How Karnataka coastal communities can solve marine debris issue

Objectives

  1. Provide full marine literacy of coastal communities
  2. Operationalize the disposal system of fish gears
  3. Reverse the lack of national, regional and state policies on marine litter and marine literacy
  4. Speed up the implementation of Solid and Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 to prevent marine trash
  5. Set up a simple engineering system applied at rivers/backwaters outlet just before monsoon to catch a large amount of the trash thrown into the ocean by the rains

Methodology

  1. Work through all clusters of the loop (information, knowledge, awareness, mindfulness and practice)
  2. Assess the local psycho-social-anthropological constrains for good practices to overcome them
  3. Create a platform for outreach of informal education sector
  4. Draw specific collaboration from all stakeholders, and catalyze additional action to implement the needful changes.
  5. Create a good practices chart for port authorities (civil and military), fishermen and fisherwomen at household and fish markets level
  6. Implement stewardship concern among coastal communities, namely for discarded fishnets and domestic waste
  7. Launch new Incentives schemes for fishnet dealers and byers (e.g. discount on the of purchase a new fish net, if returning x discarded ones), for fish market packaging, for fish breaks composting, etc.

 

Monthly follow-up and quarterly monitoring will be ensured by a volunteers team lead by Khushi Parisara.

 

Milestones

 

  1. Foundation of state policies on marine litter and marine literacy by 2018
  2. Full implementation of Solid &Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 by 2018
  3. Engineering system at rivers/backwaters outlet to catch trash washed up by monsoon rains by 2018
  4. Disposal system of fish gears operationalized by 2019
  5. Full marine literacy of coastal communities by 2020

 

Voluntary Commitment registered #21596 (reference #118956)

https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/?id=21596