Assessment of fishing-related plastic debris along the beaches in Kerala Coast, India
Assessment of fishing-related plastic debris along the beaches in Kerala Coast, India
Date
2020
Authors
Daniel, Damaris Benny
Thomas, Saly N
Thomson, K.T
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
An assessment of quantity, composition and seasonal variation of fishing-related plastic debris was conducted in
six beaches along the Kerala coast of India during 2017–2018. Plastic items were the most dominant type of
waste constituting 73.8% by number and 59.9% by weight. In the total debris recorded, 5540 pieces (36%)
weighing 198.4 kg (39.8%) were fishing related trash. On an average 14.4 ± 12 fishing related items/100m2,
corresponding to mean weight of 0.55 ± 0.7 kg/100m2 was recorded from these beaches. Results indicated that
the fishing-related plastic items were concentrated four times more in the beaches with higher fishing intensity,
as compared to the other beaches. Also, the concentration of fishing-related plastic was recorded higher in the
post-monsoon season compared to the lowest during monsoon, which was significant with p-value<0.05. The
results emphasize the role of fishing activities in the generation of marine litter.
Description
Keywords
Beach litter, Plastics, Pollution, Fishing, Marine debris, Derelict fishing gear
Citation
Marine Pollution Bulletin 150:110696