A 20cm PET Bottle Found Inside a Live Agwi's Stomach... Red Alert for Marine Pollution

"Bought Fresh Agwi at the Market..."

A plastic water bottle was found inside the stomach of an anglerfish. Photo by SNS capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A shocking incident occurred where a plastic water bottle was found inside the stomach of an anglerfish.

According to reports from the Chosun Ilbo and SNS posts on the 23rd, a video revealed that when the anglerfish was being prepared with scissors by cutting open its belly and removing the internal organs, a plastic bottle about 20 cm long was found inside.

The person who posted the video on SNS said, "My mother was going to make anglerfish soup and bought fresh anglerfish at the early morning market," opening their statement.

They added, "It was definitely alive when purchased, but when we started preparing it, there was a foul smell. When we opened the belly, a plastic bottle was inside, and the internal organs were completely rotten."

They continued, "The anglerfish had eaten the plastic bottle and was living in the sea with rotten internal organs. In the end, this anglerfish could not be eaten and had to be discarded."

Other netizens who saw this reacted with comments such as "The waste problem is serious. We need to live with more consideration for the environment," "What is going on?" and "This is scary."

Netizens expressed concern about marine waste issues with reactions like "The waste problem is this serious" and "This is frightening."

Previously, in 2018, a 500 ml plastic water bottle was found inside an anglerfish caught off the coast of Buan, Jeonbuk. At that time, a marine environment expert stated, "(South Korea's marine pollution level) is about mid-to-high range compared to pollution levels reported worldwide."

Meanwhile, the government reported that the average amount of waste collected from the sea over the past three years is 114,212 tons per year, of which 83% is plastic.