Fisherman from Kasimedu creates awareness about marine litter

One fine Sunday Vinoth Kuppan, a fisherman from Kasimedu, took his daughter for a walk on the beach. He got one elaneer (coconut water) to drink and after he finished drinking he threw away the shell on the side of the road. Suddenly, Vinoth’s daughter started crying and asked her father how he could casually throw the shell on the road and what if someone met with an accident because of it. Vinoth was taken aback and instantly picked the shell and dropped it in a bin. This incident made the fisherman think about the amount of plastic accumulated in the ocean and decided to do something to save the sea. He suggested the idea of starting a group to other members of the fishing community and everyone readily agreed to come on board. Along with a few like-minded individuals, Vinoth started a group called Ocean Awareness that aims at removing plastic from the ocean across Tamil Nadu and keep it plastic-free.

“Thanks to my daughter; she was unaware of what she was doing at that time. We started off our ocean awareness campaign by organising beach clean-ups, from Ennore to Kasimedu. Over a short span of time, we collected eight tonnes of boat debris and 5,000 plastic bottles from the ocean,” says Vinoth.

Coming from a family of fishermen, Vinoth was never taught that throwing plastic in the ocean was wrong. “My parents weren’t aware of plastic pollution and how it harms our environment. Fishermen face the worst consequence of plastic pollution in the ocean — if we catch 300 kg of fish, we also get 500 kg of plastic waste in the net. Many people from my community are leaving their livelihood because of debts. They are looking out for other small jobs in the city. Another alarming fact is that plastic microparticles are getting into the flesh of fish eaten by us,” he says.

Vinoth and his team believe that awareness should start from within the community. They held a boat race at Elliot’s inviting fishermen from three neighbouring districts. “When fishermen venture out to sea, they drop bottles and plastic covers from the food they pack for the journey. They don’t realise its harsh effects — so now, we are creating awareness among fishermen,” says Vinoth.

Senthil Udhayakumar, treasurer of Ocean Awareness, says, “We are putting together a Baywatch rescue team and around 20 people from the fishing community have been given training by the Navy team. We are yet to receive approval from the government.”

They are planning to form groups at Pazhaverkadu, Thoothukudi, Cuddalore and Tirunelveli.