As it is fishermen's catches have been diminishing from year to year and they are apprehensive that all the chemical compounds that will flow into the sea will make fishing completely impossible. One source of marine pollution, which has for a long time been neglected to be dealt with, is the amount of debris and plastic containers floating along the coastline. Plastic are in great demand as they are durable, relatively inexpensive and lightweight. However these same properties can create problems when they are not managed properly. Plastic does not break down readily and therefore tends to remain in the marine environment for three to five years if not longer.
Marine life is especially sensitive to the debris.
Wildfowl and sea creatures get hurt or killed when they mistakenly eat or become entangled in them. Many cargo vessels in use today were not designed with adequate capacity to store garbage and often tourists and recreational boaters do not bring their trash ashore but just dump it into the sea. We had at one time organized youth outings on the coastline to collect plastic bags, bottles and bits of wood from the sea, but it was of little success. We have recommended the setting up of facilities and dustbins along the coastline for the use of campers and weekend outing goers. It is usually said that the youth is the future of a country and what better occasion that Environment Day to bring to them the need to protect our environment.