Marine Litter Pollution Research Articles

Litter Windrows in the South-East Coast of the Bay of Biscay: An Ocean Process Enabling Effective Active Fishing for Litter

Large scale convergence regions of floating marine litter are commonly observed in semi-enclosed seas as the Bay of Biscay. However, clean-up activities on such accumulation regions are limited by the spread of the large-size floating litter on the sea surface. Data gathered by a small-scale fishing vessel devoted to active fishing for floating litter activities during the spring and summer of 2018 reveals that the linear streaks of high concentration of floating litter (so-called litter “windrows”) are common accumulation structures in the south-east coast of the Bay of Biscay. The random search of litter windrows for their collection through surface tows of macro-nets was proved to be an effective action for floating litter mitigation. A total of 196 tows collected 16.2 tons of floating marine litter in 68 working days. Most of the litter windrows were around 1 km length and, on average, accumulated 77.75 kg of floating marine litter. Fishing, shipping and aquaculture sectors were the source of 35% of the 4,130 litter items analyzed (55% in weight of the sourced items), and plastic was the most common type of material (96% in terms of items). A better understanding of the phenomenon of the litter windrows, capable to guide clean-up efforts in space and time, would provide a considerable improvement in the efficiency of mitigation actions to reduce the marine litter pollution. The observations of litter windrows in the coastal area of the south-east of the Bay of Biscay demonstrate the key role of submesoscale processes in the distribution of FML. The present work provides a thorough description of floating litter windrows in nature, which it was nonexistent to date. The results are the kind of proof necessary to boost the research addressed on the submesoscale aggregations of FML. Coupling litter windrows observations with remote-sensing technology and high-resolution modelling techniques offer great opportunities for the mitigation actions against marine litter.

Rapid Assessment of Floating Macroplastic Transport in the Rhine

Most marine litter pollution is assumed to originate from land-based sources, entering the marine environment through rivers. To better understand and quantify the risk that plastic pollution poses on aquatic ecosystems, and to develop effective prevention and mitigation methods, a better understanding of riverine plastic transport is needed. To achieve this, quantification of riverine plastic transport is crucial. Here, we demonstrate how established methods can be combined to provide a rapid and cost-effective characterization and quantification of floating macroplastic transport in the River Rhine We combine visual observations with passive sampling to arrive at a first-order estimate of macroplastic transport, both in number (10 - 75 items per hour) and mass per unit of time (1.3 – 9.7 kg per day). Additionally, our assessment gives insight in the most abundant macroplastic polymer types the downstream reach of the River Rhine. Furthermore, we explore the spatial and temporal variation of plastic transport within the river, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of current sampling methods. Finally, we present an outlook for future monitoring of major rivers, including several suggestions on how to expand the rapid assessment presented in this paper.

Marine litter on the Albanian coastline: Baseline information for improved management

Beach litter surveys represent a fundamental tool for monitoring marine litter pollution in the marine environment and have been used worldwide to quantify the amounts of litter deposited on the coastline and detect its sources. This study investigated the abundance, composition and sources of marine litter stranded on five beaches located at the bay of Durres and the Bay of Lalzi in Albania. During April 2018, a total of 3,321 marine litter items were collected, classified and recorded. Within this study the mean litter density was found to be 0.14 items/m2 and 333 items/100m stretch of beach. The sites investigated differed in terms of human-induced pressures with 2 sites being classified as semi-urban; 2 sites as urban and 1 as semi-rural. Artificial/anthropogenic polymer materials accounted for the majority of marine litter items found, with a percentage of 65%. The most abundant type of items was glass and ceramic fragments accounting for 19.7%, followed by cigarette butts and filters accounting for 17.9% of all litter collected. The vast majority of litter items (58.5%) originated from shoreline sources including poor waste management practices, tourism and recreational activities. Single-use plastics (SUPs) accounted for 48% of all items recorded ranging from 16.8% to 69.1% for the different beaches.

Black sea marine litter pollution related to naval operations

The Black Sea, due to its weak exchange of waters and poor vertical circulation, has an increased sensibility to pollution. Even though this maritime basin is subject to numerous regulations at the national, regional, and international levels, the pollution issue is still actual and stringent. The present paper analyses the findings of three studies focused on marine litter issues and provide, in the concluding part, few directions which can improve the pollution prevention and containment effort. As the studies related to Black Sea litter pollution are scarce and fragmented, the authors took the opportunity and analyzed three different studies conducted in different periods and concluded that a significant part of marine debris is related to naval operations.

