Summary:
MANGALURU: A plastic bag with material resembling paper wrapped inside and weighing about 10kg was retrieved from a reef cod fish at a shop in Attavar here early this week.
An employee cleaning the fish stumbled upon the plastic deposit on Monday.
Shocked, the storeowner decided to make a video and shared it on online platforms to spread awareness on the hazards of unchecked dumping of garbage into the sea.
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MANGALURU: A plastic bag with material resembling paper wrapped inside and weighing about 10kg was retrieved from a reef cod fish at a shop in Attavar here early this week.
An employee cleaning the fish stumbled upon the plastic deposit on Monday.
Shocked, the storeowner decided to make a video and shared it on online platforms to spread awareness on the hazards of unchecked dumping of garbage into the sea.
"We are noticing this for the first time.
If people continue to dump plastic into the sea at this rate, then fish breeding will be severely affected," said the shop owner who did not want to be identified.
Dr A Senthil Vel, professor and dean (fisheries), College of Fisheries, said fish do not eat plastic.
"Fish are selective in what they eat.
But the challenge is that the bottom of the coast is flooded with plastic and fishermen say 40%-50% of what trawlers pick is plastic.
In this case, the fish caught by a trawler may have eaten plastic on the sea floor.