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Thai scuba divers look for to take on 'ghost equipment' threatening marine life

Underneath the surface of the blue-green waters off a beach on Thailand's. holiday island of Phuket, divers laboriously gather abandoned. fishing gear, much of it made from plastic, that is tangled on. coral and trapping sea life.

This discarded or lost fishing equipment is known in your area as. ghost gear and is a growing issue in waters off Thailand and. beyond, capturing marine life and contributing to microplastics. pollution as webs and ropes break down gradually.

According to Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal. Resources, estimates of the portion of threatened marine life. impacted by plastic contamination in the upper Andaman Sea off. Thailand have grown from 20% in 2021 to at least 30% since. 2023.

Diving groups and marine organisations in Thailand. have been working to get rid of the deserted fishing gear from. reefs through cleanup objectives, but have an issue tracking its. scale.

Professionals say the absence of a coordinated method is preventing. the pursuit of more comprehensive and effective services to. track, manage or ban dumping of fishing equipment.

We continuously gather discarded fishing gear. We have a. strong scuba diving community. We have lots of government sectors. working on this cleanup drive, stated Salisa Traipipitsiriwat,. senior campaigner and Southeast Asian plastic manager from the. Environmental Justice Structure (EJF), which is partnering with. other organisations to assemble information.

The aim is to assist marine scientists examine the effect of. abandoned fishing equipment in Thai waters.

Even though there is collection of waste, there is no. uniform information collection, Salisa included.

Off the Phuket shore, about 20 volunteer divers equipped. with submersible equipment, scissors, webs, and note pads dive down. to collect discarded fishing nets, tape-recording information during clean-up. missions. They are likewise motivating other recreational divers to. join their effort.

The group likewise engages about 500 anglers to collect. abandoned webs.

The trash is arranged and weighed and, where possible, sent. for recycling. About 130 tons of used fishing devices has been. collected by EJF from local fishing neighborhoods along Thai. seaside locations and recycled into new products.

In one case, a dead turtle is discovered on the shore and taken. for a necropsy performed by marine vets. Inside its. stomach are pieces of rope and plastic.

As of today, plastic waste is among the primary reasons for. endangered marine animals cleaning ashore, stated Patcharaporn. Kaewmong, head of the marine rescue centre in Phuket.

Waste management is a huge issue..