Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 12, 1 December 2019 — Larval Fish Are Eating Our Trash [ARTICLE]

Larval Fish Are Eating Our Trash

A new oeean study indicates not only a significant aeeumulahon of microplastics in Hawaiian waters, but that larval fish are eating the debris. Researchers from Hawai'i Pacific University, the National

Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration, and other agencies released the study. The research centered on waters off the Kona coast of Hawai'i Island. Larval fish living in this habitat are eating the trash that surrounds them. Surface waters near West Hawai'i were sampled. Plastic particles outnumbered larval fish seven to one. The researchers found tiny plastic pieces in the stomachs of commercially targeted species, including swordfish and mahimahi. "The fact that larval fish are surrounded by and ingesting nonnutritious toxin-laden plastics, at their most vulnerable life-history stage, is cause for alarm," said Jamison Gove, a research oeeanographer and co-lead of the study. These disturbing discoveries spotlight the negative impact humans have on the planet.

Changes to reduce our impact are needed now. The publication is titled "Preysize plastics are invading larval fish nurseries" and is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.