The pollution due to marine debris is a serious environmental threat in many parts of the world. The abundance of marine debris, composition and its distribution over the seafloor along north-east coast of Arabian coast was studied through trawl based swept method. Experimental fishing was conducted fortnightly using shrimp bottom trawl and collected debris was categorized as per standard protocols. A total of 1077 pieces of debris (11.7 kg dry weight) were collected from 25 hauls. The average number and weight of debris were 943 items/km and 10.2 kg/km respectively. The estimated total marine debris along this coast was 379 t (dry weight). Plastic-based debris contributed maximum (87.1%) to the total debris collected in numbers and among this, plastic bags and food wrappers were dominant. Debris produced by shoreline/recreational activities comprised the major source of debris (88.6%) along this coast. This study provides the evidence that the effective use of available fishing trawlers and co-management practices ("Make fishers friend") can help to remove the seabed debris. The base data generated through this study would facilitate region-based effective control and management of plastic debris pollution.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141771DOI Listing

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