The plasticene ocean : the dynamic human dimensions of marine plastic pollution and "ghost gear" in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Marine plastic pollution (MPP) is a growing environmental concern that plagues coastal communities world-wide and contributes to the triple planetary threat, alongside other environmental pollutants, biodiversity loss, and anthropogenic climate change. Remote locations face unequal exposure to waste burdens from the transboundary nature of marine debris and have limited waste management infrastructure, causing social and environmental inequities and injustices. More than eight million tons of plastic enters the ocean annually in the current era referred to as the "Plasticene" or the "Age of Plastics." Although much research has focused on marine plastics within biological contexts, the extent of the social, cultural, and economic impacts is under-realized, particularly for the most exposed overburdened and underserved regions. Small-scale fishers (SSF) and rural coastal communities directly depend on a healthy marine ecosystem for subsistence and livelihood and are disproportionately impacted by this problem. “Ghost gear” – abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) – is a primary ocean-based source of MPP and creates 640,000 tons of marine debris every year. This thesis explores this transboundary problem through an anthropological lens via ethnographic fieldwork conducted in May and June 2024, inclusive of interviews and surveys in heavily impacted locations in the Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur (Mexico). A primary research objective was to address the unique social, cultural, perceptional, and geopolitical underpinnings – primarily funding and infrastructure capacities, which dictate strengths and limitations for remediation. This research outlines the importance of women’s roles in the small-scale fishing industry and conservation efforts and highlights the informal waste sector that plays an integral function in redirecting municipal solid waste streams from the ocean. Additionally, datasets from large-scale shoreline cleanup efforts in British Columbia, Canada is utilized for comparison to highlight the complex socio-ecological, land-based and ocean-based contributions of MPP. Alongside inadequate international regulations of plastic production, it was determined that primary contributors to MPP and ghost gear in Baja California Sur, are a lack of infrastructure to manage the material at the downstream level and industrial activity contributing to ocean-based sources that are harming fishing habitats and negatively impacting the livelihoods of SSF in the Mulegé Municipality.