ORCID
- Richard C. Thompson: 0000-0003-2262-6621
Abstract
While land-based sources of marine plastic pollution have gained widespread attention, marine-based sources are less extensively investigated. Here, we provide the first in-depth description of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) on northern and southern beaches of the English Southwest Peninsula, Great Britain's region of highest ALDFG density. Three distinct categories were recorded: twisted rope (0.28 ± 0.14 m−1, 17%), braided rope (0.56 ± 0.28 m−1, 33%) and filament (0.84 ± 0.41 m−1, 50%), which likely correspond to fishing rope, net and line. Estimating the disintegration of ALDFG from length and filament number suggests that it has the potential to generate 1277 ± 431 microplastic pieces m−1, with fishing rope (44%) and net (49%) as the largest emitters. Importantly, ALDFG was over five times more abundant on the south coast, which is likely attributable to the three times higher fishing intensity in that area.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2021-12-01
Publication Title
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume
173
Issue
Part B
ISSN
0025-326X
Acceptance Date
2021-10-29
Deposit Date
2021-11-23
Embargo Period
2021-11-24
Funding
The authors would like to thank the technicians at the Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre (MBERC) for their help throughout the project. I.E.N. and R.C.T. were supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Project ME5435).
Keywords
Fishing industry, Marine microplastic, Maritime industry, Monofilament, Rope structure, Synthetic polymer rope
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Wright, L., Napper, I., & Thompson, R. (2021) 'Potential microplastic release from beached fishing gear in Great Britain's region of highest fishing litter density', Marine Pollution Bulletin, 173(Part B). Available at: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113115
