Tag Archives: their communities

Sri Lanka: Plastic, chemicals and a devastating environmental hit for commercial fishermen and their communities

The X-Press Pearl is lying half sunken off the coast of Sri Lanka. Images of the ship burning for days have gone around the world,,, Tons of tiny plastic pellets have already washed up on the local beach nearby. Aside from the environmental threats, there are also devastating consequences for the local communities, fishermen who overnight lost their livelihoods and will likely suffer for years to come. Plastic pellets, also called nurdles, are tiny  round pieces of plastic, used to make nearly all plastic goods. They will wash up on beaches or end up in the guts of fish and other ocean animals. “More hazardous than the plastic are the chemicals,” >Video, photos, click to read< 14:35