Microplastic Exposure and Distribution in the Coastal Aquaculture Input System

This report provides the scientific evidence of the level and distribution of microplastics in the input system of coastal aquaculture in Indonesia and Viet Nam  which indicatively represent the overall APEC region. Various samples of surface water, sediment, farmed/wild/trash fish, shrimps, fish fed feeds, shrimp fed feeds, and fishmeal were collected, prepared and analyzed using standard methods in microplastics studies. The results showed that blue, green, black, yellow and white are among the most abundant colors of microplastics collected in the samples.  Water, feed and fishmeal contained significantly more microplastics than fish/shrimp samples in form of Polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) and Polyamide (PA). Despite water samples had the highest microplastic concentration, microplastics in fishmeal was 10 times higher than that of the other solid samples (fish and shrimp). Therefore, APEC economies are advised to improve aquaculture management and develop an effective collaborative mitigation plan to prevent and reduce microplastic contamination in the coastal aquaculture input system of APEC region.