Monday, December 23, 2024

Autonomous Drone Subs Help Researchers Study Arctic Plankton

Underwater robots, combined with simple instruments from 100 years ago, are helping researchers unlock the secrets of microscopic marine organisms.

Underwater robot for plankton sampling — NTNU / Tore Mo-Bjorkelund

[By Ingebjørg Hestvik]

Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, May 2022: It’s spring, the sun is shining – which means the plankton in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean are about to bloom.

Long bright days and rising temperatures have awakened the phytoplankton. The spring bloom has begun, and populations of these tiny plankton are growing explosively beneath the surface.

From a boat out on the fjord, Tore Mo-Bjørkelund launches a robot into the sea. Then another one.

The robots are two lightweight autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that have been programmed to move around in the water and detect the fluorescence emitted by chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that phytoplankton uses for photosynthesis.

“Spring is a hectic time in the ocean, and algal blooms are a dynamic and complex process. They are difficult to analyse in detail,” says Mo-Bjørkelund.

Water sampling

Mo-Bjørkelund’s PhD at NTNU has involved developing algorithms to map the bloom in both time and space. Accompanying him out on the sea is marine biologist Sanna Majaneva, who is ready to take water samples once the robots have located the densest concentrations of algae.

While Mo-Bjørkelund is testing expensive new advanced robotics, Majaneva is equipped with a Niskin water sampler: a plastic tube attached to a wire with a simple mechanical trigger mechanism.

When the tube reaches the right depth, a weight is sent down the wire that hits a trigger and the tube closes. The sampler is very similar to one Fridtjof Nansen developed over a hundred years ago to collect water samples at precisely the desired depth.

There are a number of different ways to study plankton. Here, the researchers use a Niskin water sampler. Photo: Martin Ludvigsen, NTNU

Old but reliable methods

The two AUVs moving around below the surface may seem technologically superior, but it is Sanna Majaneva’s simple water sampler that ultimately provides all the answers.

“Those things really work. The problem with technological development is that the things we make don’t usually work. By contrast, a plankton net or a water sampler works almost every time. They are simple, cheap and reliable solutions that modern technology struggles to match,” says Mo-Bjørkelund.

However, biologists need new solutions to gain a better overview of what is happening beneath the greyish-blue, opaque surface of the water.

A water sampler can take samples along a vertical line in the water and provide an overview of what is happening at precisely that location. But it provides little insight into what the algal bloom is doing in the space surrounding that vertical line.

That’s why Majaneva needs help from Mo-Bjørklund’s underwater robot. The robot can do something that her water sampler can’t: It can find its way to the tightest concentration of phytoplankton in the water column.

Can check plankton concentrations and dispersal

“You might think plankton is distributed homogeneously in the water, but we know that in fact the distribution is quite uneven – a kind of a fine-scale patchiness,” she said. “It’s difficult to study using traditional methods, and there may be more interaction between the different organisms inside these patches than we currently know about.”

Majaneva is one of several marine biologists from NTNU who have participated in the ‘Nansen Legacy’ project, an interdisciplinary research project on the marine climate and ecosystems undergoing rapid changes.

The annual spring blooms of phytoplankton form the very foundation of marine ecosystems, yet there is still much we do not know.

“I study zooplankton. I want to understand what differentiates them from each other, how they coexist, and how they influence one another in the pelagic environment,” says Majaneva.

Studies of what happens during a phytoplankton bloom are important to gain better insight into the processes affecting organisms one step higher up the food chain.

“We would like to know more about biodiversity and the prevalence of different plankton species. Perhaps this fine-scale patchiness plays a more significant role than we previously thought,” says Majaneva.

Robots taught to make decisions underway

The two underwater robots are now going to move around and measure fluorescence in an area measuring 1.5 by 1.5 km, down to a depth of 50 metres. This will allow them to locate the highest concentration of chlorophyll in this three-dimensional box of water.

They will also calculate where the measurements are most uncertain so they can retake measurements and improve the quality of the data. At the same time, they need to avoid crashing into each other.

“The topic for my PhD has been adaptive measurements. Measurements are used along the way to determine where to measure next. I wouldn’t call it artificial intelligence as there are no neural networks in play, but we train a model on data we collect in the field. The robot makes decisions based on data collected during the process. The model is a mathematical-statistical process, a spatially optimal that the robot uses to make decisions,” Mo-Bjørkelund says.

