Situations and Problems of Collection of Seabed Litters by Fishermen

the Case of Seto Inland Sea

Abstract

The sea area environment is destroyed with the seabed litters. The fishing net and the body of fish are damaged by the seabed litters. The fishing time increases by the collection of the seabed litters.

In Seto Inland Sea, many fishermen collect the seabed litters as seabed cleanings of many fishery cooperatives at “Ocean Day” etc. When the small-scale trawling fishery operates routinely, the fishermen collect the seabed litters in the Hinase-cho fishery cooperative in Okayama Prefecture etc., though it is still few. In late years, the garbage stations of the seabed litters collection were being set up by Okayama Prefecture in the whole cities in the coast. The collection of the sea bed litters by the small-scale trawling fishery was begun by the consignment of the city in Onomichi City.

The seabed litters are a lot of petrochemical products such as the plastic bags and empty cans which flowed in from the land. The seabed litters which the fishermen collected are very little the fishery-related seabed litters. Therefore, the seabed litters which the fishermen collected are the municipal waste, not industrial waste of the fishery. It is important to carry the seabed litters into the waste treatment plant by the administration. So that the seabed litters may move by the current etc., the collection and processing system of the seabed litters including not only the coast municipality but also prefectures and the country are needed.