Photo: Reuters.
An Egyptian nonprofit has enlisted fishermen from Al-Qursaya, an island near central Cairo, to collect plastics that have been reducing the catch.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, I recently learned about the enormity of the plastics problem in waters where people fish. The website states: “Plastic accumulating in our oceans and on our beaches has become a global crisis. Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. At current rates, plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050.” Yikes!
New efforts large and small are needed to reverse what’s happening. On Twitter, the World Economic Forum is promoting one of the small efforts, which is how I learned about it.
Reuters reports, “For 17 years, Mohamed Nasar has supported his family of five by fishing in the Nile River near the banks of the tiny island of Al-Qursaya close to central Cairo.
“But the 58-year-old says fishermen like himself catch fewer fish every year as the Nile has become clogged with plastic bottles, bags and other waste.
‘The fish get caught in the bottles, and they die,’ said Nasar.
“A local environmental group named ‘VeryNile‘ has asked the island’s fishermen to use their boats to collect plastic bottles from the river. VeryNile says it buys the bottles at a higher price than the general market price on offer from traders or recycling plants.
“The initiative provides a sustainable solution for helping to clean up the Nile, while providing an additional source of income for fisherman like Nasar.
” ‘This job helped us a bit. We come and collect about 10 to 15 kilos (of plastic bottles), we get about 12 Egyptian pounds ($0.7682) for each,’ Nasar said as he sat in his boat collecting bottles. …
“Another fisherman, Saeed Hassanein, said cleaner Nile water would mean more fish.
” ‘On the one hand, the Nile is cleaner, and on the other hand the fisherman now has more than one source of income,’ he said.
“With the help of more than 40 fishermen, VeryNile has over the past year collected around 18 tons of plastic bottles, most of which were sold to recyclers.” More at Reuters, here.
The World Economic Forum, which defines itself as the “international organization for public-private cooperation,” is increasingly focused on addressing the consequences of global warming, and I hope it is serious about that. It’s easy to feel cynical about the forum’s annual conference for the world’s rich and powerful — called Davos because it takes place in Davos, Switzerland — but I have to believe it’s helping to make both the problems and the possible solutions more widely accepted. Besides, I know there are many altruistic people on the staff, like my friend Kai, who was one of them several years ago.
In a recent podcast, Radio Davos discusses initiatives tackling climate change, calling the current decade “the decade of ocean science, and one in which we must get on track for net-zero by 2050.”
So there’s that. Meanwhile, in Egypt, impoverished fishermen are pulling out plastic that corporations, cruise ships, and too many individuals keep dumping.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Plastic waste is a crisis that the Nile and water bodies would face. Thank you 😊
I feel like there are big organizations that should be doing the cleanup, but every little bit helps. We can all help.
Yes. We can all help…
This is a problem in so many places. In El Salvador, they sell packets of drinking water in little plastic bags. Bags litter public areas like beaches and parks.
So sad. I wonder if, since your last visit, there has been an consciousness-raising in El Salvador.
Fantastic idea! Good for the environment, good for those who fish.
Yes, I love that aspect.
Another way that the fossil fuel industry and their cousin the plastics industry have ruined entire ecosystems in the name of profit… Hurrah for these fishermen being given a small incentive to help offset the damage that huge, wildly profitable corporations have created on our planet. Deep sigh.
Given that everything big starts with “small” — ya know, atoms, molecules, individual people — maybe small will show its power one day. We can boycott those corporations, but it’s often true we don’t know what they’re doing well enough to take action.