title: Marine litter in bottom trawls off the Portuguese coast.
abstract: Benthic marine litter along the Portuguese coast, was recorded in 14 trips on stern trawlers covering a distance of 2117 km and an area of 56.2 km(2), average depth range 90-349 m. 2034 items of marine litter were registered, 76% were plastics and 38.6% were originated from fishing related activities. Plastic was present in all the trawls and had the highest average density of all litter categories, 50 items km(-2). The highest density of marine litter (178.9 ± 64.0 items km(-2)) was found in the proximity of the Tagus river mouth, probably related to the high population density in the Lisbon metropolitan area. This study highlights the need to raise fishermen awareness for the adoption of good environmental practices that will contribute to the reduction of marine litter.
authors.affiliation: MARE - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.affiliation: MARE - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. Electronic address: psobral@fct.unl.pt.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sobral
authors.affiliation: DOCAPESCA - Portos e Lotas S.A., Av. Brasília - Pedrouços, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Tânia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005398:Fisheries; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis; D011174:Portugal; D045483:Rivers; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Bottom marine litter trawls; Fishing gear; Plastics; Portugal