Prior to his fieldwork, he has fine-tuned the software by running simulations of what the researchers expect to happen in the field. He will now find out if the system works.

3-D pictures of photosynthesis in real time

After an initial round of mapping, the two robots rise to the surface to exchange data via satellite. This enables one robot to make decisions based on data from the other. This may include revisiting areas with uncertain measurements as well as avoiding colliding with the other robot.

On board the research ship, the researchers can monitor the measurement data, which are displayed as three-dimensional images on a screen, creating a model of the photosynthesis in the water, right there and then.

“In this case, we saw that there wasn’t much chlorophyll on the surface, but that there was a huge bloom further down,” says Mo-Bjørkelund.

While Mo-Bjørklund has done most of his work in the office before the expedition to Svalbard, this is where Majaneva’s work begins.

The water sampler’s turn

After a second round of measurements, the robots are lifted out of the water. The researchers sail to the location where the robots measured the densest concentrations of chlorophyll and deploy the water sampler to find plankton.

What species are in the water? How does energy flow between the phytoplankton and the zooplankton?

For Mo-Bjørkelund, this marks the culmination of years of work.

“This was just a trial. If these types of robots are to be used as a standard method, much more engineering is required. Biologists are using technology that was developed decades ago, because modern technology simply isn’t reliable enough yet.”

Developing cost-effective research

Trondheim, 2024: Two years have passed since the expedition to Svalbard. Mo-Bjørkelund has long since completed his studies at NTNU and has established his own underwater technology company with three other former NTNU students.

Norwegian SciTech News meets up with Sanna Majaneva over a quick coffee between busy sessions at NTNU University Museum’s laboratory in Trondheim.

She has used methods from genetics to find out which plants and animals were in the water samples from Kongsfjorden. However, identifying which organisms are present in the water is not straightforward, even if their DNA is found in the water samples.

“We use environmental DNA and genetic barcoding to identify phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish. Environmental DNA is an effective method for mapping biodiversity, but there are still many species that are not found in the DNA reference libraries,” says Majaneva.

Moreover, even if researchers find DNA from a particular species in a specific area, they cannot be certain that the organism lived precisely where they found it.

“It may also have been a fragment that floated down from further up in the water column,” Majaneva explains.

Constant pressure

She talks about the constant pressure to make environmental monitoring and biological research as cost-effective as possible.

The genetic methods save her from months of microscope work, but they still require development and leave many questions unanswered.

Mo-Bjørkelund’s underwater robots may also save biologists valuable time in the field.

“These type of robots will enable us to investigate several locations, at different depths, and study the effects of different currents. They will help us decide where the samples should be taken, or where we should locate the stations. Should we take water samples at a depth of 20 or 35 metres? After all, we can’t bring the entire water column on board. Maybe the robot can take water samples for us? Then we wouldn’t even need to be present. Expeditions are expensive,” says Majaneva.

The way forward

The Nansen Legacy project has now been completed, but work on developing autonomous underwater robots at NTNU continues.

“The ocean is constantly changing and we will never be able to measure everything all the time. In order to gain the best possible understanding of the ocean, we need to concentrate our efforts in the most interesting areas,” says Professor Martin Ludvigsen at the Department of Marine Technology.

The Harvest project is now testing how underwater vehicles can use sonar technology and particle cameras to calculate the concentration of zooplankton in the water column, while the Mascot project concentrates on the statistical methods that enable the robots to determine where and when measurements should be taken.

“Adaptive mapping using AUVs can give us much better insight into the dynamics of physical, biological and chemical processes in the ocean,” Ludvigsen says.

Majaneva believes that the Nansen Legacy project has demonstrated the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

“We need each other’s knowledge to see the big picture,” she said.

This article appears courtesy of Gemini.no and may be found in its original form here.

Reference: Mo-Bjørkelund, Sanna Majaneva, Glaucia Moreira Fragoso, Geir Johnsen, Martin Ludvigsen: Multi-vehicle adaptive 3D mapping for targeted ocean sampling | PLOS ONE

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

ALASKA

Maersk Pulls Out of Dutch Harbor and Kodiak

Global shipping giant Maersk has hit fishing interests in Alaska with news that it plans to withdraw from two of the state’s ports on its transpacific service network.

