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Indonesia is among the largest fish-producing countries. The West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) region is one of the highest producers of fish in Indonesia. Hence, the levels of MP contamination in commercial fish should be assessed to ensure food safety, food security, and socio-economic sustainability. This study investigates MP contamination in commercial fish in one of the largest fish markets in the WNT region, the Bintaro fish market. Three commercial fish species were evaluated for MP contamination in this study, Nasso thynnoides, Auxis rochei, and Caesio teres. The highest number of MPs was detected in A. rochei (21.60 ± 8.70 MPs/100 g). The other pelagic fish species, N. thynnoides, also shown considerably high MP contamination (18.17 ± 7.93 MPs/100 g). On the other hand, the midwater fish Caesio teres showed the least MP contamination (7.07 MPs/100 g). In addition, most of the MPs detected in all three fish species were fiber MPs of small sizes (100–500 µm). Based on FTIR analyses, the MP samples from all three fish species mainly consisted of polyamide (PA), which is the polymer used to form fiber for textiles. These results potentially reveal the degree of microplastic pollution in not only coastal areas of WNT, but also Sulawesi and also East Nusa Tenggara (ENT) since the fish distributed at the Bintaro fish market came from these regions. Better solid waste management in Indonesia is needed to reduce plastic waste management, particularly household waste, which is the potential major source of fiber MPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive use of chemical fertilizer could potentially decrease soil productivity by decreasing soil microbiome diversity. In this study, we evaluated the effects of fermented seaweed fertilizer in the soil microbial community of paddy plants (Oryza sativa L.). The paddy seedlings were divided into five groups, control (C0), chemical fertilizer (CF), seaweed fertilizer (SF), chemical and seaweed fertilizer combination 50:50 (CFSF1), and chemical and fertilizer combination 75:25 (CFSF2). The CFSF1 combination showed to be the most effective in inducing plant height (83.99 ± 3.70 cm) and number of tillers (24.20 ± 4.08). After 8 weeks after transplantation, the isolated DNA from each soil treatment were subjected to 16S rRNA (v3–v4 region) next-generation sequencing. The beneficial Acidobacteriota was most abundant in CFSF1. At genus level, the nitrifying bacteria MND1 was seen to be abundant in CFSF1 and also present in other SF treatments. The genus Chujaibacter is highly abundant in CF, which potentially plays a role in denitrification resulting in soil degradation. In addition, the CFSF1-treated soils show significantly higher diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The current results could potentially contribute to the utilization of SF as a bioremediator and promoting green agriculture practice by reducing the amount of CF usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]