Professionals of IFOP presented to the community “Plastic Contamination, a domestic and worldwide issue”
May 19th, 2016
On Thursday, April 21, a meeting was held at fishermen trade union premises of Caleta Lo Rojas at Coronel. The Mayor of Coronel city was one of the attendants, jointly with the Environment Director and Territory Director, personnel from Dirección del Territorio Marítimo (DIRECTEMAR), Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (Sernapesca), Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP), Starco company that is in charge of waste management of the commune and also many leading representatives of the region (neighborhood association, artisanal fisheries and “charquiadoras”).
The objective of the meeting was to find a solution to the problems of existing contamination in the small cove. Cristian Villouta, field coordinator of IFOP, explained to attending parties, the investigation and plan of Information to Community, which is being developed by Descarte Project in Siege Pelagic Fisheries, where contamination topics on board industrial and artisanal float of VII region, are mentioned.
Yerko Yutronich, scientific observer of IFOP, offered a presentation called “Plastic Contamination, a domestic and worldwide issue.” This presentation showed the current impact of this type of contamination, emerging from the marine biodiversity and human activity associated to marine socio ecological systems. The professional explained the “Annex V: MARPOL Convention 73/78; legal issues were discussed of annex V, being this the one regulating the waste management on board vessels of national jurisdiction, also empowers the adherent states with inspection faculties, involving them to guarantee the correct management and disposal of waste generated by vessels.
Finally, a list was made of the main difficulties at VII region, to diminish the marine pollution and so, comply with the Convention in the siege pelagic fisheries (sardine, anchovy, and mackerel). It was placed on record the multidimensional extent of contamination at ambient, social, economical, educational, institutional and legislative level, which requires a combined effort of all the actors of the society for finding a solution.
At the end, the authorities agreed to take measures in order to face this persistent problem at Caleta Lo Rojas.