Baseline marine litter abundance and distribution on Saint Martin Island, Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Baseline marine litter abundance and distribution on Saint Martin Island, Bay of Bengal, were assessed. Seventy-two transects (100-150m) along 12km of coastline were surveyed for litter items every two weeks for two months. The most abundant items were polythene bags, food wrappers, plastic bottles/caps, straws, styrofoam, plastic cups, plastic fragments, fishing nets, clothes, and rubber buoys. Tourism, local markets, hotels, domestic waste, and fishing activities were primary sources of marine litter. According to the mean clean coast index (CCI), all transects were clean, of which 11.3% and 14.1% of sandy beaches and rocky shores with sandy beaches were reported dirty, respectively. Northern Saint Martin Island comprised sandy beaches (2.8%) and was extremely dirty. In addition, plastic abundance index (PAI) analysis showed that 24% of sites, out of 72 sites, were under "very high abundance", 33% were "high abundance", 33% showed "moderate abundance", and 4% were classified as "low abundance". Establishing baseline results of marine litter abundance and distribution on Saint Martin Island may help improve island conservation and mitigation strategies (e.g., improved waste management, beach cleaning activities to raise public awareness, local government litter reduction policies, and increase local pro-environmental behavioral change).