Papua New Guinea's government has warned coastal communities not to fish in parts of New Ireland (an island in eastern PNG) after preliminary water tests detected toxic metals linked to months of unexplained marine deaths. Since December 2025, thousands of dead fish — displaying swollen eyes, damaged skin and discoloured flesh — have washed ashore near Kafkaf village and Larairu lagoon, with the environmental group Ailan Awareness documenting over 3,400 dead marine organisms across at least 15 species and more than 1,250 people affected by illness or contaminated food and water. Authorities have yet to identify the source of the contamination, and residents — who depend almost entirely on the ocean for food and income — are facing acute food shortages, prompting criticism that the national government was slow to respond to what New Ireland's governor described in March as a major environmental and public health crisis.