"By the year 2050 there will be more tons of plastic in the ocean then there will be fish, it is really a horrifying statistic to think that we will be swimming in a sea of plastic..."
As part of our Documentary on Newstalk Series, Producer Patricia Baker joins a group of Irish fisherman who, along with their daily catch, are also working to clean up our oceans in: Fishing For Litter.
Fishing for Litter tells the story of a simple community based initiative that is working to address the global issue of marine litter; a project that supports fishermen who along with their daily catch are also fishing for litter.
Marine Litter is a global issue. Between 2010 and 2025, some 155 million tons of plastic could be dumped into the ocean. Around the world, an estimated one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die each year when they become trapped in plastic or eat it.
Quotes from Fishing For Litter:
"I saw a gannet one day with a foot of twine hanging from his beak, and I found him dead on the shore a few days later. I presume he died from starvation. You would not even be aware of the amount or number of birds killed by litter." Frank Flanagan, Fisherman
"Lots of whales washing up around Donegal, far too many of them, so they did autopsies on them and they found huge elements of plastic, not only small plastics, the micro plastics, but also larger sections of plastic inside their guts. Their whole digestive system was lined with these tiny pieces of plastic." Louise Overy, Wildlife Biologist and Senior Aquarist at Dingle Oceanworld.
"This is some of the stuff we have caught in the last few days: a lovely full nappy, baby wipes, you would not believe the amount of this we get, it is everywhere. It hangs around for years. If we wanted to we could pick up boxes of this stuff in a day." Ivan O’Toole, Fisherman
"Little by little more boats are coming on board for Fishing for Litter; to date the Clogherhead fleet who are involved in Fishing for Litter have collected 6 tons of rubbish. That is a lot considering when you take plastic, it takes a lot of plastic to weigh a ton. Every little bit helps, it will never be clean, but every bit helps." Oliver Kirwan, local champion for the Fishing for Litter Initiative
BROADCAST TIMES: Fishing For Litter will be broadcast on Sunday September 17th at 8am. The programme will be repeated on Saturday September 23rd at 10pm
LISTEN LIVE: Fishing For Litter can also be listened to online at: www.newstalk.com
PODCAST: Podcast available at: www.newstalk.com/documentaryonnewstalk after the broadcast.
CREDITS: Fishing For Litter was produced, presented and edited by Patricia Baker. Editing and final mix by Gerry Horan, Contact Studio. The programme was funded by the Broadcast Authority of Ireland with the television license fee.
For more information on the Bord Iascaigh Mhara Fishing For Litter initiative:
http://www.bim.ie/our-work/projects/fishingforlitter/
