Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) as part of marine litter at the seafloor of the Baltic Sea - Characterization, quantification, polymer composition and possible impact

Ulrike Kammann; Pedro Nogueira; Esther Wilhelm; Ivo Int-Veen; Marc-Oliver Aust; Klaus Wysujack

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115348

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) as part of marine litter at the seafloor of the Baltic Sea - Characterization, quantification, polymer composition and possible impact

Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Sep;194(Pt A):115348. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115348. Epub 2023 Aug 4.

Authors

Ulrike Kammann¹, Pedro Nogueira², Esther Wilhelm³, Ivo Int-Veen², Marc-Oliver Aust², Klaus Wysujack²

Affiliations

¹ Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany. Electronic address: ulrike.kammann@thuenen.de.
² Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany.
³ Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany; Marine Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.

PMID: 37544064
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115348

Abstract

As an important part of marine litter at the seafloor "Abandoned, lost, discarded or otherwise lost fishing gear" (ALDFG) is gaining increasing attention in environmental assessments. Within this study marine litter at the seafloor of the Baltic Sea was quantified and characterized with special regard to fishery as source. Litter items (LI) were collected within fishery catches by bottom trawling during three cruises in 2020 and 2021. The resulting mean litter abundance was 9.2 LI/km². Approximately 56 % of all LI were plastic, with PE as the most frequently identified polymer. ALDFG was present in considerable amounts with a mean value of 2.2 LI/km² (22.2 %). However, the absolute counts of fishery nets were low (0.4 LI/km²; 4.2 %). Regarding weight, fishery nets are the dominant part of litter at the Baltic seafloor. Threshold values for marine litter at the seafloor are missing and might be developed using quantitative data on ALDFG.

Keywords: Baltic Sea; Fishery derived litter; Ghost net; Litter at the seafloor; Monitoring.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring / methods
Fisheries
Hunting*
Plastics
Polymers*
Waste Products / analysis

Substances

Polymers
Plastics
Waste Products