Avaaz - pay divers to clean up ocean trash?

[Tygershark]

Here's an Avaaz petition to cast light on the fact that divers should be paid for the good they do in cleaning up ocean trash and ghost fishing gear.

It's a global problem to which we already provide the beginnings of a global solution.

Help Rob F. get more signatures

 

[Scuba Cobra]

I like the idea, however I don't foresee is being very feasible to sustain.

I live by the idea that you are there anyways, and you happen to see trash that can be safely retrieved, pick it up.

Trash isn't as prevalent in NC on the wrecks, but here in Okinawa I have yet to do a dive where I don't pick up trash.
What is an awesome option that may work out better and something the shops do here (in Oki) is put together a "volunteer dive day" where they provide tanks, and everybody comes out, cleans up the beaches, then hops in and cleans up the reef. A much better alternative then getting paid to clean up I think.

 

[Tygershark]

You're not proposing anything new though, and the situation is deteriorating.

Volunteer dive days already happen and guess what? Non-professional divers usually have to pay for their diving anyway, thereby limiting the number of such dives that they do. Also, the same dive sites are usually visited due to being easily accessible and enjoyable for customers.

If you ever visit more difficult, less frequently visited dive sites, I guarantee you'll find a heck of a lot more trash than on frequently dived sites.

I'm a pro and have been involved in marine conservation for several years, and every time we visit less accessible sites it's the same old story. Large ghost nets, miles of fishing line and too much plastic to remove in one dive.

Funding pro and amateur divers so that the cost of their diving is covered, and to incentivise their hard work is a practical way of addressing the issue of ghost fishing gear and plastic debris pollution.

 

[Southside]

Its a great cause to clean up plastic but where would the money be coming from? If this petition gets 10,000 signatures what happens from there? Is it the local government, fisherman, or businesses that pay the divers? I think best case scenario is that dive shops offer free fills to those who return with a bag of plastic or something and that just puts the burden of cost on small businesses.

 

[Tygershark]

There is a lot of money being dedicated to this kind of issue right now, by international organisations such as the U.N.

All plastic originates from fossil fuels. If a fraction of the global subisides for those fuels went back into cleaning up this mess, there'd be plenty to go around.

The other big marine plastics polluters are the industrial fishing industry with regards to dumping damaged or entangled netting at sea. Governmental departments controlling fishing fleets (e.g. China, E.U., U.S., etc.) have massing budgets available for subsidising fisheries. Subsidise us and we'll deal directly with significant amounts of this massive problem in coastal areas. Hey we already do so, right?