Spatio-temporal assessment of COVID-19 lockdown impact on beach litter status and composition in Goa, India

Nigam, Ritwik; Luis, Alvarinho J.; Prasad, Pankaj; Kuttikar, Sachit; Yadav, Ramanand; Vaz, Eric; Kotha, Mahender

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113293

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Other plastics items (5.91%), foams (thermocol) (5.92%), nets and pieces of net (5.46%) and other bottles (5.34%) are also abundant on the beaches surveyed. The most common marine litter in India reported in other studies are not observed in this study (Arun Kumar et al 2016;Jeyasanta et al 2020;Behera et al 2021;Mugilarasan et al 2021;Nigam et al 2022). Caps/lids, cigarette butts and lters, plastic/polystyrene pieces, small plastic bags, and crisp/sweet packets were the most abundant plastic items on Indian beaches, which is different from our study results.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…The ten beaches are less in uenced by tourism and litter from shoreline/recreational activities constitutes only 28.69% of the total litter collected. This value is lower than the international data (Ocean Conservancy 2014), the value recorded in the Mediterranean (UNEP/MAP MEDPOL 2012) and also the value reported on Indian beaches (Arun Kumar et al 2016;Khadanga et al 2022;Nigam et al 2022). Mugilarasan et al (2021) recorded a small percentage of litter related to recreational activities on Indian beaches (48%).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

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Fishing litter dominates the litter along the beaches of Palk Bay, Southeastern of India

Priyanka

Mghili

Perumal

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Fishing activity is a major source of marine litter on beaches, but most studies focus on recreational beaches. In this study, we assessed the abundance, composition, source and spatial distribution of marine litter on ten fishing beaches along Palk Bay, on the southeast coast of India. We also used social media to collect data on the impact of fishing litter on marine animals in the study area. A total of 4,227 marine litter and their average density of 0.70 items/m2 were collected. Plastic (84.54%) is the most abundant in the study area, followed by cloths (7.46%), glass (5.19%), and rubber (3.47%). From the result, the value of CCI ranges from 6.26 to 25.7 indicating that the coast is "moderately clean" to "extremely dirty". The majority of the marine litter collected originated from fishing activity. The most common are string and cord, fishing lines, fishing gear, floats and buoys. The presence of this type of marine litter can produce serious environmental issues, such as ghost fishing, that impacts a large variety of marine species. A total of 25 of the olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were entangled in fishing litter between 2018 and 2020. Most of the reported entanglements were due to discarded or lost fishing gear, which shows the importance of managing this type of litter in India. It is important to manage the litter related to the fishing activity by educating fishermen and organizing clean-up campaigns.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Fishing litter dominates the litter along the beaches of Palk Bay, Southeastern of India

Priyanka

Mghili

Perumal

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the density of AMD is high during the rainy season (December -May) in tropical countries (Sulochanan et al, 2019;Suteja et al, 2021), or increase in summer seasons of the northern and southern hemisphere (Asensio-Montesinos et al, 2019;de Ramos et al, 2021). Also, the increase of debris is influenced by the presence of river discharges (Lebreton et al, 2017;Sulochanan et al, 2019;Meijer et al, 2021;Mugilarasan et al, 2021) into the coastal areas, where another factor such as the presence of tourists (Garceś-Ordoñez et al, 2020b;Zalewska et al, 2021;Nigam et al, 2022) contribute to the total loads of AMD, entering into shore environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A temporal assessment of anthropogenic marine debris on sandy beaches from Ecuador’s southern coast

Salazar

Gonzalez²,

Navarrete³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) is an environmental pollution that affects marine life, human health, wellbeing, and the economy. This marine litter can deposit in the coastlines, particularly on tidal zones and beaches. To pursue future mitigation strategies to reduce AMD is important to monitor the amount, type and frequency of litter being dumped on shores. This study presents the composition, temporal distribution, abundance and size of AMD on three sandy beaches from Guayas province, Ecuador. The field data was recollected from December 2018 to February 2020. A total of 12,362 items of AMD were collected with an abundance of 1.95 macro-litter items/m2. The composition of AMD was marked by the predominance of plastic items (91.8%), followed by wood and cloth (1.9%), while cigarettes were only present in village beaches. Our results suggest that sites with more AMD abundance are beaches nearby small coastal villages and fishing communities. Also, the AMD abundance is slightly higher at the beginning of the dry season than in the rainy season. Our findings indicate that it is necessary to implement concerted solid waste management measures and proactive environmental education programs to empower the local population, as well as investigate the anthropogenic sources and other variables influencing the AMD abundance coming onto sandy shores.

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“…Additionally, the pandemic has also affected waste management systems, with many facilities being closed or operating at reduced capacity due to safety concerns, leading to the improper disposal of plastic waste ( Sharma et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, the pandemic has resulted in a decrease in tourism and shipping activities, which may have impacted the distribution of MPs in coastal areas ( Nigam et al, 2022 ). While research on the relationship between COVID-19 and microplastic pollution is limited, it is important to consider the potential impact of the pandemic on plastic waste and its subsequent effects on the environment, including the distribution of MPs in basins and coastal areas.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the MP concentration during the next monsoon season was decreased (Dharmasthala: 16 MPs/m 3 ; Neriya Hole: 40 MPs/m 3 ). One of the reasons for this decline can be the rapid decrease in the number of tourists and pilgrims during this period due to restrictions imposed on account of COVID-19 ( Nigam et al, 2022 ). The decrease in the number of pilgrims and tourists can lead to the decline in the potential debris to be washed downstream during the monsoon.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Did the COVID-19 pandemic play a role in the spatial and temporal variations of microplastics? Evidence from a tropical river in southern India

Amrutha

Warrier

Rangel-Buitrago

2023

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Spatio-temporal assessment of COVID-19 lockdown impact on beach litter status and composition in Goa, India

Cited by 14 publications

References 41 publications

Fishing litter dominates the litter along the beaches of Palk Bay, Southeastern of India

Fishing litter dominates the litter along the beaches of Palk Bay, Southeastern of India

A temporal assessment of anthropogenic marine debris on sandy beaches from Ecuador’s southern coast

Did the COVID-19 pandemic play a role in the spatial and temporal variations of microplastics? Evidence from a tropical river in southern India

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