As part of its revision of services for the coming year, the liner said it intends to suspend its calls at terminals at Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, two primary export hubs for the $1.5 billion Alaska pollock fishery. The world’s second-largest container shipping company attributed the decision to an “ongoing effort to strengthen our product offerings and maintain reliability in the network.”

According to Maersk, the Danish-flagged container feeder Cape Sorel will carry out the final westbound voyage out of Dutch Harbor on February 11.

Dutch Harbor is one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the U.S., and its exports go to markets in Europe and Asia. In 2022, some 613.5 million pounds of seafood across various species were landed in Dutch Harbor. Kodiak is also a top fishing port, home to a large fleet and multiple canneries. The bulk of the product by volume is pollock, the wildly prolific Gulf of Alaska species used to make fish sticks and other processed products.

Alaska's fishing industry has been hit hard over the past few years due to declines in several key commercial species - notably snow crab, chum salmon and king salmon. Coupled with other economic factors, this has cut the industry's profitability in half since 2021, according to NOAA Fisheries.

Top image: Reefer ships at Dutch Harbor, Alaska (Delta Whiskey / CC BY ND 2.0)

ON CONTRADICTIONS CHAIRMAN MAO

China vows ‘cooperation’ over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables

By AFP
December 23, 2024

The Yi Peng 3 had been anchored in the international waters of the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark - Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP

Mikkel Berg Pedersen

Isabel KUA

Beijing on Monday promised to continue “cooperation” with regional authorities over a Chinese ship linked to the recent severing of two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.

Sections of two telecom cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters of the Baltic.

Suspicions have been directed at a Chinese ship — the Yi Peng 3 — which according to ship tracking sites had sailed over the cables around the time they were cut.

The Yi Peng 3 had been anchored in the international waters of the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark.

Ship tracking site Vesselfinder showed the Yi Peng 3 steaming north out of the strait on Saturday and Sweden’s coast guard confirmed that the vessel had weighed anchor.

Beijing on Monday confirmed the ship had left to “to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the crew”.

“The shipowner company, after a comprehensive evaluation and consultation with relevant parties, decided to resume operations,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

“China has notified all relevant countries in advance,” Mao said.

“China is willing to maintain communication and cooperation with the countries involved to advance the follow-up handling of the incident,” she added.

European officials have said they suspect sabotage linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has rejected the comments as “absurd” and “laughable”.

On Thursday, authorities from Sweden, Germany and Finland were invited aboard for an investigation led by China.

A Danish representative also accompanied the group as the country had served a “facilitating role” by hosting meetings between the countries earlier in the week, its Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had said.

Sweden in late November requested China’s cooperation in the investigation, but Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stressed that there was no “accusation” of any sort.

Early on November 17, the Arelion cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was damaged.

The next day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock was cut south of Sweden’s Oland island, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) from Helsinki.

Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In September 2022, a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe, the cause of which has yet to be determined.

In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland an

\d Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.

China Blocks Investigation of Bulker Suspected of Baltic Subsea Attack

Yi Peng 3 passes under the Great Belt Bridge (Storebaelt Bridge webcam)

Chinese government officials have refused to let a Swedish prosecutor board a Chinese bulker that was accused of sabotaging subsea cables in the Baltic, according to the Financial Times. The vessel and crew have now departed the region, and they are under way for Egypt - leaving just one last opportunity to apprehend them in NATO member states' waters.

On Nov. 17-18, two subsea cables suddenly broke off the coast of Sweden. AIS data shows that the bulker Yi Peng 3 was maneuvering oddly at the sites where the cables were severed. In addition, one of its anchors is badly twisted, and the damaged cable sites showed clear signs of anchor-dragging on the bottom.

Yi Peng 3 was intercepted by Danish forces as she entered the Great Belt, but she was not halted while transiting Danish waters. Instead, she was allowed to exit the Great Belt and anchored just outside of Danish territorial seas, in the Kattegat. There she remained for a month, guarded by Danish and German vessels - safe from a law-enforcement boarding because she was in international waters.

Sweden - which is leading the investigation - petitioned the Yi Peng 3's flag state for permission to board and inspect the vessel. The flag state, China, said that it would cooperate and then negotiated over the terms of investigators' access for weeks. In the end, Chinese authorities sent their own team to conduct an investigation and allowed European representatives to participate as observers only. Sweden's public prosecutor on the case, Henrik Söderman, was disallowed by Chinese officials and could not board to perform his duties, according to the Financial Times.

