Fishing lines and fish hooks as neglected marine litter: first data on chemical composition, densities, and biological entrapment from a Mediterranean beach

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 1000 - 1007
• Main Authors: Battisti, Corrado, Kroha, Silvio, Kozhuharova, Elina, De Michelis, Silvia, Fanelli, Giuliano, Poeta, Gianluca, Pietrelli, Loris, Cerfolli, Fulvio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alismatales; Animals; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bathing Beaches - statistics & numerical data; Beaches; Chemical composition; Density; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Entrapment; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Ferns; Fish; Fisheries; Fishing; Fluorides; Fourier transforms; Herbivores; Hooks; Litter; Marine debris; Marine pollution; Mediterranean Sea; Organic chemistry; Plastics - analysis; Reeds; Sampling; Seafood; Short Research and Discussion Article; Spheroids; Waste Products - analysis; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Mediterranean Sea; Entanglement; Invertebrates; Marine litter; Removal sampling; Algae
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3753-9

We reported first data on the densities and chemical composition of fishing lines and fish hooks deposited on a Mediterranean beach. On a sampling area of 1.5 ha, we removed a total of 185,028 cm of fishing lines (density 12.34 cm/m 2 ) and 33 hooks (density 22 units/ha). Totally, 637.62 g (42.5 mg/m 2 ) of fishing lines were collected. We sampled 120 items entangled belongings to 7 animal taxa (density 6.49 items/100 m of fishing lines). We also observed a not quantifiable number of egagropiles ( Posidonia oceanica spheroids), Rhodophyceae ( Halymenia sp.) and segments of reeds of Phragmites communis , trapped in the fishing lines. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used in order to identify the chemical composition of the fishing lines: 92% was made of nylon while 8.0% was determined as fluorocarbon based polymers (polyvinylidene fluoride). Because of their subtlety and reduced size, sandy beach cleaning operations should include at least two consecutive removal samplings: indeed, a part of this litter (12.14%) is not removed in the first sampling. The unexpected high density of fishing lines suggests specific management actions aimed to periodically remove this neglected anthropogenic litter.