MEPF & Project Menorca
MORE FISH, LESS PLASTIC, launching event of the campaign to reduce plastics in fresh fish sale points.
This weekend we went to the Local Market of Ciutadella for the launching event of Campaign “More fish, less plastic” carried out by the LEADER Association Illa de Menorca together with the Local Action Group of Fishing of Menorca. The Menorca Preservation Fund funds this campaign under Project Menorca (with the support of Blue Marine Foundation and Sunseeker international) to reduce marine pollution by replacing the harmful packaging used for the sale of fish (made of plastic and polystyrene) by providing biodegradable bags (suitable for composting them) and paper to wrap the fish, to fresh fish sale points of Menorca. This contributes to reduce the use of plastics in fresh fish sale points and to raise awareness among the costumers about the environmental problem they generate at sea.
During the launching event, the materials designed within the campaign were delivered, including flyers and informative posters, to the stall owners in the traditional market. The President of Leader, Francisco Canales and Ana Pedraz of the Menorca Preservation Fund participated in this event with the support from the Ciutadella Town Hall with the attendance of Joana Gomila, Mayoress of Ciutadella and Noemí Campos, the town hall Commerce Councilor and the presence of Aram Ortega, the Environment Councilor from the Island Council.
The campaign “More fish, less plastic” will distribute 30,000 biodegradable bags made with corn starch, 50,000 food papers to wrap the fish and 2,500 reusable bags , to recover the habit of wrapping fish in paper. The objective is to change the habits of people who come to the fish market to buy fish and avoid the use of plastic bags to make the purchase. The Leader Assotiation is working with the stall owners to get them to wrap the fish with the paper provided by the project to weigh the fish or using the biodegradable bags. The aims is to get them to become active agents of change, offering their clients the possibility of opting for consumption habits that are more respectful with the environment since at a global we consume more than one million plastic bags per minute with a lifetime of around 15 minutes.
Finally, there the Campaign will produce short videos and a series of images that will help to spread the message through social networks.
The MEPF wants to thank the implication in launching act of David Doblado from the LEADER and Joana Barceló from the Town Hall and the Ciutadella Fishermen’s guild. The fishing guilds of Fornells and Maó and trade associations of Menorca collaborate with the project that will include actions in all the fresh fish sale points around in Menorca.
Plastics can cause marine animals to become entangled or suffocated, and over time these plastics are broken down into small particles, microplastics, which act as magnets of toxic substances and a large number of marine organisms can end up ingesting them.
Do not forget to ask for bags and papers “More fish, less plastic”, next time you go to buy fish to the traditional markets to help to revert the trend, according to which, it is estimated that in 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea, if we continue with this rate of plastics use.
