Abstract
The Irish Sea is an important area for Norway Lobster Nephrops norvegicus fisheries, which are the most valuable fishing resource in the UK. Norway lobster are known to ingest microplastic pollution present in the sediment and have displayed reduced body mass when exposed to microplastic pollution. Here, we identified microplastic pollution in the Irish Sea fishing grounds through analysis of 24 sediment samples from four sites of differing proximity to the Western Irish Sea Gyre in both 2016 and 2019. We used µFTIR spectroscopy to identify seven polymer types, and a total of 77 microplastics consisting of fibres and fragments. The mean microplastics per gram of sediment ranged from 0.13 to 0.49 and 0 to 1.17 MP/g in 2016 and 2019, respectively. There were no differences in the microplastic counts across years, and there was no correlation of microplastic counts with proximity to the Western Irish Sea Gyre. Considering the consistently high microplastic abundance found in the Irish Sea, and the propensity of N. norvegicus to ingest and be negatively impacted by them, we suggest microplastic pollution levels in the Irish Sea may have adverse impacts on N. norvegicus and negative implications for fishery sustainability in the future.
Highlights
As an endobenthic species, N. norvegicus burrows into the bottom sediment, with females remaining in their burrows for long durations (9–13 months) to incubate their e ggs[14]
We hypothesised that microplastic abundance would increase across sample years, and that microplastic pollution would accumulate in higher quantities closer to the Irish Sea gyre
No significant difference was found in the total number of microplastics per gram (MP/g) identified between sampling years (F = 2.59, df = 19, P = 0.12), or among individual sites (F = 0.17, df = 20, P = 0.90; Fig. 2) and there was no significant “year x site” interaction effect (F = 0.88, df = 16, P = 0.47; Fig. 2)
Summary
N. norvegicus burrows into the bottom sediment, with females remaining in their burrows for long durations (9–13 months) to incubate their e ggs[14]. Whether microplastic accumulates and settles within the WISG is currently unknown, due to the significance of the gyre in larvae retention and fecundity it is important to understand the dynamics of microplastic pollution in the region to help mitigate risks to regional species. We identified the abundance of microplastic pollution in the Western Irish Sea fishing grounds through density separation and digestion of 24 benthic sediment samples from four key sites in both 2016 and 2019. We hypothesised that microplastic abundance would increase across sample years, and that microplastic pollution would accumulate in higher quantities closer to the Irish Sea gyre. Through μFTIR identification, we aimed to determine the abundance and type of microplastic pollution in the Western Irish Sea and highlight the potential implications of microplastic accumulation for the economically important N. norvegicus fishery
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