Transcript
KOSI LATU: What we were trying to demonstrate through that study of ten thousand reports from fisheries observers, so they've spent a bit of time as part opf purse seiner fishing vessels, and these reports are actually written and filed by fisheries officers, officials from various Pacific Island countries who have spent time on these fishing vessels. So we asked for those reports and we analysed ten thousand of them. And the broad outcome of that data is that a large portion, of about 37 percent, of the waste that's discharged from these fishing vessels is marine debris.
DOMINIC GODFREY: Is that plastics?
KL: Plastics, yes.
DF: Because I'm just looking at this pie chart in front of me, it says of the dumping 71 percent is waste that's dumped;13 percent is abandoned, lost and dumped lost fishing gear; oil spillages and leakages account for 16 percent. But yeah, waste dumped is 71 percent of which 37 percent is plastics. That's...
KL: That's right. This is the point that we've been trying to make at this Oceans conference. It's heartening to now hear many states, and in particular their leaders, now speaking up for this issue. It is shocking and alarming, because the impact of what this data demonstrates is that we've got to be careful with the fish that we're eating. The other part of the research that we did is that we actually undertook another study in four countries: Samoa, Tahiti, Easter Island and Auckland in New Zealand, and took samples from fish ingestion. What we discovered was that the average plastic ingestion by fish, globally speaking, is about 67 percent. What that study that we did in those four places showed that plastic ingestion by fish was at 97 percent from the examined fish species. The other interesting thing about this study was that the farther east you go, the ingestion rates increase.
DG: And this is totally consistent with a recent study by an Australian academic which found that in the Pacific east, particularly around Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Group has the worst concentrations of plastic rubbish debris in the Pacific.
KL: That's right. Very consistent. And so the data is there. Obviously we've got to do a bit more work. But the data from the plastic ingestion tha we did in the four countries, plus the analysis that we did on the ten thousand reports from fisheries observers reinforces the point that we're trying to make. It's taken a while for it to get the level of awareness but at this Oceans conference I was very pleased with the interest generated by the countries, particularly by the leaders. Some of our Pacific leaders are really taking the lead and advocating on behalf of the region. What we do need to do... there's still a bit more work that needs to be done in terms of taking it to the next level in the region. And the Republic of the Marshall Islands has indicated they would like to develop a draft position that hey would like to submit to the tuna commission that will meet in December of this year, to bring this issue to their attention because this is the biggest fisheries organisation in the region. And we're going to do everything to support that. Something needs to be done. God knows how much plastic we're eating, you know.
DG: So what do you want out of this, a total cease of the dumping of waste in the Pacific by fishing fleets?
KL: Well, that would be nice, wouldn't it?