The vast waters surrounding the Philippines and the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on them for their livelihood are facing threats that are, in some ways, more serious than those posed by China and its maritime assertions. These waters are in constant danger of being polluted by microplastics and losing various species of fish.
Recently, I joined a group of young people dedicated to protecting the environment on a beach cleanup project in Cebu. I was astounded by the huge volume of discarded plastic items we collected. Bottles, toys, shoes, shopping bags, and everything else made of plastic were there.
The microplastics released into those waters have been found in fish, and even in human lungs and blood. This is also happening around the world. Tons of tiny plastic particles and fibers are floating in the air that we—especially children—breathe, and they are doing serious harm. They are likely to aggravate asthma, if not raise cancer risks. Tons of plastic waste are dumped in landfills that leach plastic particles into rivers, streams, and lakes, which then flow into the oceans every year. They pollute our water supply and coastal waters, and poison the fish.
Massive floating patches of plastic garbage, three times the size of France, cover an estimated 1.6 million square kilometers of ocean. They contain billions of pieces of plastic, fishing nets, and other trash. One is the Great Eastern Patch, near Japan; another is the Great Western Patch, between Hawaii and California. Plastics made from chemicals release microplastics into the oceans and atmosphere. These are ingested by fish and by us humans, who breathe in the floating fibers and eat contaminated seafood. They can seriously harm our bodies, especially our immune systems. Microplastics have been found in many kinds of junk food that can kill us by causing various cancers. The human body has not evolved enough to survive the plastic revolution.
Research shows there are an estimated 24.4 trillion microplastics in the world’s upper oceans. That is equivalent to 30 billion half-liter plastic water bottles that we throw away so carelessly. Know that there are 10,000 unique chemicals used to make plastics of all kinds—and 2,400 of them are toxic. The human species, with its supposed intelligence and rational thinking, is poisoning itself and most of the fish in the ocean—or what’s left of them.
Not only are the oceans, fish, and humans threatened and damaged by human waste, greed, and irresponsibility—corporate fishing fleets trawl the bottom of the ocean, dragging huge nets that destroy the ecosystems that support marine life. Ocean-bottom trawling churns up and releases tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) held in sediments on the ocean floor. Between 55 and 60 percent of this CO₂ will eventually reach the atmosphere within nine years, causing global warming. This CO₂ also causes severe acidification of the ocean, killing off some species of marine creatures and damaging biodiversity.
The biggest ocean-bottom trawlers are China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Argentina, in that order. China trawls 4.1 million tons of sea life a year; the rest trawl 2 million tons on average.
China may be trawling the bottom of Philippine waters, besides conducting massive commercial fishing operations and blocking Filipino fishermen from reaching their usual fishing grounds. Overfishing is endangering our oceans. Large fishing fleets use huge purse nets to catch tons of fish at a time, then throw away unwanted species, wasting marine life. Uncontrolled overfishing can lead various fish species to become nearly extinct. Overfishing in the North Atlantic drove the cod to the brink of extinction—and nearly ended the United Kingdom’s national favorite dish: fish and chips. Tight restrictions on fishing quotas saved the cod from extinction.
Now, experts say the Atlantic bluefin tuna, sawfish, and various shark and ray species are on the edge of extinction due to overfishing. Extracting too many fish of one species disrupts the recovery of fish stocks. Overfishing depletes populations, driving species to the brink of extinction. The livelihood of hundreds of thousands of poor people who depend on fishing is endangered—and a lack of high-protein food will result.
The Philippine fishing industry is also threatened by dynamite fishing, the use of gill nets and traps, and spearfishing with “scuba” or “hookah” using air compressors. These cause serious damage to coral reefs—the breeding grounds of fish. The practice of using groups of boys to go down to coral reefs and beat them to drive fish into nets is called pa-aling or muro-ami. This illegal method, which uses child labor to deplete marine resources, should be banned outright.
Microplastic pollution, unregulated fishing, bottom trawling, blast fishing, and oil spills are among the many issues that the United Nations-sponsored High Seas Treaty—now in its final stages after 20 years of negotiations—hopes to address. One measure is to create special marine protected areas. The treaty, which was signed in 2023 and needs to be ratified by 60 nations, aims to protect these vast areas of ocean from the dangers mentioned.
The ocean summit this past week, held in Nice, France, saw UN Secretary-General António Guterres telling 60 world leaders that nations must move from “plunder to protection” in order to save the seas. The U.S. did not attend this gathering, as President Donald Trump intends to mine the ocean floor anywhere in the world for rare minerals. The UN chief said there must be “bold pledges” made by nations, and that greater governance of the high seas and the issues of plastic pollution, overfishing, and environmental destruction must be addressed by the rule of law. He received a standing ovation.
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LiCAS News was granted permission to republish and adapt this article by Father Shay Cullen in the spirit of truth-telling and the pursuit of justice.
Irish missionary Father Shay Cullen, SSC, founded the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sexual abuse.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.