Paradise Trashed: Sources and solutions to marine litter in a small island developing state

Anthropogenic marine litter pollution is a serious issue facing oceans worldwide. Limited data exists on this pollution issue for South Pacific Island nations and for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in general. This study presents the first extensive baseline survey of macro-sized marine litter on Mo’orea (0.75 items m−2) and Tahiti (0.95 items m−2), French Polynesia. Not unexpectedly, marine litter was dominated by plastics (58%); however, glass also made up a significant portion (21%). Sixty percent of recovered marine litter from both islands was derived from local land-based catchments, indicating that the bulk of the litter is from local sources. Measures to address the waste issue in French Polynesia will be discussed with a cash-for-container scheme for locally produced beer showing promising positive environmental results, and further strategies for waste management in SIDS raised.

Marine litter pollution on the Northern Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.

This study focused on the identification and classification of marine litter on four different shores of the uninhabited Northern Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago (Russian Federation). Using the methodology of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), beach sections of 100 m in length were selected and marine litter items larger than 2.5 cm were collected and classified into nine material categories. A total of 376 marine litter items were collected from the four study areas, corresponding to a density of 1.5 × 103 items/km2. Eighty-eight percent of debris was plastic. Marine litter was brought to the shores by major ocean currents, potentially affecting local ecosystems.

Marine litter and microplastic pollution on mangrove soils of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombian Caribbean

Marine litter pollution has become a complex global problem, because of the negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts as well as the human health risks that it represents. In Colombia, mangroves are affected by inadequate solid waste management, which results in litter accumulation. Additionally, the information related to this problem is limited avoiding the development of prevention and reduction strategies. For the first time, pollution by marine litter and microplastics were evaluated in mangrove soils of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, where 540 ± 137 and 31 ± 23 items/ha of marine litter were determined in mangroves near and away from populated centers respectively. Plastics represented between 73 and 96% of litter, and microplastic quantity oscillated between 31 and 2,863 items/kg finding the highest concentrations in mangroves near to the population. This study contributes to the knowledge of the marine litter problem in mangroves of the Colombian Caribbean, becoming a help for their conservation.

Baseline and power analyses for the assessment of beach litter reductions in the European OSPAR region

Marine litter pollution is a global environmental problem. Beach litter is a part of this problem, and is widely monitored in Europe. The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires a reduction of beach litter. A reduction of 30% has been proposed in the European Plastics Strategy. The aims of this study are to develop (a) a method to calculate sufficiently stable and precise baseline values for beach litter, and (b) to derive a method of power analysis to estimate the number of beach litter surveys, necessary to detect a given reduction, using these baseline values. Beach litter data from the OSPAR (Oslo Paris Convention) region were used, and tailor-made statistical methods were implemented in open source software, litteR. Descriptive statistics and Theil-Sen and Mann-Kendall trend analyses were calculated for the most abundant beach litter types, for 14 survey sites. The length of a baseline period necessary to obtain a specified precision of the mean baseline value, expressed as Coefficient of Variation (CV), was calculated. Power analyses were performed using Monte Carlo simulations combined with Wilcoxon tests to determine significant deviations of the simulated datasets from the baseline mean values. For most survey sites, the mean length of monitoring periods necessary to achieve a CV < 10% amounts to four to five years with four surveys a year. The mean number of surveys necessary to detect a statistically significant reduction of 30% with 80% power ranges from 14 to 20. Power analyses show that a reduction of 10% is difficult to detect, because more than 24 surveys are needed. In contrary, a reduction of 40–50% can be detected easily with a small (<12) number of surveys. The new methods could also be applied to other areas where similar beach litter surveys are performed.

Amount and distribution of benthic marine litter along Sardinian fishing grounds (CW Mediterranean Sea)

Reports of marine litter pollution first appeared in scientific literature of the early 1970s; yet, more than 40 years later, no rigorous estimates exist of the amount of litter existing in the marine environment. To cope with this global urgency, this study reports the status of marine litter abundance along fishing grounds surrounding the island of Sardinia (CW Mediterranean Sea; FAO Geographical Sub-Area 11) through three years of trawl surveys. A total of 302 hauls, covering a total of 18.4 km2 of trawled surface were carried out in the framework of the MEDITS campaign, at depths comprised between 0 and 800 m. A total of 918 items were collected and sorted, with the highest concentration observed above 200 m depth. Overall, plastic was the dominant component of litter, followed by glass and metal. Comparing our results with other areas from the Mediterranean basin, Sardinian waters showed a lower impact, possibly as a consequence of multiple factors such as the lower human population density and the low flow of the main rivers, among others. In addition, fishermen behaviour with respect to marine litter was investigated by mean of anonymous questionnaires, emphasizing the necessity to further develop management policies and infrastructures supporting litter disposal.

