Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Marine Life

[Judi Lynn]

Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Marine Life

Marcus Eriksen | August 1, 2014 9:33 am

The revolution of plastic in the fishing industry has fed billions, but left a paucity of life in the oceans and more suffering than we understand. A lost nylon fishing net or tangled mass of hook and line does not stop fishing, the results are horrifying and solutions hard won.

The big things living in the ocean usually sink when they die, which is why any estimate of ecological impacts, from propeller scars to entanglement in fishing nets, are nearly impossible. They always underestimate the numbers of true deaths and dismemberment. The ones that are still alive near the surface are the messengers. A recent report from scientists studying loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) near the Azores, report gruesome amputations from entanglement and intestinal lesions and bleeding from hooks making their way through their bodies.

So what can fix this?

Lost fishing gear, called ghost nets, are more costly than you might think. Scientist studying the economics of subsidizing recovery of lost nets in Puget Sound reported that the fish and crabs that are caught and die in lost traps and nets was worth more than 12 times the cost of recovery programs. Incentivizing recovery works, but who will pay for it? In Chesapeake Bay researchers have had success with a program to equip crabbers with side-scanning sonar and a grapple hook to snare the hundreds of lost traps that litter the bay. The program works, thanks to taxpayer funds through the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.

But in the ocean, where marine mammals and reptiles interact with thousands of tons of plastic waste in international waters, the economic incentives are not there. Voluntary programs for fishermen to bring garbage back from the sea, or report lost gear, are not impactful on a large scale. What is needed are economic incentives, which will largely need to be subsidized by the industries producing the gear in the first place, to create a reward for the return of derelict gear.

More:
http://ecowatch.com/2014/08/01/plastic-pollution-marine-life/

[yeoman6987]

1. What we need to find is a replacement for plastics

We got rid of paper bags because it was destroying forestry due to needing trees. We got rid of medal due to expense and pollution from the factories. Now we have plastics which everyone thought was a good idea and as it turns out, it is no better than paper or medal. So now where do we go? I hear folks want to go back to paper bags? Well we were doing that in the 70's and folks didn't like that at all. Does anyone know where to go to replace plastics?

[eppur_se_muova]

2. There are a lot of "biocomposite" materials coming on the market ...

I recently bought a bowl made of cornstarch and bamboo. And soy byproducts are already in use in a lot of ways, including foams and plastics: http://foodallergies.about.com/od/soyallergies/a/Surprising-Non-Food-Soybean-Products.htm Someone just needs to get around to making microbeads out of bio-recyclable materials. I suspect something like sesame seeds would work just fine for an exfoliant -- oh look, that's already been done -- http://raw-pleasure.com.au/articles/enjoy-your-own-natural-body-scrubs