From a damage perspective the two couldn't be more different as well. Lost fishing gear is large bulky items that trap & kill sealife, damage habitat, etc. Whereas we aren't entirely sure what downsides micro-plastics have, I'm sure over time we'll discover issues. But, where we stand today we know that we have a clear and present danger from the fishing gear.

tire particulate is known to be toxic, up to levels that are lethal to wildlife in roadside streams

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00456...

> I'm sure over time we'll discover issues. But, where we stand today we know that we have a clear and present danger from the fishing gear.

Whereas today, we already see the present danger of micro plastics.. Just because fishing takes part on 80% of the globe as opposed to the <20% we drive on, I think the numbers are worse.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.8272...

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/micro....

Maybe lets not disregard the downsides just yet.

EDIT: Both are bad.. Plastic isn't helping anyone. Marine or mammal .

From a cleanup perspective, I'd much rather have it consolidated into relatively few large chunks...