Earth Science News
WATER WORLD
How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
By Mathiew LEISER
Montreal (AFP) Sept 20, 2024

One of the largest producers of plastic waste per capita, Canada is struggling to protect its designated marine protected areas from this pollution, experts warn.

Here are some key points about the issue facing the North American country.

- Significant plastic pollution -

With more than four million tonnes produced each year, Canada generates "two to four times more" plastic pollution per person than the global average, said Anthony Merante of the NGO Oceana.

In 2020, more than 90 percent of plastic waste ended up in landfills or was incinerated, and only seven percent was recycled, according to the Canadian environment ministry.

The remaining roughly two percent, or 90,000 tonnes, ended up in the environment.

"Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous at this point, we can't protect marine protected areas from plastic pollution unless we stop plastic pollution at the source," said Merante, head of Oceana Canada's plastics campaign.

Globally, annual plastic production has more than doubled in 20 years to reach 460 million tonnes.

Only nine percent is recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

And more than half of it is single-use packaging -- "things that we use for a few moments and that end up lasting hundreds of years," said Merante.

- New regulations -

In June 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's federal government banned six types of single-use plastics with the goal of achieving zero plastic waste by 2030.

The regulation is being challenged in court by Canadian and American plastics manufacturers, as well as petrochemical firms.

Several municipalities, including Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton, have already banned certain single-use plastics.

More biodegradable utensils are being found on the banks near the island city of Montreal, said Anne-Marie Asselin, a marine biologist who has been carrying out collection campaigns along the Saint Lawrence River for five years.

This shows that people's "behaviors have not changed," but the kind of waste now generated has "much less impact on the environment," she noted.

Ottawa is also working on creating a federal plastics registry.

The goal is to hold manufacturers accountable by requiring them to report on the life cycle of the plastics they put into circulation.

In the case of federal marine protected areas, few measures have been put in place against plastic pollution.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans maintains that it is, however, "taken into account" when creating new marine protected areas and that since 2019, it has been prohibited to dump waste in protected areas.

Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
Petit-Saguenay, Canada (AFP) Sept 20, 2024 - Old tires, discarded cups, and cigarette butts litter the magnificent Saguenay Fjord, a marine protected area in eastern Canada that attracts belugas and other whales seeking respite.

Cliffs sculpted by glaciers flank the fjord that connects to the Saint Lawrence River, far from any major city. The marine sanctuary was granted protected status 26 years ago.

"It's one thing to legislate to make it a protected area, but then how do we maintain it?" said Canadian biologist Anne-Marie Asselin before diving in search of trash.

With her team from the Blue Organization, she navigates the brackish waters of the fjord to document pollution in the area.

The objective is twofold: to identify the most common waste to target the plastics that should be banned from sale, and to predict the banks most at risk of being polluted, based in particular on currents, to better target cleaning campaigns.

- Worrying trend -

By paddle board, on foot or freediving, Asselin and her crew collect all kinds of waste in the bay of the village of Petit-Saguenay.

Under a blazing hot sun, the group's Laurence Martel sorted the waste by more than 100 criteria, including by brand, to eventually seek to hold producers responsible for their products' entire lifecycle.

"The most popular find is the cigarette butt, it is omnipresent," Martel said.

She noted that a single cigarette butt can contaminate up to 500 liters of water due to the thousands of chemical compounds it contains.

In five years, the team's research has revealed a worrying trend: the concentration of plastic waste is increasing significantly closer to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Atlantic, "suggesting a shift in waste from urban areas towards downstream parts of the river."

"Very often, the smallest plastics are the ones that pollute the most," Martel said.

- Ecosystem health -

Waste becomes microplastics as it disintegrates. Most often invisible to the naked eye, these particles are made of polymers and other toxic compounds that vary from five millimeters to one thousandth of a millimeter.

They are found throughout the food chain of marine life, particularly invertebrates.

The Blue Organization fishes and analyzes these "sentinel species" -- considered gauges of the health of their environment -- during each cleanup operation.

"If your mussels and your invertebrates are starting to suffer, that could be an indicator that the health of the ecosystem is also declining," said Miguel Felismino, of McGill University in Montreal.

Seated on a catamaran, Felismino measured, photographed and arranged the mussel specimens, which he will also analyze in a laboratory to study the effects of microplastics.

Using a homemade pump and a few pipes placed at the front of the boat, he also collected surface water and sediment from the seabed for his research

- Behavioral changes -

The Blue Organization wants to produce a complete picture of the plastic lifecycle in protected areas such as the Saguenay-Saint Lawrence Marine Park.

But to protect these ecosystems, the solution is "also to trigger behavioral changes" in people, said the biologist Asselin, who called on artists to "raise awareness" of the situation.

This could involve making music from natural sounds or creating a "literary translation" of scientific research, Asselin said.

"With climate change, the soundscapes associated with certain territories are set to evolve," said one such artist, Emilie Danylewick, before plunging her hydrophone into the water to record the sounds.

Danylewick said her work is a "way to preserve the current soundscape memory of the territory."

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WATER WORLD
Vast France building project sunk by sea level rise fears
Caen, France (AFP) Sept 19, 2024
An ambitious housing project in the northwestern French city of Caen has run aground over worries that rising waters driven by climate change could make the area unlivable within the century. Conceived in the early 2010s, the development was to transform a strip of industrial wasteland between the River Orne and the canal linking Caen to the sea into 2,300 homes, as well as tens of thousands of square metres of office space. But the construction "will not happen", said Thibaud Tiercelet, directo ... read more

WATER WORLD
Slow-moving landslides increasing risk to expanding mountain communities

UN holds 'Summit of the Future' to tackle global crises

Water crisis in Flint, Michigan: an American scandal

Women drive innovation, evolution of Chinese wine industry

WATER WORLD
China activates first satellite-ground laser communication system

Engineers Develop Stronger Cement Inspired by Human Bone Structure

Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park

Microsoft-BlackRock team to raise $100 bn for AI data centers

WATER WORLD
Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows

Nigeria issues flood warning as Cameroon opens dam

Unprecedented global study reveals cities receive more rainfall than surrounding rural areas

India minister blames dam release for flooding

WATER WORLD
Antarctic ice loss could accelerate dramatically after 2100

'Disappeared completely': melting glaciers worry Central Asia

Greenland urges Denmark to confront its dark past

Massive Greenland tsunami behind mysterious nine-day seismic event

WATER WORLD
Kimchi threat as heatwave drives up South Korea cabbage prices

Angry French cognac makers see red over Chinese tariffs threat

Sustainable mulch films aim to boost agriculture and reduce plastic waste

China to tax Taiwanese agricultural imports

WATER WORLD
EU chief announces $11 bn for nations hit by 'heartbreaking' floods

Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris

Shanghai hit by second typhoon in a week

Bridging the heavens and Earth

WATER WORLD
Niger to step up measures against jihadist attacks

Nobel winners demand jailed Niger president Bazoum's release

US military says withdrawal from Niger is complete

Tunisia fisherwomen battle inequality and climate change

WATER WORLD
Neanderthals' isolated lifestyle may have contributed to their extinction

Researchers explore population movement patterns in the Indo-Pacific

AI unlocks new understanding of human cognition through brain research

Over half of world population have social benefits, a first: UN

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.