Study seeks origins of ghost nets that haunt Hawaii’s shores

HONOLULU (AP) — “Ghost nets” from unknown origins drift among the Pacific’s currents, threatening marine creatures of all sorts and littering shorelines with the entangled remains of what they kill. Lost or discarded at sea, sometimes decades ago, this fishing gear continues to wreak havoc on ecosystems in Hawaii. Now, researchers are doing detective work to trace these nets back to fisheries and manufacturers. Ghost nets are found in oceans throughout the world, but the Hawaiian Islands — with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the east and another gyre of floating trash to the west — are an epicenter for marine waste.