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The adverse effect of plastic pollution on the tourism industry is one of the emerging research areas in the field of sustainable tourism over the past years. However, there is a lack of discussion on this issue in the academic platforms. Considering this, in this chapter, a scientometric analysis of 110 academic publications from the Web of Science (WoS) between 1999 and 2021 related to plastic pollution and tourism is presented. A bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace was utilised to analyse the data to present the keyword timezone, collaboration network and co-citation network. The analysis shows that the publications in this field have increased rapidly, and it has become an emerging and interdisciplinary research topic. Scholars from Australia, Spain, Brazil and China have published most on the topic. The Chinese Academy of Science with four articles is the largest contributor in this field among other institutions. Moreover, citizen science is found to be a new keyword coming up in recent years, and human health is one of the major concerns. The findings from this study provide valuable insights for the academicians and policy makers in understanding the issue.

Purpose: This paper offers a first look into journalistic coverage on the enduring issue of marine litter. The presented study seeks to identify dominating news issue frames of marine pollution to analyse the prospective approaches of journalists.

Method: A content analysis of print news-of-record sources was conducted. The theoretical background of Cultural Studies and Political Consumerism Theory was employed to analyse environmental reporting in the United States and France.

Findings: The main result is that French sources focus primarily on proposed legislation and political commentary around the issue instead of ways for readers to solve the problem themselves. Journalists who assert legislation as the principal method for fighting marine debris eliminate plastic from the source. Conversely, American journalists predominantly framed the environmental threat of marine debris as a cultural issue. This individualistic approach aims to motivate privileged readers to make lifestyle changes that, notionally, will suppress global consumption of single-use plastics.

Research limitations/implications: The individualistic approach common in American news coverage aims to motivate privileged readers to make lifestyle changes that, notionally, will suppress global consumption of single-use plastics. This approach does not reflect the scientific communities overwhelming scepticism of oversimplistic solutions to this global environmental issue.

Originality/value: This foundational paper offers issue frames through which social science research on framing, rhetorical criticism and media effects of marine litter news coverage can build upon.

This chapter explores how the irruption of plastic materials in contemporary society, in the same way that it facilitated a wide range of human activities, eventually degenerated into a global danger through the contamination of rivers and seas, damaging the human food chain. In doing so, the historical background of this situation has been outlined. Moreover, the countries and areas at present that have polluting plastic substances and those that can be most easily recycled is highlighted. It should be noted that it is precisely in the area of recyclability where most hopes have been placed to counteract plastic contamination aimed at avoiding single-use plastic products. Subsequently, the different positions adopted by the members of society on this problem have been described and, by way of example, the state of the situation in a specific country, Spain, has been summarised.

The Gangetic delta, sustaining the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the apex of the Bay of Bengal is recognized as one of the most diversified and productive ecosystems in the Indian subcontinent. The deltaic lobe is unique for its wilderness, mangrove gene pool and tiger habitat. However, due to intense industrial activities in the upstream zone, and several anthropogenic factors, the aquatic phase in the western part of the deltaic complex is exposed to pollution from domestic sewage and industrial effluents leading to serious impacts on biota. The presence of Haldia port-cum-industrial complex in the upstream region of the lower Gangetic delta (adjacent to western sector of Indian Sundarbans) has accelerated the pollution problem to a much greater dimension. The organic and inorganic wastes released from industries and urban units contain substantial concentrations of heavy metals. The present article aims to highlight the level of selective heavy metals (zinc, copper, and lead) in the water and muscle of a commercially important shellfish species (Penaeus monodon, commonly known as tiger prawn) collected from two sectors (western and central) in the Indian Sundarbans. Heavy metals are accumulated in the prawn muscle in the following order – zinc > copper > lead – which is similar to the order in the ambient estuarine water. Significant spatial variations of heavy metal concentrations in estuarine water and prawn muscle were observed between the selected sectors, which reflect the adverse impact of intense industrialization, unplanned tourism, and rapid urbanization on the mangrove ecosystem and its biotic community, particularly in the western Indian Sundarbans.

This chapter presents a framework which is accessible to port authorities to assess the potential environmental impact of maritime operations. Pursuant on globalisation, increased numbers of ship movements have generated more frequent routine maritime operations in ports but few formal approaches exist for assessing their environmental impact, which potentially could be significant. In a novel framing of environmental assessment a business process modelling technique is deployed in a systems approach which highlights inputs, service processes and outputs. In an initial focus, primary processes at strategic level are defined which affect the environmental assessment of present and future operations and their potential impacts. Later, tactical service processes define the integrity of processes that guarantee service level and quality. Finally, outputs are defined by operational processes. The contribution of applying the systems approach to plan more sustainable maritime operations is assessed in a case study of Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (FHC) which regulates much of Falmouth Harbour and hosts the UK's largest offshore marine bunkering operation. Following EU designation of a North Sea Sulfur Oxide Emissions Control Areas (SECA) Falmouth recently recorded a significant rise in the number of vessels calling, and volume of fuel sold as more passing vessels take onboard low-sulfur fuel. The systems approach which empowers FHC to mitigate potential risks and assess development proposals proactively is easily transferable to other ports.