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We need to find sustainabl­e ways to save our oceans

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THIS is with reference to the article “Plastic damaging our sea, fish”

(POST, January 23-27).

People will stop using plastic to save the ocean, but won’t stop eating fish and other sea creatures. Double standards probably?

Fish play a far more important role as contributo­rs of nutrients to marine ecosystems than previously thought, according to researcher­s at the University of Georgia and Florida Internatio­nal University.

In papers in the journal Ecology, they show that fish contribute more nutrients to their local ecosystems than any other source – enough to cause changes in the growth rates of the organisms at the base of the food web. Humans disrupt this cycle by fishing.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s updated figure for fish in the sea in 2050 is roughly 900 million tons. But it also increases its estimate for the amount of plastic in the ocean in 2050 to between 850 million and 950 million tons, or about 25% more than originally predicted.

Banning plastic will be a good thing for the ocean, but will it be sustainabl­e? The human race is destroying everything possible.

We need to think about sustainabl­e ways of saving our oceans. Fish and sea creatures play an essential role in the oceans and our ecosystem.

We need to save them first by banning plastic, but eating these sentient beings has been damaging our oceans for much longer than plastic has.

The myth that we need fish to be healthy and for our omegas needs to be broken.

Fish isn’t healthy for the human body. Yes, they do contain omegas, but they also contain saturated fats and cholestero­l.

This was proved on www.plantbased­pharmacist.com. There are plenty of sources that prove this. Healthier sources of omega 3, 6 and 9 include flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, seaweed and algae. SAIHASHNA RAJKUMAR Pietermari­tzburg

 ?? PICTURE: WILLEM DEYZEL /AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA) ARCHIVES ?? RUBBISH, mainly plastic, at the mouth of the uMngeni River in Durban, a few years ago.
PICTURE: WILLEM DEYZEL /AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA) ARCHIVES RUBBISH, mainly plastic, at the mouth of the uMngeni River in Durban, a few years ago.

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