"It is remarkable that the ship leaves without the prosecutor being given the opportunity to inspect the vessel and question the crew within the framework of a Swedish criminal investigation," Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told the FT.

The Yi Peng 3 affair is the second suspected subsea infrastructure attack involving a Chinese vessel in the Baltic in two years, and Lithuanian foreign affairs minister Kestutis Budrys suggested that it is time to take action.

"Building security starts with mitigating weaknesses," said Budrys. "China's unwillingness to cooperate on the undersea incident investigations in the Baltic Sea cannot be allowed to set a precedent in Europe - or anywhere else. If the 'what's mine is mine' mentality becomes a new global norm, it will have to be countered by new navigation rules in EU waters to address vulnerabilities."

As of Sunday, Yi Peng 3 was under way in the North Sea and headed south for the English Channel, putting her on a course to pass through the Strait of Dover - the last point on her route that will put her in jurisdictional reach of Sweden's NATO allies. For the remainder of her declared voyage to Egypt, she will be able to use international waters to transit onwards.

The Struggle Against Plastic Choking the Mekong

Plastic litter lining the banks of the Mekong (Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

LONG READ

[By Anton L. Delgado]

On Son Island in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Le Trung Tin scatters fish feed into his ponds, where dozens of snakehead fish leap through the surface in synchronised bursts. “I taught them how to do that,” he says proudly, tossing another handful of feed at his fish.

The scene looks idyllic, but Le’s fish farm is a reluctant response to an escalating crisis. For decades, he made his living fishing the Hau River, a distributary of the Mekong. But in recent years, plastic waste clogged his nets and strangled the fish. “I had no choice but to stop,” he says. “Everything was tangled – trash, nets, even the fish themselves. It was hopeless.”

Now, Le relies on enclosed ponds using filtered water to keep his fish alive. “I built this ecological environment free of plastic waste, chemical spills and [protected it from] extreme weather,” he says.

(Video: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

Le’s experience reflects the wider challenges facing the Mekong. Stretching over 4,300 kilometres from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, the river supports nearly 70 million people and some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Yet, it is one of the most plastic-polluted rivers in the world and among the 10 rivers in Asia that carry the vast majority of plastic to the sea. The Mekong dumps – by some estimates – tens of thousands of tonnes each year into the ocean, with plastic waste accumulating along its banks, tributaries and lakes.

Plastic enters the Mekong in myriad ways – agricultural runoff, unregulated dumping and a flood of single-use packaging from upstream countries like China and Myanmar. It accumulates in hotspots like Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia and the wetlands of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, where this plastic waste threatens biodiversity, food security and human health.

The unchecked proliferation of single-use plastics, combined with a lack of waste management infrastructure across the region, has resulted in widespread mismanagement of plastic waste – much of which is neither recycled, incinerated nor properly disposed in landfills. Vietnam, often ranked as the world’s fourth-largest contributor of mismanaged plastic waste, also accounts for a significant share of marine plastic debris, highlighting the country’s struggle to address the crisis effectively.

Addressing the Mekong’s plastic pollution crisis will require coordinated efforts from regional governments and transboundary organisations, however experts say a lasting solution requires a bold global agreement limiting plastic use and production, combined with enforceable regional policies.

A global crisis: Will the plastics treaty deliver?

Hopes were high as national negotiators gathered in Busan, South Korea, to finalise the Global Plastics Treaty – an ambitious UN effort aimed at tackling the global plastic pollution crisis. However, the talks were adjourned earlier this month without agreement, leaving campaigners frustrated in their push for the treaty to address both ends of the crisis: limiting plastic production and improving global waste-management systems.

On Sunday 1 December, the final day of the summit, Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy lead for WWF, said governments were “no closer to agreeing on a solution to the worsening plastic crisis.”

“For too long, a small minority of states have held the negotiation process hostage. It is abundantly clear that these countries have no intention of finding a meaningful solution to this crisis,” he continued in a press release. “It is unjust that those who bear the greatest burden of plastic pollution are being denied the opportunity to forge a solution among themselves by those profiteering off the unregulated production and consumption of plastic.”

Critics also point out that previous global agreements to resolve environmental crises, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, have fallen short of their goals due to weak enforcement mechanisms and the influence of powerful industry lobbying groups.

