From fishing nets to furniture: Turning ocean plastic into usable products

A technical diver prepares to descend to work on fishing nets covering the seafloor at the harbor in Motril, Spain. — Photos: LENA MUCHA/The New York Times

When most people think of ocean waste, they often picture mounds of plastic that wash up on the sandy beaches of remote islands in the Pacific.

But environmentalists face a hidden scourge in abandoned fishing nets that drift beneath the waves and blanket the ocean floor.