Fiji Times Wednesday 06 September 2017 Rarotonga, Cook Islands — Enhanced safety of fishing vessels at sea will lead to better ocean health and marine species. One way to help us all address this is the Cape Town Agreement on the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 2012.
Records show from 2001-2015, there were more than 10,000 violations of waste discharges at sea primarily from purse seiners but also long liners. Plastic discharge, including abandoned discarded lost fishing gear made up 71 per cent of these violations.
“Marine pollution and debris is a significant threat to the Pacific, especially through its negative aesthetic, physical, chemical, biological and human health effects,” presented Dr Vicki Hall, director, Waste Management and Pollution Control of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
“The problem is growing. A global review found a 49 per cent increase in reports of marine species being entangled in and ingesting marine debris between 1997 and 2015. A recent study in the Pacific region found plastic ingestion at 97 per cent from examined fish species.” Read more…
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