A plastic bag full of waste floats down the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong on the border of Myanmar and Thailand. Nearby, a rescued elephant plays in the water. The United Nations Environment Programme warns plastic pollution could triple by 2040, threatening the biodiversity of this rich ecosystem (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

Plastic production has doubled over the past 20 years, with over 400 million tonnes produced annually. Single-use plastics, which make up half of this total, are particularly problematic, accounting for a significant portion of the waste clogging rivers like the Mekong. While technological solutions like recycling and waste-to-energy plants are often advocated by industry, their impact pales in comparison to the scale of production.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that plastic pollution could triple by 2040 without drastic action.

“The price for inaction is far greater than wasted time, it puts both planetary and human health on the line and sets us up for a scenario where ambition could diminish over time,” says Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste and business with WWF. “We can’t back down on delivering a legally binding text that finally puts us on a course to eliminate plastic pollution,” he added.

Local fisher Boonrat Chaikeaw catches a net full of trash as he plies the Mekong’s waters by Chiang Khong on the border of Thailand and Laos (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

Dialogue Earth visited four plastic-waste hotspots along the lower reaches of the Mekong – Chiang Saen in Thailand, Phnom Penh and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. These sites showcase the problems the plastics treaty needs to address: waste from newly produced plastic, the damaging impact of plastic waste on local people and the transnational nature of the problem.

Chiang Saen, Thailand: Where the Mekong’s plastic problem peaks

In northern Thailand, the Mekong flows past Chiang Saen near the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos converge. Here, plastic waste collects in growing heaps along the riverbanks. The debris – food wrappers, plastic bottles and fishing nets – has floated downstream from upstream countries like China and Myanmar, clogging tributaries like the Ruak River.

“Sometimes it feels like the waste never ends,” says Poonyawee Srisantear, who manages a local elephant camp. Mahouts (elephant keepers) at the camp regularly collect rubbish from the riverbanks to protect their elephants. “The smell of food clings to the plastic and elephants often mistake it for something to eat,” she explains. “When they swallow it, it can be life-threatening to them.”

(Video: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

Although plastic waste is visible along the Mekong’s banks, quantitative information remains scarce. In recent years, international organisations have tried to quantify the scale of the problem.

Thailand, like many Mekong countries, also struggles with inadequate waste management systems, which exacerbate the problem. Over 150 plastic-waste hotspots have been identified across the country. A 2023 study detected close to 1,000 official and unofficial waste sites across Southeast Asia, nearly a fifth of which were located within 200m of a waterway. Almost half of these were in the five Mekong nations of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

A volunteer douses a burning pile of rubbish at an unofficial dump site next to the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia. The lack of proper waste management exacerbates the problem of plastic pollution in most Mekong countries (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

Chiang Saen is also the site of one of the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) upcoming video monitoring stations, part of a broader initiative to track plastic flows across the basin. The MRC serves as an intergovernmental advisory body and the video monitoring system dovetails with its new protocols for riverine microplastic monitoring; the first guidelines standardising water health monitoring across the lower Mekong basin.

“We need more [and better] data to drive policy change,” says Phan Nam Long, a water quality officer with the MRC. “Without information on the scale of the problem, we cannot create effective solutions.”

Critics, however, argue that such monitoring efforts fall short of addressing the underlying problem, in part due to the MRC’s limited advisory role to the region’s governments.

“It is fine for the MRC to monitor. Yes, the more information, the better. But that can’t be the only thing the MRC or the Mekong nations do,” says Niwat Roykaew, also known as Kru Thi (teacher in Thai), an environmental activist, who founded the Mekong School. “We can see how the garbage impacts the river. We can see how the garbage impacts those dependent on the river. That is enough information for us to begin to act.”

Niwat wants to see a basin-wide accountability framework to tackle plastic pollution. But with no agreement from the UN in Busan, he questions whether the Mekong region will be able to overcome its own divisions to establish a unified approach.

“All the countries that share the Mekong River must share the responsibility,” he says. “Plastic is choking the river and the consequences affect us all – from the fish we eat to the water we drink.”

Recent studies conducted along the riverside near Niwat’s school underline his point.

