Plastic plague hits Kiwi fisheries

They are fish you can regularly buy from your local market, and new research suggests the majority have eaten plastic.

Ongoing research from Auckland University’s Institute of Marine Science has shown eight of nine common New Zealand species ate plastic regularly, possibly putting Kiwis’ health, and one of the country’s biggest industries, at risk.

The research, conducted by PhD student Ana Markic, was the first to explore plastic’s impact on Kiwi fisheries, with neither the fishing industry or the Ministry for Primary Industries having investigated in the past.

Markic said the full findings of the research would be available in March, but without peer review was not comfortable speaking more specifically.

Markic also looked at fish caught around Samoa, Easter Island, and Tahiti.

‘‘All the fish I study are commercial and people eat them,’’ she said.

Sustainable Coastlines co-founder Sam Judd said research into the effect of plastic on Kiwi fisheries, and the health risks they posed to human health, had been neglected.

Alongside Auckland University, Judd was applying for government funds to start testing the flesh of fish for chemicals that may have leached from plastics.

He said some plastics contained carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer, and endocrine disruptors, which may mimic the oestrogen hormone.

‘‘This is no longer a discussion about the environment, this is about human health.’’

The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council estimates over 1 million Kiwis go fishing every year.

A spokesman for the Ministry for Primary Industries said there was a lack of knowledge internationally on what any findings of plastics in seafood meant for human health.

‘‘At present there are no plans to add plastics research into our monitoring programme,’’ he said.