The Plasticene Ocean

Marine plastic pollution is a growing environmental concern that is plaguing coastal communities around the world. Remote locations face unequal waste burdens from the inequitable global flow of plastics and limited waste management infrastructure, causing social and environmental injustices. Small-scale fishers and rural coastal communities directly depend on a healthy marine ecosystem for subsistence and livelihood and are disproportionately impacted by this problem. Although much research has gone into marine plastics within biological contexts, the socio-cultural and economic impacts on humans are under- realized, particularly for overburdened and underserved communities. My ethnographic research will examine this problem through an anthropological lens by conducting fieldwork over the course of two months (May-June 2024) in heavily impacted locations on the Baja Peninsula in and around the region os Santa Rosalia, Mulege, Baja California Sur. I will apply a comparative analysis of the Gulf of California region, representing the domestic fishery and affiliate debris materials, and the Pacific coast which additionally reflects ocean-based materials of-foreign-origins washing ashore or domestic land-based materials washing down rivers…

Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Menzies

Student:

Partner:

The Hakai Institute, part of the Tula Foundation

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Aquaculture and Fishing; Sustainability & the Environment; Public Service, Policy, and Governance

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: