Litter on the seafloor along the African coast and in the Bay of Bengal based on trawl bycatches from 2011 to 2020

L Buhl-Mortensen; R Houssa; W R W M A P Weerakoon; P Kainge; M N Olsen; S Faye; M M Wagne; S Myo Thwe; G Cudjoe Voado; B E Grøsvik

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114094

Litter on the seafloor along the African coast and in the Bay of Bengal based on trawl bycatches from 2011 to 2020

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Nov:184:114094. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114094. Epub 2022 Sep 24.

Authors

L Buhl-Mortensen¹, R Houssa², W R W M A P Weerakoon³, P Kainge⁴, M N Olsen⁵, S Faye⁶, M M Wagne⁷, S Myo Thwe⁸, G Cudjoe Voado⁹, B E Grøsvik⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: Lenebu@hi.no.
² Institut National de Recherche Halieutique, Casablanca, Morocco.
³ National Institute of Oceanography and Marine Sciences (NIOMS), National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Colombo 15, Sri Lanka.
⁴ National Marine Information and Research Centre (NatMIRC), Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Swakopmund, Namibia.
⁵ Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway.
⁶ Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar LPAO-SF, Senegal.
⁷ Institut Mauritanien de Recherches Océanographiques et de Pêches (IMROP), BP 22, Nouadhibou, Mauritanie; Unité Écobiologie Marine, Environnement, Santé et Nutrition (EBIOMESN), Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université de Nouakchott Al Aasriya, BP 880, Nouakchott, Mauritanie.
⁸ Analytical Laboratory Unit, Department of Fisheries, ShuuKhin Thar Road, Tharketa Township, Yangon Region, Yangon, P.O. Box 11231, Myanmar.
⁹ Environmental Protection Agency, Human Settlement Unit, P.O. Box MB 326, 91 Starlet Street Ministries, Accra, Ghana.

PMID: 36166859
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114094

Abstract

We present the occurrence of seafloor litter on the coast of Africa and in the Bay of Bengal based on records from the EAF-NANSEN Programme in 2011 to 2020. Litter bycatch records from 534 bottom trawls were standardized to km² before analysis. Three percent of the records indicated areas of high littering and the highest densities occurred from 100 to 300 m in depth and 50 to 100 km from the coast. Littering was lower in the Indian Ocean compared to Atlantic Africa. Plastic objects and fishing gear dominated the recorded items (47 % and 22 % respectively) but, regional differences were pronounced. Plastic dominated North Atlantic and East African records (58 % and 80 % respectively) and fishing gear dominated (69 %) in South Atlantic Africa while records from the Bay of Bengal were a mix of categories. The relation between littering and population density, marine industry, major cities, and rivers is discussed.

Keywords: Africa; Bay of Bengal; Marine litter; Seafloor; Trawl bycatch.

MeSH terms

Bays*
Environmental Monitoring*
Plastics
Rivers
South Africa
Waste Products / analysis

Substances

Plastics
Waste Products