Marine litter on the seafloor of the southern Baltic

Marine litter occurrence and composition were investigated during routine bottom trawl fish surveys type BITS performed in the Polish Maritime Areas (the southern Baltic Sea). Sampling covered a distance of 325km and an area of 16km2 at a depth range of 19–110m. Litter densities varying between 0 items/ha (34% of tows) and 2.23items/ha with a mean of 0.20items/ha (SD=0.30) are at the bottom range of densities reported from other shelf habitats worldwide at similar water depths. The majority of the items (40%) were found at a depth range of 51–60m. Overall, plastic was the most common litter type (67% of all items) found in all tows with litter. The results of this study indicate that despite the Baltic being a semi-enclosed basin, with a densely populated coastline and extensive shipping, marine litter pollution of the southern Baltic seafloor is low compared to other coastal areas.

Seafloor Litter in the Sinop İnceburun Coast in the Southern Black Sea

In this study,&#x0D; abundance, distribution and type of seafloor litter were determined in the&#x0D; Sinop Inceburun coast which is the northeast point of Turkey. Study was carried&#x0D; out in October 2014 and proposed methods by Guidance on Monitoring of Marine&#x0D; Litter in European Seas’ published by European Marine Strategy Framework&#x0D; Directive Technical Subgroup on Marine Litter section of seafloor litter&#x0D; adopted the region. Seafloor litter density was found mean 808.74±215.02 pieces&#x0D; per km-2. The amount of litter was found maximum in 34 m depth. When&#x0D; results were evaluated in terms of the type of material plastic was found&#x0D; 95.35% and encountered litter items were mainly composed of plastic bags. The&#x0D; size groups were found generally small than 50 cm x 50 cm in the classification&#x0D; according to the size groups. The data obtained from the study demonstrate that&#x0D; the seafloor in the region have highly littered compared to the other studies&#x0D; in the Black Sea. Marine litter pollution is a growing problem in the world all&#x0D; of the world’s oceans and also the Black Sea. Necessary measurements must be&#x0D; taken to solve this problem.

Coastal debris survey in a Remote Island of the Chilean Northern Patagonia

Global marine litter pollution is increasing dramatically, and oceanic islands are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems due to their high debris accumulation rate compared to continental sites. Remote areas, such as inhabited islands, represent a perfect study case to track marine debris sources, due to the assumed low rates of local production of debris. Guafo Island is one of the largest islands of the Chilean Northern Patagonia and is considered a remote zone. The accessible coast of Guafo Island was monitored during four austral summers revealing higher levels of marine debris accumulation than continental Chile. Plastic was the most abundant type of debris constituting 50% of the total litter monitored. Our results suggest that most of the plastic identified is likely to be related to local fisheries activities. Mitigation measures including collaboration among fishing communities and scientists could contribute to reduce the coastal debris pollution in remote areas.

Differences in perception and reaction of tourist groups to beach marine debris that can influence a loss of tourism revenue in coastal areas

Marine debris is the most conspicuous pollutant that makes beaches aesthetically unappealing to users. The perceptions and reactions of beach users to stranded litter were compared between second-home owners and users (SHOU) and non-recurrent tourists (T). A questionnaire was applied to obtain socio-economic characteristics; assessment of the overall beach quality and perception of beach litter pollution (perception); hypothetical scenarios of marine litter pollution and deterrence (reaction); and potential alternative destinations in the case of deterrence (economic effect). Questionnaires (n = 319) were applied at two Brazilian subtropical beaches, with different physiographical settings (Pontal do Sul, PS, estuarine beach; Ipanema, I, open-ocean beach). Beach users’ groups differed regarding daily expenses (T > SHOU), period of permanence per trip (SHOU > T) and trip frequency (SHOU > T). The open-ocean beach (I) was rated the worst regarding overall beach quality. Marine debris generation was mainly attributed to local “beach users”, in the open-ocean beach (I). “Marine” (or non-local) sources were four times more frequently cited in the estuarine beach (PS). Perception on actual litter pollution and litter deterrence scenarios, did not vary between beaches or groups. More than 85% of beachgoers would avoid a beach visit if a worst scenario (> 15items/m2) occurred and most users would choose a neighboring state beach destination. Stranded litter may potentially reduce local tourism income by 39.1%, representing losses of up to US$ 8.5 million per year. These figures are proxies to support the trade-off local authority's make between investments to prevent/remove beach litter and the potential reduction in income from a tourist destination change.

