The recent attention given to the squid run off the Malibu coast has lead many to jump to a host of conclusions about the terrible impacts these boats might have wrought. It’s easy to blame squid boats for the troubling state in which we find our coastal oceans.
Quick assessments about cause-and-effect start with a grain of truth, but quickly spiral into the unfounded, unbelievable, and sometimes unfair. Blaming squid boats for the recent littering of water-borne trash on our beaches is like blaming cormorants for bacterial pollution at Surfrider Beach – there is a bit of truth in the argument, but the point has been missed completely.
A quick inspection of the garbage that washed up on my beach last week reveals the following: a Styrofoam cup (could have come from a squid boat), candy bar wrappers (maybe), a pop bottle (sure), industrial plastic pellets (?), party balloons (hmmm), a bottle of hair conditioner from the Mazatlan Hotel (probably not from a squid boat). A closer inspection would probably reveal a boggling variety of flotsam that could include almost anything with positive buoyancy.
The point here is that squid boats almost certainly do litter somewhat, whether intentionally or not. (Tell me YOU have never lost a napkin at the beach.) Squid boats do inevitably lose fuel or oil while on the water – most boats, even sail boats, do. Tighter inspections are needed to make sure this does not become a problem. The litter and pollution from squid boats, however, are a minor component of our coastal pollution.
Ocean trash can be carried thousands of miles and depend importantly on current and swell conditions. (Remember the message in the bottle story?) The uninhabited east side of Cozumel is strewn with trash; remote islands in the south Pacific host innumerable items lost at sea by cargo ships. Our recent spate of beach trash may owe more to the strong North West Swell than any other source. We also should not forget that the trash problem starts at home – trash from parking lots, balloons from seaside restaurants, and debris from construction sites are just a few of the sources that contribute to coastal litter.
Linwood Pendleton