03/05/2024 – 17:50
“The network comes with a lot of rubbish. The fisherman searches to be able to catch his fish”, describes Paulo Santana, president of the Association of Fishermen, Mariculturists and Leisuremen of Sahy (Assopesca), in Mangaratiba, a city on the south coast of Rio de Janeiro. The drama reported is one of the diagnoses of a study carried out by experts and activists, which presents ways to combat trash in the sea in the state of Rio.
“The impact is stark. It is a daily routine that has almost annihilated artisanal fishing, in quilombolas, indigenous communities, caiçaras and riverside communities”, says the fisherman to Brazil Agency.
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Paulo Santana participated, this Friday (3), in the ceremony to hand over the 90-page document to the state’s environmental authorities.
The event was at the Museum of Tomorrow, an architectural icon in the central region of Rio de Janeiro with a panoramic view of Guanabara Bay, a landscape with sections affected by the effects of pollution.
The work was prepared by the Clean Ocean Network, an organization that involves organized civil society, academics, government representatives and led by the Chair for Ocean Sustainability of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
One of those responsible for the recommendations to combat trash at sea is Professor Alexsander Turra, from the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP) and coordinator of the chair.
“The document that is being launched is a collective construction that considered the vision and contributions of different actors in society”, he explains.
The study, carried out over two years, highlights 32 strategic actions to combat pollution in the ocean and provides diagnoses of the problems. One of them points out that three river basins belonging to the state of Rio – Sepetiba Bay, mouth of the Paraíba do Sul River and Guanabara Bay – are among the 10 coastal points with the highest risk of plastic waste leaking into the ocean in Brazil.
Impacts
Among the main consequences of the presence of garbage in the seas, the USP professor highlights the threat to biodiversity. “Animals ingest the trash, get tangled in the trash and die.” A similar problem, he adds, is so-called “ghost fishing”, caused by fishing nets, lines, hooks and trawling abandoned at sea.
“They kill the fish that fishermen would want to catch. They don’t feed anyone,” he explains to Brazil Agency.
Turra also points out a direct impact on human health, caused by microplastics. “Very small particles of garbage are increasingly present in the food we eat. So it is a route of contact that humans have with this type of contaminant.”
Observation observed by Paulo Santana, from the fishermen’s association. “The fisherman, instead of bringing healthy food into the house, is bringing a disease”, he says, who has noticed a worsening in the quantity and quality of the fish.
The presence of trash in the seas has economic impacts. One example is tourism. “Beaches that have an increased amount of trash lose tourists,” highlights Turra, who cites data from a study he carried out in the city of Pontal do Paraná, on the coast of northern Paraná.
“The increase in the amount of trash on beaches would lead to losses of US$8.5 million [cerca de R$ 42,5 milhões] per year for that municipality. For a small municipality, it is an absurd loss of revenue.”
The expert warns that inhabitants of rural cities also have responsibilities. “People far from the sea have to understand this because, often, this problem is generated at the beginning, in the river basin of the city in the interior, which will have its waste drained into the sea”.
Recommendations
The 32 recommendations are divided into six axes: science, technology and innovation actions; promotion/financing; training; combating trash at sea; monitoring and evaluation; and environmental education and communication.
These are initiatives that include, for example, encouraging the development of technologies and methodologies to combat trash at sea; strategy for fundraising; and encouraging the circular economy, that is, better use of natural resources. The document is available on Clean Ocean Network website.
The manager of Rede Oceano Limpo-RJ and one of the authors of the document, Jemilli Viaggi, emphasizes that all recommendations are based on science.
“When we say that this document is based on science, we infer that it is based on a truth, a fact that has been replicated and proven. This is reflected in the credibility and transparency of the project. It is reliable because the recommendations are made by people who are experts in the subject.”
Oceans 20 (O20)
The delivery of the document to state authorities takes place in the scenario in which Brazil is holding meetings of Oceans 20 (O20), a thematic group of the G20 (a meeting of the world’s main economies).
Alexander Turra, from USP and UNESCO, believes in a pact between society and the state against trash at sea.
“I would expect a consistent, long-term implementation process so that improvements are incremental. May we take a little step, climb a step and go one after the other, even if it is slowly. So, as we climbed the ladder, we won’t go down again.”
state
The president of the State Environmental Institute (Inea), Renato Jordão, committed to being an ally in actions to combat trash at sea. “Full support. Whatever is necessary, we will be together in this new project.”
The Undersecretary of Water Resources and Sustainability of the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability of Rio de Janeiro, Ana Asti, praised the participation of civil society in the construction of the recommendations and announced that one of the objectives of the state government is to achieve the goal of 90% sanitation of sewage in the metropolitan region by 2030.
“This will allow us to close the sewer tap. Furthermore, to truly have an unpolluted bay, unpolluted beach, and a preserved sea, we also need to remove trash from the water. So this is a goal, our big challenge,” he declared.
The state undersecretary of Energy and Marine Economy, Felipe Peixoto, signaled the need to bring municipal entities to share responsibility.
“Bring the mayors to this discussion, because the collection and final disposal of solid waste is the responsibility of the municipalities.”
The dossier entitled Recommendations for the State Strategy to Combat Litter at Sea in Rio de Janeiro is directed to the Garbage at Sea Working Group (GT Lixo no Mar), created by the Rio de Janeiro government in October 2023.
“Now the problem is ours”, said the GT coordinator, Luiz Eduardo Moraes.
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