Hrvatske vode, Vol. 30 No. 122, 2022.
Review article
Potential of diving clubs in marine waste reduction - current state and perspectives in Croatia
Pero Tutman
orcid.org/0000-0002-2477-6028
; Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo, Split, Hrvatska
Dubravka Bojanić Varezić
; Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo, Split, Hrvatska
Nika Stagličić
; Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo, Split, Hrvatska
Abstract
Marine waste is a huge environmental problem in the world today, mostly as a consequence of a growing use of plastics and inadequate waste management on the land. When it reaches the sea, most waste sinks to the bottom of coastal areas where it may accumulate for years. Waste from the sea bottom in shallow coastal waters can be easily removed by organising diving environmental activities. Diving clubs have a great potential in such activities to remove significant waste quantities. However, these activities cannot be carried out without a harmonised methodology and coordination, in which case we remain without data on the areas, quantities and compostion of the collected waste that play a significant role in the development of marine waste reduction strategies. A development of efficient measures for marine waste reduction is necessary for preserving biological and economic quality of marine and coastal environments. The paper presents a potential of diving activities in the cleanup of shallow coastal waters and reduction of marine waste quantities in Croatia. A need for cooperation between diving clubs and scientific institutions is particularly emphasized as a manner to obtain high quality data on the collected marine waste, and the importance of a harmonised manner of data collection that could significantly contribute to new insights into the current situation and trends, including adoption of adequate recommendations and legal protection measures. If this initiative is systemically organised and implemented, it could act as an importan programme and a meaasure for reducing the quantity of marine waste.
Keywords
marine waste, diving clubs, environemtnal activities, cleanup of coastal waters
Hrčak ID:
300717
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2022.
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