68% of fish in the Suva Coastal Area have microplastic

68% of fish in the Suva Coastal Area had some form of microplastic in them according to research done by USP Postgraduate Researcher Andrew Paris.

Paris says one of the main issues in Fiji is littering and it is shameful how this is being done.

He says in 2015 it was found that Fiji and Vanuatu contributed about 1% to plastic pollution in the world and 90% of microplastic is from the land which enters waterways and rivers that ended up in the ocean.

Paris also highlighted that from their research in 2018, an average of 5.5% of microplastic was found in fish in Laucala Bay, Suva Harbour and Rewa River.

He adds that one of the main sources of microplastic in the Suva Coastal Area is the Kinoya Sewerage Treatment Plant.

He says some of the microplastic that is mostly found in the Suva Coastal area are polyethene, polypropylene, PET bottles, polystyrene, latex, nylon and flip flops.

Paris stressed that some solutions they have come up with are the adoption of the recycle, reuse and reduce rules and policies should be implemented on waste management and recycling.

24 million tonnes of microplastic is being dumped in the ocean every year.