Initial Assessment of Composition, Abundance, Spatial Distribution and Hotspots Identification of Floating Macro-Litter in the Bulgarian Black Sea Waters
Initial Assessment of Composition, Abundance, Spatial Distribution and Hotspots Identification of Floating Macro-Litter in the Bulgarian Black Sea Waters

Author(s): Violeta Slabakova, Ivelina Zlateva, Krasimira Slavova
Subject(s): Economy, National Economy, Supranational / Global Economy, Business Economy / Management, Energy and Environmental Studies
Published by: Национално издателство за образование и наука „Аз-буки“
Keywords: Black Sea; floating marine litter; monitoring; MSFD
Summary/Abstract: The present research is focused on composition, density, distribution and identification of accumulative areas of floating marine litter (FML) in the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal, shelf and offshore waters. Macro-debris abundances were determined in compliance with MSFD protocol for visual observations based on fixed-width strip transect method. Six floating litter monitoring surveys were carried out between 2017 and 2019. Over 144 hours of visual observations were performed in a total of 288 transects, covering an overall survey area of 7.52 km2. 1320 litter items were identified and classified during the campaigns of which 90% were detected as plastic materials. The presence of floating debris was observed throughout the entire study area with density ranging from 0 to 1750 items km-2 and average density of 170 items km-2. Unexpectedly marine litter concentration patterns were evenly distributed among the studied regions with some specifics at certain sites.

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