I have written a bit with the general impact of COVID 19 on tuna fishing and compliance, as well as the what I think would a totally non controllable FAD closure. Yet it also occurs to me that the whole MARPOL will be unmanaged…
Normally I keep my posts around fishing and labour, but as a keen ocean user (long distance ocean swimmer, paddler, spear fisherman, sailor) the issues of plastics and MARPOL in general interest (and affects) me.
I wrote in the past on this issue and I’ve seen the disdain some vessels already have to MARPOL issues even with the observer on board… so imagine now.
The issue of plastic in longliners in particular is a massive one, and nobody is doing much about it… particularly with those operating on the high seas… (yeap the same where we have the highest incidences of unreported fishing, the worst cases of labour abuses, and surely MARPOL issues), while I’m one against generalisations I’m sure that all high seas longline vessels dump the plastic waste from bait boxes in the ocean every day.
Yes, I know, in principle under the WCPFC Commission Management Measure (CMM) 17/04 on Marine Pollution as of January 1, 2019, all fishing vessels operating in the WCPFC Convention Area are specifically prohibited from dumping any plastics into the ocean. Clause 2 of the CMM specifically states: CMMs shall prohibit their fishing vessels operating in the WCPFC Convention area from discharging any plastic (including plastic packaging, items containing plastic and polystyrene) but not including fishing gear.
As far as has been ascertained, outside of Australia and New Zealand, only Fiji has licensing provisions which require the retention of plastic waste on board locally based and licensed vessels for disposal on shore, so for the rest is dumping as usual.
Let’s do some numbers to illustrate the magnitude of the issue…
A typical tuna longline vessel will set around 3000 hooks per set. The hooks are baited via 10 kilogram boxes which contain 100 – 120 pieces of bait. The boxes are waxed cardboard and each has a plastic liner to contain the bait and two plastic straps to seal the box. Therefore, with each set using around 30 boxes of bait for each set of 3000 hooks there are 90 pieces of plastic generated, to make numbers easier lets assume only 1000 longliners setting every day (in reality there are more than that), that represents conservatively 90,000 pieces of plastic per day or 630,000 pieces of plastic per week and 2,520,000 per month, as well as 30+ pieces of waxed cardboard overboard for each vessel each day!!!
and i’m not even talking about old lines, broken buoys, and just plastic shit…
The standard argument is that there is just no means for high seas vessels to dispose of plastic bait box waste other than into the ocean. But we all know that in reality, if there is a will… there is way.
In the case of domestic based vessels, waste can either be disposed of on return from sea or prior to departure. Consider then scenario where bait boxes and emptied into bins (such as are standard storage containers on most vessels), then these bins can be stored with 3 boxes of bait per bin and stowed in the freezer to be used as required.
There would also seem to be potential for this to apply to carrier vessels loading bait for delivery to longline vessels, but this could involve the large plastic bins commonly utilised for fish holding on vessels and in ports
Another option is for the suppliers of bait boxes could be encouraged to use waxed paper box liners and bind boxes with twine or tape which can be more easily stowed on board with the bait boxes and liners being burnt.
The reality is that the current measures lacks provisions for enforcement and current practices for plastic disposal at sea cannot be allowed to continue and new mitigation strategies are urgently required for widespread adoption.
But again, Flag State responsibility is totally lacking as usual… and is up to coastal and port state to take actions… via Electronic Monitoring (EM), and another reason to clamp at sea transhipments!