The plastics and fish dilemma: to eat or not to eat

Humans eat microplastics through fish. — ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies/ Kathryn Berry

SUSI Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister for 2014-2019, once made a popular joke about Indonesians who didn’t eat fish: “I will go after you who don’t eat fish, you will be sunk like those vessels.”

The vessels she referred to were foreign fishing trawlers. The word “sink” became a popular meme on social media and underscored how important fish is to Indonesians.