“We’re addicted to plastics, now more than ever,” says Panate Manomaivibool, an assistant professor at Thailand’s Burapha University. Over the course of a year, ending in July 2022, his team collected 2,650 large waste samples from the waters around the Golden Triangle. He adds: “Compared to the scale of the problem, attempts to fix it are tiny.”

Panate’s research determined that 91% of the waste was plastic, with labels indicating around 30% originated in Myanmar and nearly 20% in China, underscoring the transboundary nature of the challenge. “Plastic pollution has already contaminated our food chain and all life in the Mekong,” he warns.

Panate tells Dialogue Earth he tries “to be optimistic that we are not yet at the irreversible turning point”, but fears the region’s addiction to plastic will be hard to break.

“We are the first generation facing this problem on this scale. Our ancestors, even our parents, were never exposed to this level of plastic pollution,” he says. “Without an alternative, our countries will always choose to use the cheapest, easiest option. For now, that remains plastic.”

The confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers marks the point where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, an area known as the Golden Triangle. Over 4,300 km in length, the Mekong passes through or marks the borders of six countries (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

The Thai government has taken action by announcing a ban on plastic waste imports from 2025, a move inspired by China’s 2018 restrictions, which redirected foreign waste to countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand itself. Yet domestic plastic consumption continues to rise.

“The more people there are, the more the city develops, the economy grows and the use of plastic increases,” says Saksan Chuamuangpan, director of Chiang Saen’s Public Health Department.

Waste production in the district has skyrocketed from two tonnes per day two decades ago to 15 tonnes today, he says, and warns a joint effort is needed.

Tonle Sap Lake: Cambodia’s beating heart

In Cambodia, Tonle Sap Lake – a vital freshwater fishery for Southeast Asia – is increasingly choked by plastic waste. Each monsoon season, the Tonle Sap River reverses flow, carrying waste upstream into the lake. This cycle has made the survival of the lake’s ecosystems ever more uncertain.

Since assuming the role of Cambodia’s environment minister last year, Eang Sophalleth has made addressing plastic pollution a priority. As part of a national anti-plastics campaign he has called on half of Cambodia’s 17 million inhabitants to reduce their use of plastics.

“Plastic is our number one enemy,” he said at the September launch of the campaign.

Cambodia also joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership last year and signed an agreement with Laos to tackle cross-border plastic pollution. But the focus has been on changing public perception and plastic habits, with little mention of plastic manufacturers or waste management improvements. Eang says only when plastic reduction targets are met, will a major clean-up of Tonle Sap Lake, the nation’s main source of protein, take place. “There’s no point in cleaning if we’re throwing away more than we clean up,” he said.

As it stands, though, much of the plastic continues to accumulate in fishing nets and along the shorelines, with little evidence of progress on waste reduction.

The propeller of a fishing boat on Tonle Sap Lake, jammed by a plastic bag. Fishers on the lake, and elsewhere along the Mekong, face a daily struggle with plastic waste, which breaks their motors and clogs up their nets (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

In Kampong Phluk, a fishing village on Tonle Sap Lake, plastic waste disrupts daily life for local communities. Sophal Sea, director of the NGO Bambooshoot, says the debris is damaging livelihoods. “The nets get tangled, motors break down and fish stocks are declining,” he says.

Welcoming the government’s apparent focus on plastic, he adds: “This is the first time I’ve heard government leaders promise that kind of support.” However, he stressed the need for political support and regulations to address the systemic issues fuelling the crisis and to wean Cambodia off what he described as its “trash culture”.

Plastic disposal options are scarce in villages surrounding the lake, leading residents to dump waste directly into the water.

“Most people don’t know how to dispose of their waste properly. They just throw it everywhere,” says Srey Toch, a litter picker with River Ocean Cleanup who has joined Sophal and a group of volunteers to collect rubbish at the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers.

Srey Toch’s observations are corroborated by Sovann Nou, River Ocean Cleanup’s executive director, who attributes the problem to inadequate household and industrial waste management, combined with limited awareness amongst the public regarding the impact plastic waste has.

Walking along the riverbank, he stops to hold up some of the debris: plastic tarps, bottles and tyres. At one point he pauses to pick up a dead turtle lying among the waste – its death a stark reminder of the toll plastic pollution takes on wildlife.

As the Mekong flows south past Phnom Penh toward Vietnam, Eang expressed hope that other upstream nations will follow Cambodia’s lead in beginning to take steps to tackle plastic pollution. “If we clean up plastics, downstream communities like Vietnam will be grateful. We’ll all benefit,” he said.

