In cooperation with the Department of Protection and Improvement of the Environment of the Southern Region, Kuwaiti Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) and Bahraini Maritime Emergencies Assistance Center (MEMAC), Center of Marine Sciences, University of Basrah organized an international workshop on pollution with plastic waste in the seas, rivers and water sources. The international workshop reviewed the harmful effects of plastic waste to the marine and river life, as well as its impact on human health. The international workshop demonstrated the dangers of plastic waste gathering on the coasts and their damage to the environmental balance due to the failure of plastic materials to decompose in salty or fresh water and the merging of their micro-particles with the food of fish and other aquatic life. The international workshop highlighted the extent of the economic damage that pollution causes to the growth of the tourism sector, fishing and navigation in the waters of the Shatt Al-Arab and the Arabian Gulf.