve another one,” he said.
American Seafoods collaborated on May 28 with Arctic Storm Management Group, Coastal Villages Region Fund, Glacier Fish Company, and 150 volunteers for an inaugural net recycling day at the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 9, each spending several hours to clean one of their groundfish nets, which yield on average 20,000 pounds of plastic.
“The nets are expensive enough that we take very good care of them,” said Fitzgerald. “We try to use them as long as possible.” As for the event itself, “we are really excited about it,” he said.