“Black Sea pollution and resource overuse over the past 50 years has resulted in drastic

deterioration in water quality and the ecosystem”.

The Black Sea is very sensitive to impacts anthropogenic due to the wide drainage basin of the
water and its limited connectivity with the planetary ocean. Many of the fish species in the Black
Sea are endangered, while the number of others has decreased significantly. The major threat to
the health, productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment comes from human activities
in coastal areas. Pollution of the marine environment, as well as the destruction of habitats,
strongly affects the sustainable use of the seas, influences people's health through direct contact
of the population with polluted waters or through the consumption of contaminated marine
nutrients.

There are many cities and thousands of industrial enterprises in the Black Sea basin. Biological
waste or chemicals in it region overflows, May first in the river and then in Black Sea. Rivers
which crosses 20 countries of Europe is flowing into the Sea Black. Chemical compounds used
in agriculture, fertilizers, regulators of plant growth, oil (as a result of transportation and
processing) and other substances find their way into the Black Sea through rivers. The transfer of
large quantities and nutrients through rivers (eutrophication) has led to the great flowering of
phytoplankton, which in turn prevented the penetration of sunlight into aquatic plants.

Together, we protect the Black Sea! It all starts with us, each citizen taken separately. Young
people, I hope the believe that they have realized that compliance is not the solution, but
involvement. And change for the better must come from each of us, those who can motivate
society to adopt sustainable practices to reduce waste and marine pollution.

Combating marine litter: it starts with prevention. In my opinion, the need to implement
education programs for all categories of the population, in the spirit of a culture of ecological
behavior and ecological awareness towards the marine world is paramount. It is necessary for the
population to be familiar with the EU legislation in force, to be informed about the bodies
specialized in the investigation of the problem of marine pollution. For example, the Marine
Strategy Framework Directive adopted by the EU in 2008 identifies marine litter as one of the
areas in which action must be taken to achieve a good ecological status of all marine waters by
2020.1

How can we help combat marine litter? Do we need plastic bags every time we go shopping?
Can some of our products and production processes be designed in such a way that they do not
contain or create microplastic? Definitely yes. Marine waste can be prevented through improved
1
These EU directives and the global commitment expressed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio
+ 20 in 2012, the EU’s Seventh Environment Action Program (2014-2020) provides for reduction targets.
waste management. Governments and industry can: organize cleaning actions, cooperate with
neighboring countries and globally, improve product design, reduce organic pollutants from
sewage and agriculture, promote the circular economy and reduce waste. Citizens can: choose
reusable products, dispose of waste in bins, increase recycling at home, help clean up existing
pollution.

Table 1 outlines some challenges and solutions, recommendations, strategies, ideas, tasks that
would contribute to combating marine pollution.

Table 1. Challenges/solutions for the prevention of marine pollution, including and for the
Black Sea:

Challenges Solutions

The Danube alone discharges 280 tons of Reduce pollution and protect marine and
cadmium, 60 tons of mercury, 4,500 tons of coastal ecosystems.
lead, 6,000 tons of zinc, 1,000 tons of
chromium and 50,000 tons of hydrocarbons
annually into the Black Sea.
Several species of fish, plants and other living Stop subsidies for harmful fishing and stop
things in the Black Sea have become extinct unreported, unregulated and destructive
or are on the verge of extinction due to the fishing practices.
"dead" layer of water on the seabed, which
was formed exclusively due to pollution.
Coral reefs that provide housing for 25% of Fight climate change, reduce sedimentation,
sea urchins are being destroyed at an alarming stop coral extraction.
rate.
Source: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg14

Marine and municipal waste is another problem for coastal waters. Uncontrolled dumping of
municipal waste in riverbeds or adjacent coastal areas causes pollution of the beach and coastal
waters. In turn, this poses risks to the environment, marine life and human health.

Avoiding the use of plastic only once saves the sea! The next step is to take action on the
continent before the waste reaches our seas. To this end, the EU has adopted policies and
legislation aimed at improving waste management, reducing packaging waste and increasing
recycling rates (especially for plastics), improving wastewater treatment and using resources
more efficiently in general. Directives have also been developed to help reduce pollution from
ships and ports. Improving the implementation of waste prevention and reduction policies can
bring huge potential benefits. But what can we do about the waste that is already affecting our
seas and oceans? Marine waste has been accumulating in the sea for years. Some have sunk to
the bottom of the sea, while others are transported from one place to another by ocean currents. It
is almost impossible to imagine how we could clean everything completely.

Several "waste fishing" initiatives have been set up, in which vessels collect marine waste -
similar to municipal waste collection on the continent. However, the methods used do not allow
the collection of waste smaller than a certain size. Thus, the problem of microplastic remains in
addition, given the nature of the problem and the size of our oceans, these initiatives are too
limited to lead to real improvement.

The same can be said about beach and coastal cleaning activities. However, such initiatives are
a good way to raise awareness of this issue and to involve citizens in combating the problem of
marine litter. In the end, it can simply be a matter of numbers. The more volunteers who join
these initiatives, the better our prevention action can be.

Reducing marine pollution and protecting Black Sea habitats has become a constant concern
over time. A special contribution to the prevention and control of marine litter in the Black Sea
can have integrated services for environmental protection, which includes both the analysis and
monitoring of environmental factors and the development of specialized studies that propose
solutions to reduce environmental impact. marine. The study and permanent analysis of the
phenomenon at interdisciplinary level, with the wide participation of the necessary people and
the elaboration of concrete recommendations to minimize the impact of marine waste on the
whole society can serve as important landmarks for decision making by relevant organizations.

In the end, I think it is our duty to get involved, as long as our conscience allows us to express
our opinion, especially in matters that concern us, because marine litter is a global problem that
can affect our health, as much as and the life of habitats and ecosystems and because our own
choices to help save the system, have the role of facilitating our access to a much more protected
marine environment. That is why the fight against this negative phenomenon must take place in
all directions.

The "invisible" part of the waste continues to affect the overall health of the marine
environment. An estimated 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear are lost, abandoned or discarded
globally. These "ghost nets" continue to catch fish or other marine animals. years and decades in
a row. Moreover, some of the species of fish that ingest plastics appear frequently in our menu.
By consuming seafood exposed to plastics and the petroleum chemicals they contain, human
health is also at risk. The impact on human health is not clearly known.
 As for me, I have never participated in public or youth initiatives for the collection of marine
litter, because unfortunately too many of us young people have seen the sea only in the media,
but i think the actions of involvement in a problem major, which unfortunately depends on each
of us, comes to break the ramps of the stereotypes of yesteryear. I would be motivated to
participate in public or youth initiatives for the collection of marine litter for the simple reason
that it, especially plastics, poses a threat not only to the health of the sea and coastal areas, but
also to our economy and communities.

I very much hope that we will soon live in a society sensitive to the problems of the marine
environment, in which the world is not afraid of its own strengths and capabilities. A society that
knows how to adopt sustainable practices to reduce waste and marine pollution. Choose to live
without plastic. Let's make the world a pollution-free place! Let's do this together!

Together we must reduce waste to protect ocean and marine life!

Bibliography:
 https://wmp.ge/wmp2/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BSB-457_Manual-Rivers-and-Marine-
Pollution_RO.pdf
 https://www.eea.europa.eu/ro/semnale/semnale-de-mediu-2014/imagine-de-detaliu/
deseurile-din-marile-noastre
 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg1

2021