Marine Litter Impact on Oceanic Ecosystems
Policy makers, academic researches and representatives from the civil society got together on Wednesday July the 1st in the European Parliament, to discuss the issue of marine litter in the event entitled “Marine Litter Impact on Oceanic Ecosystems – Problems & Solutions”, chaired by MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos.
Ricardo Serrão Santos MEP, Chair of the “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” Working Group of the Intergroup opened the meeting by stating that pollution of the oceans is an issue of global environmental concern that was initially identified in scientific literature in the ‘60s. The production of plastic has been constantly increasing, and a considerable part of it now ends in the seas, showing a market failure in this domain. Marine litter has conquered the deep sea and constitutes danger and concern for its organisms. He explained that sea birds, fish & marine mammals suffer greatly from marine litter items through digestion and entanglement, but knowledge of the implication of marine litter is still limited for less charismatic species. Plastic in the seas is not only a mechanic threat to marine fauna. [Continue reading]