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A community-informed microplastic exposure index based on Pacific Island fisheries: Integrating local knowledge with empirical data.
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Researchers combined interviews with 110 Pacific Island fishers and empirical microplastic load measurements to build an Exposure Index for coastal fish species, identifying Lethrinidae and Scombridae as the highest-priority families for microplastic monitoring across Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Coastal fisheries are central to Pacific Island nutrition, livelihoods and cultural identity, yet growing microplastic contamination threatens food security and public health. This study integrates fishers' knowledge of locally important coastal fish species with empirical measurements of microplastic loads to identify priority taxa for monitoring across Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Interviews with 110 fishers documented commonly caught species, and the number of times each taxon was reported was calculated. Family-level catch data and mean microplastic loads were each standardised between 0 and 1 to generate Catch and Microplastic Scores, which were multiplied to create an Exposure Index reflecting both social relevance and contamination levels. Regionally, Lethrinidae and Scombridae had the highest Exposure Index values, while Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae and Serranidae emerged as country-specific priorities. Gendered fishing patterns revealed differences in catch, influencing potential exposure pathways and highlighting the need for gender-disaggregated data in future assessments. This approach of combining local knowledge with contamination studies offers a replicable, regionally-grounded method for identifying key indicator species for future microplastic monitoring. Species within the Lethrinidae family, particularly , stand out as regional priorities because of their importance to subsistence and artisanal fisheries, exposure to microplastics and consistent occurrence across the region.
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