(8 Jun 2017) LEADIN:??The seas and oceans of the world are battling for survival as tons of plastic waste makes its way into waters every year.??A recent World Economic Forum (WEF) study claimed the oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050 if nothing is done to reverse the process.??In India, a group of scuba divers are taking the lead in cleaning up the mess, hoping to save precious and life-sustaining marine resources from a plastic onslaught.?
STORYLINE:??Their job is to help tourists enjoy scuba diving in one of India's few ecologically-critical habitats along the western coastline, known for its rich marine bio-diversity .??But their mission is to nurse the ailing sea back to health - by pulling plastic waste from the sea.??A 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) report on "The New Plastics Economy" estimated there is 150 million tons of plastics in the oceans already.??It said at least eight million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year - that's the equivalent to dumping one truck full of garbage into the water every minute.??The plastic litter, including abandoned fishing nets, bottles, wrappers and other trash, is collected on the beach and sorted by these scuba divers to segregate the recyclable waste.??These young fishermen-turned-divers have been trained under an ongoing United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project to promote marine conservation by linking it to sustainable livelihoods for local communities.??The Sindhudurg project runs in partnership with India's government and is supported by the Global Environment Facility in creating alternate opportunities for locals in order to take the pressure off fishing.??30-year-old Bhushan Kashinath Juwatkar comes from a family of traditional fishermen and has taken up scuba-diving as a profession.??He says there is an urgent need to stop damage to the marine eco-system and control what is put in the sea.
Abandoned and discarded plastic fishing nets on the ocean floor trap marine animals, it's known as 'ghost fishing.'??Ingestion of plastic waste and tiny plastic micro beads that get dumped into the oceans from gutters and drains also harm marine life in large numbers.
?"If we don't take it out, nothing will survive," he says.
?"If we do not take out the ghost net (abandoned net) then it will kill the fish and the marine life.
?"We won't be able to save anything in the water because of the plastic ... there won't be fish or corals - only plastic will survive. One day will come when people will see only a sea of plastic."
?"Some of the turtles chew plastic as if it was a jellyfish or it gets into the system of some of the dolphins and other animals," says Vasudevan.
?"So there is a lot of damage caused by these waste materials, solid waste. And then there is pollution, which are untreated pollutants, sewage being released by hotels and houses into the waters, which also causes a lot of pollution. And it disturbs the whole eco-system."
According to UNESCO, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds and more than 100,000 marine mammals every year.
?The oyster spat settles on them and starts growing by feeding on planktons and other organisms present in the water.
?Before this, the oyster seeds used to settle on creek-side rocks and the women had to step on hard rocks to collect them.
?With five to ten new shells growing around each empty shell, the women now have a healthy oyster crop to sell every season.? ?Oyster farmer Kasturi Kashinath Dhoke says they make 150 rupees (approx. $2.5 two USD) for a dozen oyster shells sold at the local market.
Today (June 8) is World Oceans Day.
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