ABSTRACT
Patos Lagoon, located in southern Brazil, is the world's largest choked coastal lagoon. Studies have revealed that plastic pollution affects lagoons; however, to date, they have only focused on a few limited regions of the lagoon. Top-down quantification methods based on socio-economic data from 2010 to 2017 were used to measure the amount of plastic reaching Patos Lagoon, thus broadening the perspective of plastic pollution in this area. According to the findings, Patos Lagoon's hydrographic regions produced an average of 4.54 Mton of plastic during the studied period. 1.86 Mton was consumed on average. High- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE, respectively), polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were the main resins produced. Food-related activities were the largest consumer of plastic (17.98%), indicating a higher amount of single-use plastics being used in the basin. The preforms for plastic bottles, bags, and packaging were the most commonly manufactured plastic utensils. An estimated 8 to 14% of all plastics used to end up as mismanaged waste in the Patos Lagoon hydrographic basin. This resulted in 1.73 and 10.72 Kton, or 0.5 and 3.2 g/per person/per day, of plastic waste flowing into the waters of Patos Lagoon throughout the study period. These findings can help focus on management efforts by providing managers and policymakers with information for better plastic pollution mitigation in this environment.
Subject(s)
Plastics , Polypropylenes , Humans , Brazil , Environmental Pollution , Polyethylene , Socioeconomic Factors , Environmental MonitoringABSTRACT
The ocean, which regulates climate and supports vital ecosystem services, is crucial to our Earth system and livelihoods. Yet, it is threatened by anthropogenic pressures and climate change. A healthy ocean that supports a sustainable ocean economy requires adequate financing vehicles that generate, invest, align, and account for financial capital to achieve sustained ocean health and governance. However, the current finance gap is large; we identify key barriers to financing a sustainable ocean economy and suggest how to mitigate them, to incentivize the kind of public and private investments needed for topnotch science and management in support of a sustainable ocean economy.
ABSTRACT
Este artigo apresenta e analisa a configuração do campo organizacional da indústria da pesca nos estados do Rio de Janeiro e Rio Grande do Sul, na perspectiva institucional. A indústria da pesca, apesar de sua importância para as comunidades onde está inserida, tem apresentado um processo de declínio. O artigo objetiva compreender esse processo por meio da análise do campo organizacional da pesca, de sua origem até a configuração atual nos dois estados investigados. As configurações aqui apresentadas, bem a análise comparativa desenvolvida, foi elaborada a partir dos dados coletados em documentos produzidos pelos diversos órgãos envolvidos com a pesca no Brasil e nos estados do Rio de Janeiro e do Rio Grande do Sul. Foi também realizada uma série de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com representantes das organizações que compõem o campo, com a finalidade de atribuir maior precisão às configurações dos campos organizacionais e salientar o atores sociais e elementos institucionais que as definiram. Pode-se perceber, pela análise, um processo de grande enfraquecimento institucional dos campos, sendo a influência do Estado determinante nessa trajetória.