Early morning clean up of Abu Dhabi's Mina Port

The clean-up campaign is being held to commemorate Clean-up the World week.

The types of debris that the Agency expects to discover and remove include glass bottles, food tins, abandoned fishing nets, plastic bags and iron objects.

Prior to the campaign, EAD's education and awareness officers as well as their marine environment experts ventured out to the fishing community and spoke to fishermen of the area, in their own language (Urdu and Malayalam), about the extent of the marine debris problem. Reactions varied from some fishermen admitting to being litterbugs, while some assured the officers that most of the litter is brought in with the tide and that they weren't responsible for the problem.

The fishermen were then made aware of the marine species that are threatened by marine debris such as coral, turtles, fish stock. They were informed that for marine species in the UAE, two types of threats exist, those pertaining to the degradation of the habitat due to both anthropogenic and natural phenomena and direct threats on the species.

Examples of direct threats to the species include boat strikes and incidental catches in fishnets and indirect threats which cause damage to the habitat include dredging, land filling, fencing, driving on the beach, marine debris along the shore and at sea and marine pollution (sewage, heavy metals, oil spill).

EAD's awareness efforts with fishermen began back in 2003 to raise their level of awareness on issues such as the dangers of marine debris and regulations regarding the use of gargours (fishing gear) in the Emirate. Fishermen are also made aware of the recent increase in the number of dead dugongs, which is probably attributed to an increase in marine debris and deterioration of the habitat caused by an increase in coastal developmental activities.

Any language barriers are overcome as the fishermen are delivered presentations in their own language. They are targeted mostly at the Mina Zayed Fishing Port and through the Fishermen's Co-operative.

On the campaign, Mr. Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD, said, "Marine debris is not just a problem for the Government to solve. The community plays a large role in keeping the UAE's seas safe and clean. We want this campaign to stress that a careless moment by us can impact our marine life through our lifetime, our children's lifetime and future generations."

The campaign will begin at 8 am and last until 10 am and will involve volunteers from the Australian Embassy, British Embassy, Japanese Embassy, Canadian Embassy, New Medical Center, ZADCO, Hilton Abu Dhabi, various social centers and several students. Covering the campaign for the first time will be 89.1 FM, Radio 4 and Zee TV.