On 8 June every year the World Ocean Day is observed. The day is a celebration of the ocean and our continuing reliance on it. Over 70 per cent of our blue planet is covered in water, and more than half of all the oxygen we breathe comes from ocean plants.
‘World Oceans Day 2025’ was celebrated on Sunday, June 8 at 11 am in Patharghata, Barguna, jointly by DHORA, Waterkeepers Bangladesh and Patharghata Coastal Protection Movement with the slogan ‘We will not throw plastic into the sea, we will not destroy the sea’. On the occasion of the World Oceans Day 2025 at the country’s largest fish landing center (BFDC) a discussion and campaign for awareness on the issue were held among sea-going fishermen to free the sea from pollution, including plastic. Supreme Court lawyer Manoj Kumar Kirtaniya, former president of Patharghata Upazila Jubo Dal Erfan Ahmed Soen, coastal investigative journalist and researcher Shafiqul Islam Khokon, journalist Sohel Mallick, volunteer Shoyeb Tahsin, fishermen Sagir Hossain, Abdul Jalil, and others spoke on the occasion. Manoj Kumar Kirtaniya and Erfan Ahmed Soen said, “Without water, animals, plants, and humans cannot survive on earth. Without ocean water and ocean resources, humanity and the earth have no chance of surviving.” So we have to save the ocean. We all have to come forward. Fishermen Sagir Hossain and Abdul Jalil said, “To stop the use of plastic, we have to close the factories first.” Coastal investigative journalist and researcher Shafiqul Islam Khokon said, “It is not only Bangladeshi fishermen who are responsible for marine pollution, but also workers on international commercial ships. Therefore, along with awareness among our country’s fishermen, the government’s diplomatic efforts are urgently needed.” He also said that since fishermen earn their living at sea, they have a big role to play in keeping the sea clean. Sea-going fishermen should keep plastic and other waste in designated places in their trawlers and after reaching the coast dump at designated places.
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