Kerala: Fishermen to clean sea off plastic waste

KOLLAM: As trawling ban ends on August 1, the fishing community will take up a novel challenge to clean the sea as the pollution is threatening both their livelihood and the marine life. The fishing boats will carry specially designed bags to collect floating plastic waste and process them under the program 'Suchitwa Sagaram', which also intends to make waste free harbours. Fisheries minister J Mercykkutty Amma will inaugurate the initiative of Suchitwa Mission and fisheries department on August 5 at the Sakthikulangara harbour here.

“We find a lot of plastic carry bags floating in the sea and tangled in fishing nets. Also, we will not throw out any plastic waste including packages into the sea," District Boat Operators Association president Peter Mathias told DC. "We'll make plastic beads out of them to use in road construction. In harbours also we will set up collection points. Our boats carry stickers to create awareness against the menace.” The Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH) under the aegis of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) provides collection bags. The Suchitwa Mission will open recovery centres in central areas. The Clean Kerala Company Limited will process them.