Assessment of spatiotemporal distribution of benthic marine litter for the southern Black Sea coasts of Türkiye

Date

2025-07-01

Author

Dağtekin, Murat
Kasapoğlu, Nazlı
Ok, Meltem
İlhan, Salih
Büyükdeveci, Ferhat
Erik, Gökhan
Özsandikçi, Uğur
Mısır, Devrim Selim
GÜNDOĞDU, SEDAT

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

24
views

0
downloads

Cite This

This study investigates the prevalence and characteristics of benthic marine litter along the southeastern Black Sea coast. A two-year seasonal trawling survey (2017–2018) was conducted between Çayağzı Cape and Ünye-Taşkana Cape across three depth ranges to evaluate litter density and composition in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The results indicate an average litter density of 48,744.69 ± 7543.02 items/km2 and 151.35 ± 14.04 kg/km2, with plastic accounting for over 50 % of the total debris. Statistical analyses of seasonal and depth variations revealed no significant differences in overall litter density; however, plastic items such as bags (36.4 %) and bottles (18.97 %) predominated consistently. The findings highlight the significant contribution of Turkey's coastline to regional marine litter, driven by intensive urban and industrial activities, further compounded by riverine inputs from major rivers discharging into the Black Sea. The study underscores the urgency of enhanced international collaboration and the development of comprehensive regional strategies to combat marine pollution. Insights into the distribution and density of benthic marine litter are critical for informing effective policy measures and raising public awareness to address the pervasive issue of marine litter in the Black Sea basin.

Subject Keywords

Black Sea, Marine debris, MSFD, Plastic pollution, Solid waste

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105002420292&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114349

Collections

Graduate School of Marine Sciences, Article