The data in this paper were previously reported to the NOAA Marine Debris Program at the end of grants, but many of these findings are not available within the peer-reviewed literature. Thus, this synthesis brings all the data together to gain a broader understanding of the scope of the DFT problem and ensures these data are available in the peer-reviewed literature. The main questions we address are: (1) How many DFTs exist in each fishery and what is their spatial distribution? and (2) What are DFT impacts to fishermen, target and non-target organisms, and habitat? Based on the synthesis of all seven studies, we determined that there is a need to develop a DFT management strategy.