More than 40 divers pulled the debris from a popular recreational spot at The Spit during a clean-up event over the weekend.

"It's pretty horrifying to be removing that from the environment," Sea Shepherd marine debris campaigner Grahame Lloyd said.

"That is by no means clean down there.

"We removed as much as we could in a time frame."
Better 'self-regulation' required

Mr Lloyd said it had been an ongoing problem in the area, with about 4.5 kilometres of fishing line pulled out of the seaway during a smaller clean-up during November