Plastic straws has been, and continues to be the most widespread propaganda of the 21st century. Solving the issue of plastic straws in the ocean does not solve the issue of plastics in the ocean, because it only constitutes 0.025% of ocean plastics. So what's the rest? Well, it’s fishy and complicated. Let’s start from the beginning.

The ocean is full of plastics, which is growing substantially every day, accumulating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Worse? Currents bring ocean plastics to areas far from the coast, causing clean-up efforts to be logistically difficult and financially unsustainable.

The truth is, most plastics in the ocean comes from fisheries. Nearly 20 percent of ocean plastics come from fishing, and that is only the documented amount. Illegal fishing and bad fishing practices often rise that figure. Alarmingly, over 100 million pounds of plastic enter our oceans each year from discarded or lost fishing gear. 

The solution rather uncomplicated. In the future, better fishing technology will reduce pollution from lost fishing gear, but that timeframe is far away. Even then, most fisheries will not have access to that technology, especially in the third-world where most of the pollution occurs. Since fisheries cannot be solved by the public, governments should take the lead in solving their pollution. So the correct solution?

1. Increase regulation of fisheries and fishing equipment.

2. Require licenses for fishing operations that need to be renewed every few years to ensure continued compliance.

3. Increase coast guard surveillance of fishing vessels and add extra random checkups to suspicious vessels.

4. Establish heavy fines to ensure fisheries follow regulations.

5. Support the industry by subsidizing R&D of more advanced fishing equipment.