Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 173

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
quantification of the smallest particles. This
knowledge gap needs to be filled. In addition,
little is known about the capacit y of microplastics
to alter ecological processes and to accumulate
through trophic transfer in natural conditions.
Moving forward
Collaboration will be key to the reduction of
ALDFG and microplastic by 2025, and FAO
continues to engage actively with stakeholders
and relevant organizations and partners towards
achieving this. Priorit y must be given to
preventive measures that reduce marine litter and
microplastics in the ocean, including
consideration of circular economy approaches to
prevent waste generation and phasing out of
single-use plastic. For example, under the
Common Oceans ABNJ (Areas Beyond National
Jurisdictions) Tuna Project, and in partnership
with the International Seafood Sustainabilit y
Foundation, FAO has supported the testing of
biodegradable materials in drifting FADs to be
used in tuna purse seine fisheries. Cutting the
sources of plastic pollution is a collective effort
that must involve all relevant industries and all
citizens. For the fisheries and aquaculture sector,
finding alternatives to plastic use and minimizing
ALDFG would contribute to decreasing the
sources of marine litter and microplastics. In
developing countries where infrastructure may be
lacking to deal with plastic waste, or where
authorities or the fishing industr y lack the
capacit y to apply adequate preventive or curative
measures, increased resources and support
through international development assistance
and investments may be important ( Jambeck et
al., 2015). n
As far as food safet y hazards are concerned, even
though microplastics have been found in various
foods such as beer, honey and table salt
(Liebezeit and Liebezeit, 2013, 2014; Karami
et al., 2017), most studies have been carried out
on fish and fish products (Lusher, Hollman and
Mendoza-Hill, 2017). As microplastics are mainly
found in the animal’s g ut, fish fillets and other
products not including the intestine are not a
likely source of microplastics. Small fish,
crustaceans and molluscs that are eaten with
their g uts are main concerns in terms of dietar y
exposure to microplastics through consumption
of fisher y and aquaculture products.
FAO advocates the use of risk analysis, including
risk assessment, management and
communication (FAO and W HO, 2006), when
dealing with potential safet y hazards that may
be associated with microplastics in fisher y
products. Data are currently lacking to carr y out
a detailed risk assessment. However, risk
assessment based on the worst-case exposure
scenario of human consumption of bivalves
showed that the quantities of microplastics
ingested are low and that the associated
additives and bioaccumulative contaminants
would have a negligible effect in terms of
exposure, contributing less than 0.1 percent to
total dietar y intake of such additives and
contaminants (Lusher, Holman and Mendoza-
Hill, 2017). While the food safet y risk from
additives and contaminants due to consumption
of fisher y and aquaculture products is believed
to be negligible, the toxicit y of the most common
plastic monomers and polymers present in these
products has not been evaluated (Lusher,
Hollman and Mendoza-Hill, 2017).
SOCIAL ISSUES
Calls and actions to address the wide range of
social sustainabilit y issues in fisheries and
aquaculture continue to attract the increasing
attention of policy-makers, industr y, civil societ y
consumers and the media. The many ongoing
initiatives in the sector address such areas as
human rights–based approaches, povert y
eradication through collective action, gender
equalit y and women’s empowerment, decent work
and social protection.
Finally, although it has been documented that
plastic debris can act as a substrate for diverse
microbial communities, data are currently
insufficient to include pathogens in any risk
profiling on microplastic exposure through
consumption of fisher y and aquaculture products.
Human rights–based approaches
Fisheries governance and development have
evolved from focusing on conser vation of
resources and the environment, i.e. a biological
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