Discarded fishing net pollution in coastal areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

Discarded fishing nets, a major source of marine litter, significantly threaten the marine environment and contribute to plastic pollution due to the synthetic polymers they contain. Though Bangladesh is a maritime country with 0.5 million of fishers dependent on coastal and marine fishing, there have been no studies to date on the plastic pollution impact of fishing nets. This study demonstrates the fishing nets associated with marine litter in two coastal locations of Bangladesh, Charfesson and Cox's Bazar. Fishing net samples were collected from local net shops and semi-structured interviews were taken of the shop owners to gather information about available fishing nets. This was complemented by photo-quadrat surveys to document waste fishing net materials on the shore in both locations. Among the 17 net samples, there were 12 types of gill nets, which showed a wide range of variation in price, material types, and longevity. Through the FTIR analysis, we identified the presence of Nylon 6, Polyethylene, Polyvinyl chloride, Polypropylene and Polyethylene terephthalate in the collected fishing net samples. Photoquadrat surveys found that fishing nets are related to plastic pollution in coastal areas. This study addressed the knowledge gap regarding the diversity and chemical characteristics of fishing nets and the resulting litter in Bangladesh.