Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 26: Due to the ignorance and negligence of the people, many things pollute water bodies including the sea. Plastic was found in the stomach of a fish caught here on Thursday.

The staff of Karnataka Fish Marketing Federation were cutting and cleaning a reef cod fish (Muru Meen) when they found the plastic. They shared a video of the plastic inside the fish's stomach, duly commenting that if the people continue to d= throw plastic in the sea, well, rivers and ponds, it will have a direct bearing on the fish as a whole.

Dean of the fisheries college here, Dr Senthil Vel, said that many a time plastic gets converted into tiny particles in the sea which the fingerlings consume and die. He said that when the nets of trawl boats reach the bottom, about 40 percent plastic along with fishes gets trapped in the net. When the net is being brought out, the fishes in a state of anxiety, are likely to gulp plastic. He pointed out that because of this, the quantum of sardines has come down in the sea, pointing out that plastic and pollution can have long lasting adverse effect on aquatic creatures.