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Microplastics (MPs) pollution is a worldwide issue in the marine environment. There is growing concern of consuming MPs through fish, yet the current contamination status of fish collected from the deep sea surrounding Japan remains limited. We present baseline data on MPs in commercially important fishes from the coastal and offshore waters near Kyushu, Japan (East China Sea). We examined the MPs in the digestive tracts of two pelagic (n = 150 in total) and five demersal species (n = 235 in total). The fish were caught by pole and line, and bottom trawl at different geographical positions. The MPs in pelagic fish (39.1 %) were higher than demersal fish (10.3 %) and of larger sizes. The MPs correlated with habitat depth and type. There was species variation in the shape and polymer composition of MPs. These results increase our understanding of the heterogeneous uptake of MPs by fishes.

Microplastics in the ocean are threatening marine ecosystems. Although plastic contaminants are ubiquitous from rivers to polar oceans, their distribution is thought to be heterogeneous, implying that both spatial and temporal variability exist. Here, we elucidate the significant spatial and temporal (seasonal) variations in the quanti-qualitative characteristics of microplastics off the west coast of Kyushu, Japan in the East China Sea. Six surveys across nine stations (n = 54) were conducted over a 14-month period, and a total of 6131 plastic items were identified. The average microplastic abundance (items·m-3) and size (mm) ± S.D. were 0.49 ± 0.92 (n = 54), and 1.71 ± 0.93 (n = 6131), respectively. Differences between the highest and lowest abundances were 50-fold among monthly means (1.97 ± 1.49, n = 9; 0.04 ± 0.03, n = 9), and 550-fold across all net tows (5.50; 0.01). With respect to colour, polymer type, and shape, white and transparent (68.5%), polyethylene (80%) fragments (76.0%) were the dominant composition. There were statistically significant differences for each of the analytical microplastic parameters among survey months (p < 0.02). Our results provide baseline data, and lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of microplastic pollution.