Anthropogenic Marine Litter on the Coasts of Primorsky Krai: 12-year analysis

Abstract

The growing pollution of coastal-marine areas with litter, mainly plastic, is of concern to both the public and the scientific community around the world. The amount of waste in various, even hard-to-reach, coastal areas is increasing annually, as evidenced by the numerous activities carried out regularly within the framework of diverse environmental projects. The unique geographical position of Primorsky Krai makes its coastline attractive for almost all types of marine recreation and, as a result, does not leave aside the growing problem of anthropogenic impact. The 12-year cycle of studies carried out on the coasts of the Primorsky Krai, differing both in physical-geographical and socio-economic conditions, reveals a predominantly “recreational type” of coastal pollution and suggests that there were no statistically significant changes in the total amount of collected waste on the coasts (taking into account the annually increasing cleaning efforts). At the same time, the studies demonstrate the value of the data obtained as a serious basis for the formation of a unified methodology for monitoring marine litter in the coastal zone - the most important methodological stage on the way to solving the problem of pollution of the coasts of not only Primorsky Krai, but also other regions with anthropogenic litter.