Ocean Sentry
From discarded fishing gear to plastic bags to cigarette butts, a growing tide of marine litter is harming oceans and beaches worldwide, says a new report. The report, the first-ever attempt to take stock of the marine litter situation in the 12 major regional seas around the world, was launched on World Oceans Day by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Ocean Conservancy.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
“Marine litter is symptomatic of a wider malaise: namely the wasteful use and persistent poor management of natural resources. The plastic bags, bottles and other debris piling up in the oceans and seas could be dramatically reduced by improved waste reduction, waste management and recycling initiatives”.
“Some of the litter, like thin film single use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased-out rapidly everywhere-there is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere. Other waste can be cut by boosting public awareness, and proposing an array of economic incentives and smart market mechanisms that tip the balance in favor of recycling, reducing or re-use rather than dumping into the sea,” he said.
Plastics and cigarettes top the “Top Ten” of marine debris
Plastic – especially plastic bags and PET bottles – is the most pervasive type of marine litter around the world, accounting for over 80 per cent of all rubbish collected in several of the regional seas assessed.
Plastic debris is accumulating in terrestrial and marine environments worldwide, slowly breaking down into tinier and tinier pieces that can be consumed by the smallest marine life at the base of the food web. Plastics collect toxic compounds that then can get into the bodies of organisms that eat the plastic. Global plastic production is now estimated at 225 million tons per year.
Plastics can be mistaken as food by numerous animals, including marine mammals, birds, fish and turtles. Sea turtles in particular may confuse floating plastic bags with jellyfish, one of their favorite treats.
A five-year survey of fulmars found in the North Sea region found that 95 percent of these seabirds contained plastic in their stomachs. Studies of the Northeast Atlantic plankton have found plastic in samples dating back to the 1960s, with a significant increase in abundance in time.
From source to sea
Land-based activities are the largest source of marine litter. In Australia, surveys near cities indicate up to 80 percent of marine litter originating from land-based sources, with sea-based sources in the lead in more remote areas.
The problem of marine litter is likely to be particularly severe in the East Asian Seas region -home to 1.8 billion people, 60 per cent of who live in coastal areas – which is experiencing simultaneous growth in both shipping activity and industrial and urban development.
Oil-based economics and an associated construction boom in the coastal areas of the Caspian Sea have made marine litter a new and emerging concern in the littoral states, particularly Iran and Azerbaijan.
The report Marine Litter: A Global Challenge is available online at: http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/publications/docs/Marine_Litter_A_Global_Challenge.pdf
(From media-newswire.com)
