I think that's why I really like passive collectors rather than mechanized collectors. The bandalong we use to keep litter from flowing into larger bodies of water is easily avoided by aquatic life and even provides fish cover as a bonus. It also provides habitat for spiders who love to crawl up my leg while im cleaning the encatchment basins 🥲 We've found tons of turtles, snakes, and frogs living in or under the structure as well. It also helps us study what kinds of waste are more likely to end up in waterways and how much.

This is a bandalong btw

I agree with the researchers that we can't rely on marine robots to clean up our trash and use them as excuses to not reduce plastic production. I think plastic does have valid and important uses, but 90% of it can be replicated by other more sustainable materials. Investment in alternative sustainable materials should be prioritized over trying to find a way to keep plastic production the same. Of course saying this makes oil barons unhappy so they'd rather fund cleanup robots rather than accept reducing their profits even a tiny bit.