The Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping of Mauritius is finalising regulations to ban disposal of plastic at sea. Namely, the country will give legal force to Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) which was signed by Mauritius in 1995.
This announcement was made by the Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, Premdut Koonjoo. Mr Koonjoo said that oceans are in risk of experiencing transboundary challenges such as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing, overfishing, ocean acidification, climate change, and plastic pollution. He also said that plastic pollution is damaging marine resources.
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In addition, the Minister informed that the Government knows the potential of the ocean and called for a cleaner and safer ocean. To achieve this, the government will establish an Ocean Economy Unit to implement projects for sustainable management of the resources of the oceans, and prevent pollution of Mauritius’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Premdut Koonjoo highlighted that Mauritius joined the Action groups on Coral Reef restoration and Plastic Pollution with other Commonwealth Member States, while it is also cooperating with other countries to exploit the resources within its EEZ.