Can Tho: Where the Mekong meets the sea

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the river fans out into a vast network of tributaries and wetlands supporting millions of people through farming and fishing. Known as Vietnam’s “rice bowl”, this fertile region is also heavily impacted by plastic pollution, with much of the waste from upstream deposited in its waterways and rice fields.

By the time the Mekong reaches Vietnam’s Delta, the river carries the accumulated waste of its 4,300km journey.

“Most inland waste reaches the river through canals, especially during annual flooding,” says Nguyen Xuan Hoang, a researcher from Can Tho University’s College of Environment and Natural Resources. “Most of this plastic isn’t from Vietnam, but as the basin’s lowest point, we suffer the most.”

Back on Son Island, on the Hau River, Le has experienced this suffering firsthand, but switching to fish farming in enclosed ponds appears to have paid off. He notes a reduction in fish deaths, combined with an increase in profits compared to his previous ventures in the plastic-choked waters of the river.

“Living in harmony with nature is essential for fish farming, but it’s becoming harder in the delta,” he adds, acknowledging the additional effort required to shield his livelihood from the worsening environmental challenges.

For farmers like Trung Tin, in nearby Thoi Lai District, the pollution is impossible to ignore. Due to a lack of plastic waste disposal options, farmers often leave fertiliser and pesticide bottles in fields, fearing the release of toxins if they burn them. Rain washes these bottles and residues into the canals, polluting the delta’s waterways.

Rice farmer Trung Tin picks up plastic waste from his paddy field in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Lacking waste disposal infrastructure, he says farmers often have no choice but to leave used fertiliser and pesticide bottles – like the one he is carrying – in their fields (Image: Anton L. Delgado / Dialogue Earth)

According to Trung, who has farmed rice for over 20 years, “the climate now is not easy”. “The soil has less nutrition, and we must protect crops, even if it means using more chemicals.” Seeing discarded bottles in the river, he adds: “It’s scary to think about what’s in the fish we eat.”

Cong Thuan Nguyen, another researcher at Can Tho University, confirmed that agricultural waste from rice farms is a significant source of pollution. “We’re still trying to understand the full scale. The more we learn, the more the problem grows,” he tells Dialogue Earth.

In 2019, the Vietnamese government appeared to take steps to combat the plastic crisis, by announcing a ban on plastic waste imports starting in 2025. In 2022, it implemented the Extended Producer Responsibility policy, requiring companies to manage the recycling of their products and packaging to reduce waste and promote sustainability.

Despite these commitments, the country was the world’s fourth largest importer of plastic waste in 2022, adding to its waste management struggles. A significant proportion – up to 30% – of this imported plastic leaks into rivers and waterways, including the Mekong Delta, often carried by runoff or untreated wastewater.

As the 2025 deadline for plastic waste imports approaches, Vietnam’s ability to enforce the ban and transition to alternative recycling or disposal systems will be critical to reducing the plastic burden on the Mekong Delta and safeguarding the livelihoods it sustains. Among these challenges is the need for greater clarity from Vietnam, whose stance on INC-5 appears to straddle both national economic interests, particularly in the plastics industry, and broader commitments to addressing global plastic pollution. Moving forward, Vietnam will need to prioritise one over the other to demonstrate its commitment to tangible action.

Thailand, meanwhile, has expressed support for a legally binding international agreement to reduce plastic waste and mitigate its environmental and health impacts. However, its heavy reliance on single-use plastics and limited progress in addressing domestic waste management challenges raise questions about how effectively these commitments will be implemented. Similarly, while Cambodia has emphasised the importance of effective implementation mechanisms, including the establishment of national committees under Article 8 of the treaty, its capacity to deliver on these objectives remains uncertain. The country’s reliance on international collaboration, capacity-building and technical assistance underscores gaps in its existing infrastructure to tackle plastic pollution independently.

Meanwhile, grassroots efforts are working to clean the Mekong Delta despite overwhelming odds. Waste-collecting boats regularly navigate canals to remove debris and NGOs run educational campaigns to reduce dependency on single-use plastic.

The Mekong’s plastic crisis is not just a regional issue; it is emblematic of a global failure to manage waste sustainably. As the river carries tens of thousands of tonnes of plastic waste into the South China Sea each year, its plight underscores the urgency of solutions at every level – local, regional and global.

