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To draw an action plan to control marine debris — one the biggest threats to aquatic ecosystems — the Marine Biological Association of India (MBAI) is organising a national conference on April 11 and 12 at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here.
The conference titled CoMaD will be open to the public to share their views to resolve the issue of marine debris and there will be discussions on latest research works in the areas of marine debris and coastal zone management.
Rising plastic debris
Quoting recent studies, V Kripa, Principal Scientist at the CMFRI, pointed out that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tonnes float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per sq km litter the deep sea. The amount of plastic waste entering the ocean from land each year exceeds 4.8 million tonnes and the micro-plastics were posing a serious threat to the marine food webs. In India, micro and macro plastics have been observed at all tropic levels from sardines to tunas and sea birds.
The conference is aimed to control the marine debris, which is believed to be worse than any other problem faced by aquatic ecosystems, said A Gopalakrishnan, CMFRI Director and President of MBAI.
The online registration for participating the conference is open now. Participants and contributors are requested to submit the applications and abstracts online to the website ( www.mbai.org.in ) on or before March 31.
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