Published November 6, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | SURF & COAST | NOVEMBER 6, 2026
A lost fishing net doesn’t clock out when it sinks.
Under the Newport Beach Pier, Ocean Defenders Alliance divers found a squid net wrapped around one piling and stretching toward another. The group said it could trap sea lions, fish and seabirds.
On that dive, ODA reported hauling up about 300 pounds of net, two lobster traps and two fishing poles. The divers also freed lobsters, a rockfish, crabs, shrimp and octopuses.
Why it’s called ghost gear
It keeps catching animals long after whoever lost it has gone home. The pier pilings and nearby harbor waters are prime spots for line and netting to snag. Cleanup is slow: divers have to find the gear, cut it free without doing more damage and bring it up.
ODA’s account covers one dive, not a running tally of what’s down there now. But it’s a vivid look at what can hide under a stretch of pier we all walk every week.
The beach gets the postcards. The ocean floor gets the fishing knives, sunglasses and nets.
Source: Ocean Defenders Alliance: Newport Beach Pier cleanup
Help us out, Newport.
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