The Tasmanian Southwest
Marine Debris Cleanup has received a national award for its outstanding work
removing rubbish from remote World Heritage beaches in the state’s southwest.
Cleanup coordinator Matt
Dell travelled to Perth on Tuesday night to accept the Environment Award on
behalf of himself, cray fisherman Dave Wyatt and expedition volunteers at the
Australian Seafood Industry’s annual National Conference.
“Marine debris is
poisoning our ecosystems from the ground up. With total global plastic
production doubling every ten years, this issue is not going away anytime soon,”
said Mr Dell.
“We have collected,
counted and sorted nearly half a million items from within the Tasmanian
Wilderness World Heritage Area over the past 15 years. This year alone, we
removed over 79,000 pieces of rubbish from Australia’s most wild, spectacular
and remote beaches.
“We continue to work with
the Tasmanian Fisheries Industry Council, the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Association
and the Tasmanian Abalone Council to identify and minimise the potential waste
sources within the Tasmanian fishing industry and remove them from the
production cycle.
“We can all do our bit in
tackling this globally critical issue. We need to stop the rubbish getting into
the ocean in the first place. Here in Tasmania, the Government needs to show
they’re serious about protecting our World Heritage Area. They must take urgent
action and introduce long-overdue container deposit legislation” concluded Mr
Dell.