“We have not yet reached the summit of our efforts,” INC chair Luis Vayas said on Sunday, at the end of seven days of negotiation that concluded without consensus. The meeting was adjourned, with plans to reconvene next year, leaving questions about how soon tangible actions might address pressing issues like plastic pollution in the Mekong Delta.

Without intervention, the Mekong will continue offloading plastic into the South China Sea. From the first signs of plastic pollution in the Golden Triangle to the plastic-clogged canals of the delta, the river’s journey highlights the urgent need for coordinated, cross-border action to protect both the river and the millions who depend on it.

Anton L. Delgado is a multimedia journalist based in Cambodia, covering news and the environment across the region. He is also a former Pulitzer fellow.

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Australia's Competition Regulator Faults Stevedoring Firms for Inflation

Container operations at Port Botany, Sydney, Australia (iStock / Kokkai Ng)

This year has particularly been challenging for containerized cargo shippers, with geopolitical factors and low water levels in Panama Canal destabilizing supply chains. But these disruptions - combined with domestic shipping challenges - have seen some countries bear the brunt of high inflation, and Australia is among the nations most affected. In its annual report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) singled out supply chain disruptions as a major pain point for consumers in 2024. Some importers in Australia had to pay four to 11 times as much for ocean freight as a year earlier, according to the report.

“It’s been a difficult time for businesses dependent on the container freight supply chain, which in turn affects consumers and impacts the Australian economy through higher costs and shipping delays. We have found there are likely market failures in the container supply chain which may warrant a policy or regulatory response,” said Anna Brakey, ACCC Commissioner.

Specifically, the ACCC report raises concerns about the limited competition on landside charges charged by stevedores and empty-container storage yards.

The report found out that stevedores and empty-container yards enjoy massive market power, giving them little incentive to discount their charges to transport operators. Over the last seven years, stevedores in Australian ports have reportedly hiked their landside charges far beyond any increases in operating cost. For instance, between 2016-17 and 2023-24, real stevedoring industry total revenue per lift has increased by $45 per container (22.6 percent), while real stevedoring industry total costs per lift have increased by $15 per container (8.9 percent).

“Stevedores appear to be able to raise landside charges more easily than charges to shipping lines, as importers and exporters are constrained in their capacity to respond to increases,” added Ms Brakey.

In a similar pattern, the empty-container yards have also significantly hiked prices since 2008. In Sydney for example, fees have increased from $3 per container in 2018 to $112 per container in the first half of 2024.

According to ACCC, these price hikes are uncompetitive and a sign that government scrutiny could be warranted.

Australian Authorities Sink Two Illegal Fishing Boats and Prosecute Crews

Indonesian fishing boat burned at sea after confiscation of an illegal catch, Dec. 18 (ABF)

Australia is ratcheting up enforcement operations against illegal foreign fishing vessels off the nation's remote western and northern coastlines, and its on-the-water busts are yielding prison sentences in short order.

Last week, 16 Indonesian fishermen pleaded guilty to illegal fishing charges at a court in the port city of Darwin. The individuals were captured in two separate interdictions earlier this month.

The first intercept occurred on December 3 in Kimberley Marine Park, a reserve off Western Australia. The Australian Border Force arrested the vessel's nine crewmembers, confiscated their equipment and sank their boat at sea.

The vessel's master had been caught and found guilty for illegal fishing offenses in Australia before, and he was sentenced to three months in prison. A second crewmember with a prior conviction received the same prison term, and the rest of the crew were given two years of probation backed up with a $2,000 undertaking.

The second interdiction occurred December 9 off the coast of Oxley Island in Australia's Northern Territory. As before, the seven members of the crew were arrested, their gear confiscated and their boat destroyed. The master was fined AU$5,000, and the crew received three years of probation.

All those not imprisoned will be deported promptly to Indonesia.

The cases bring the total number of Indonesian illegal-fishing prosecutions at Darwin to 99 since July, reflecting the increased operational tempo of authorities' enforcement activities.

“Our message is clear: we have zero tolerance for illegal activity in Australian waters," said Commander Maritime Border Command, Rear Admiral Brett Sonter. "Those who engage in this activity risk losing everything – from their catch and equipment to their vessels and liberty."

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment