Vast quantities of plastic and fishing gear are washing up along the shores of the Seychelles, destroying fragile ecosystems and causing significant economic problems.

Aldabra Atoll, a Unesco world heritage site in this archipelago nation of 115 islands, is estimated to have accumulated more than 500 tonnes of plastic on its shores alone. Most of this plastic debris continues to pile up along its beaches today. It was estimated that removing it would cost approximately US$4.68 million (£3.46 million) and would require 18,000 hours of labour.

Small island developing states are particularly vulnerable to plastic debris on their beaches. It can damage tourism and fishing in these coastal communities, which is essential to their economies. Clean-up costs can be prohibitive.

Fish and other marine life can also be killed by getting entangled with or ingesting plastic debris.

It is impossible to tackle this growing problem without knowing where this pollution is coming from and who is responsible. We investigated this in our recent study using computer simulations and observations, focusing on pollution in the western Indian Ocean from fisheries and shipping.

We found that most pollution probably comes from vessels in or near the Seychelles’ own waters. This challenges the assumption from previous work that........

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