Some of Adelaide’s most popular waterways for fishing and recreation have been revealed as oceans of microplastic.
Watchdog organisation, the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project, says popular fishing spot West Lakes is one of the worst sites in Australia.
“We’ve found that this location alone has around 70,000 pieces per square metre and that’s on average over 11 samples that we’ve collected over time, so it’s not going away,” said marine scientist Dr Michelle Blewitt.
Of particular concern are the small round industrial pellets that resemble fish eggs. These pellets are then consumed by birds and fish.
Locals say they have seen a decline in marine species over the past 12 months.
But the area with the highest concentration of microplastics in Australia is Barker Inlet Wetlands at Wingfield with an average of over 500,000 pieces per square metre.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says it does monitor the plastic waste output of industrial sites and is conducting studies on the impact of microplastics on marine life.
The government is also hoping its recently expanded bans on single-use plastics will further reduce microplastic pollution.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
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