Chocó is one of the most affected Provinces by illegal gold mining in Colombia. It is estimated that 8 grams of mercury are needed to clean 1 gram of gold. This causes serious economic and health issues to fishermen communities like Puné and Beté, whose economies are in crisis. These zones are protected by very violent local mafias dedicated to gold mining. For this reason, it was important to developed a campaign that could work from inside the communities and for that, we needed the support from local leaders.

With the help of the Ministry of Environment and five years of research with The Flinders University in Australia we developed a low-cost 100% organic polymer able to absorb different forms of mercury. This polymer goes inside a light-weight pad especially designed for each fisherman´s boat. Based on the fishes’ gills, the pad doesn´t affect the mobility or the boat speed, making possible for fishermen to catch more than fish while they are in the water. Each boat decontaminates more than 300.000 cubic meters per month without releasing any metal. With a constant monitoring, once the polymer reaches its absorption capacity, specialists remove the pad safely securing the metal with an environmental protocol that prevents from more contamination. Then, a new pad and polymer is installed.

After almost five years of polymer research and tests, we executed in the beginning of 2018 “Mercury Fishermen” with the Vice Minister of Environmental Policies to speak to the fishermen and community leaders to tell them the benefits of installing a pad in their boats and absorb all the mercury that was affecting them. We gave pads to each fisherman, so they could return to the river.

The Atrato river is still under constant monitoring and the results are better in every measuring. Once the pads are full, the government will take the polymer off and eliminate the mercury in a safe and regulated process, replacing the pads for new ones and keep going until the Atrato river becomes clean again.

Each boat is cleaning 300.000 cubic meters per month, enough to fill 120 Olympic pools per month. We raised the problem to the whole media in the country, having to the current date 15.000.000 impressions and a reach of 22.000.000 people. The cleaning process it’s still going, and it will last until illegal mining in the zone ends, making mercury poisoning a long-term government agenda topic.

The Atrato river is the most affected, so we worked with local town halls from Puné to Beté, two poor towns that make their living with the water and its resources.

They were more sensitive about this problem, that’s why they were open to participate, we went to the community leaders to help us spread the idea and start using the pad. Therefore, we gathered a large amount of boats, because otherwise the cleaning would not be very relevant. They are very closed people, so we had to work along with them way before we launched the project.

Colombia ranks third on water health worldwide. Ironically, it holds the same ranking in water pollution (after China and Indonesia). Due to illegal gold mining, rivers have high levels of mercury which contaminates the seabed, killing marine species and harming the ecosystem.

Most of the fish are already toxic and fishermen communities that live by the river not only end up without their commercial activity but also suffer from health issues such as neurological deficit, cerebral palsy, loss of body control, lung disease, loss of sight and death.

To face these problems, The Ministry of Environment and the affected communities decided to create “Mercury Fishermen”. This joint effort helped to clean rivers and communities to get back their economic base and quality of life.