A master's thesis in the Department of Ecology at the College of Science at the University of Basrah discussed the remains of plastic waste in the digestive tract of some fish caught from some areas of the Shatt al-Arab.

Researcher Abbas Mahdi Jaafar’s thesis included examining the digestive tract of some fish found in the Shatt al-Arab in search of remnants of plastic waste.

The thesis aims to know the extent of the spread of plastic waste residues in the study stations of the Shatt al-Arab and to prove the presence of plastic waste pollution in the digestive tract of downstream fish. The study is the first of its kind.