Beach litter occurrence in sandy littorals: The potential role of urban areas, rivers and beach users in central Italy

Litter washed ashore on the coastline, also called beach litter, constitutes one of the most obvious signs of marine litter pollution. Surveys of beach litter represent a fundamental tool for monitoring pollution in the marine environment and have been used world-wide to classify and quantify marine litter. Identifying the sources of marine and beach litter is, together with education, the prime weapon in combating this type of pollution. This work investigates the impact of three main potential land sources on litter occurrence: urban areas, rivers and beach users. Three sources were analyzed simultaneously on a broad scale (Lazio region, central Italy) using a random sampling design and fitting a generalized linear mixed-effect model. The results show that urban areas are the main drivers for the occurrence of marine litter along central Italy's coastal ecosystems, suggesting that the presence of such litter on Lazio beaches could be effectively reduced by identifying failings in recycling and waste collection procedures and by improving waste processing systems and sewage treatment in urban areas.

Scale, origin and spatial distribution of marine litter pollution in the Lithuanian coastal zone of the Baltic Sea

The first attempt to investigate the marine litter pollution level of the Lithuanian coastal zone was carried out based on different marine litter monitoring methods and according to the lists of identifiable items. The results have proven that plastic is the dominant type of marine litter. It seems that tourism and fishery related marine litter occurrence do not significantly depend on seasonal variations. The outcome of the study will serve as basic information for future inventory of the character of marine pollution, provide the scientifically grounded limit value for Good Environmental Status (GES) assessment in the Lithuanian coastal zone, and will contribute for the enhancement of the ecological status of the south–eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea.

A multi-criteria evaluation system for marine litter pollution based on statistical analyses of OSPAR beach litter monitoring time series

During the last decades, marine pollution with anthropogenic litter has become a worldwide major environmental concern. Standardized monitoring of litter since 2001 on 78 beaches selected within the framework of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) has been used to identify temporal trends of marine litter. Based on statistical analyses of this dataset a two-part multi-criteria evaluation system for beach litter pollution of the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea is proposed. Canonical correlation analyses, linear regression analyses, and non-parametric analyses of variance were used to identify different temporal trends. A classification of beaches was derived from cluster analyses and served to define different states of beach quality according to abundances of 17 input variables. The evaluation system is easily applicable and relies on the above-mentioned classification and on significant temporal trends implied by significant rank correlations.

Substrate choice and settlement preferences of planula larvae of five Scyphozoa (Cnidaria) from German Bight, North Sea

The settlement behaviour of planula larvae and their development to young polyps was investigated in laboratory experiments in five scyphozoan species [Aurelia aurita (L.), Cyanea capillata (L.), Cyanea lamarckii Peron and Leseur, Chrysaora hysoscella (L.), and Rhizostoma octopus (L.)]. The undersides of settling plates were strongly preferred for settlement. Shells, the only natural substrate type offered, were less attractive than artificial substrates (concrete, machined wood, polyethylene, and glass). The advantages of colonization of substrate undersides for survival and reproduction of polyps are discussed. It is supposed that the increase of artificial substrates in our seas, due to marine litter pollution and submarine building activities, enlarge the areas of distribution of scyphozoan polyps, in coastal as well as in off-shore regions. Subsequent increases in ephyra production by polyps are probably one reason for the increase in mass occurrences of jellyfish recognized worldwide during the last few decades. It is suggested that the early developmental stages in the cnidarian life cycle, the planula larvae, and the polyps, play the key role in the development of jellyfish outbursts.

Principles concerning international co-operation in environmentalemergencies linked to technological development

Macro-sized marine litter (>2.5 cm) was collected, characterized, and enumerated along the Cox's Bazar Coast, Bangladesh. Marine litter abundance was converted to density (number of items/m2). Beach cleanliness was evaluated using the clean-coast index (CCI). Plastic polythene bags were the most abundant litter items, followed by plastic cups. Total marine litter abundance was 54,401 ± 184 items. Major sources of marine litter were from tourism, fishery and residential activities. Of 10 sites surveyed, two were classified as dirty, two were moderate, four were clean and two were very clean using the CCI. Marine litter pollution along the Cox's Bazar Coast represents a potential threat to coastal and marine environments. This baseline study will help to establish mitigation strategies that are urgently required to reduce marine litter pollution along the Cox's Bazar Coast.