great white sharks, or playful endangered Australian sea lions.

Mr Waller's workplace is dotted with isolated islands that have remained largely untouched since Matthew Flinders mapped the area in 1802.

But the isolation of this idyllic paradise has not been a barrier in protecting it from what Mr Waller labels as "the scourge of a century of progress — plastics".

Every day he sees pieces of rope, straws, plastic bottles and other rubbish but the ghost netting, found about a kilometre away from a sea lion breeding colony, highlights another problem.

He has just finished a month-long campaign to clean up beaches along the Port Lincoln coast and its islands but the netting and rope waste collected by the school groups taking part can only be stockpiled at this stage.

Inspiration needed tofind use for waste

Once hauled out, the 30-to-50-metre section of netting ended up on what is known as 'Mount Net', a huge pile of netting offcuts, damaged nets, and ropes.

Mount Net is expanding annually at the Port Lincoln refuse centre, awaiting an economic and environmentally sound solution.

Matt Waller says marine debris poses a risk for the playful endangered Australian sea lion. ( Suppled: Adventure Bay Charters )

The Port Lincoln City Council began recording the amount of netting dumped at its refuse centre in 2009.

So far, it has amassed almost 1,500 tonnes of netting from the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries.

Council spokesperson Jade Scott said the industry and council were hopeful the stockpile could be recycled or repurposed.

"A number of operators with recycling proposals have approached all relevant stakeholders,