70% Of Small Fish Collected Near Durban, SA, Have Plastic Fragments In Their Guts
Durban - Nearly 70 percent of small fish collected from Durban Harbour and nearby river estuaries have fragments of plastic in their guts. This is one of the findings by researchers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s school of life sciences who collected several fish species from the harbour and Vetch’s Pier, as well as the Isipingo, uMngeni, uLovu and Mdloti river mouths to study the effects of plastic pollution on sea life.
Reporting on the preliminary results at a recent conservation symposium near Pietermaritzburg, researcher Trishan Naidoo said plastic pollution levels had increased across the world since the 1950s.
While the microscopic fragments from plastic could potentially harm fish by blocking their intestines and other organs, or by acting as carriers of toxic compounds and alien species, Naidoo said the research project had focused so far on collecting fish, sediment and water samples for laboratory analysis.
Initial samples showed that there were tiny plastic fibres, fragments and beads in 77 percent of the fish gut samples from horse mackerel (Trachurus species) caught near Vetch’s Reef. Overall, 69 percent of fish sampled from other areas had microplastics in their guts
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http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/researchers-find-plastic-in-fish-guts-1.1615506#.Up19k9JDsuM