Comparative study on survey methods for estimating the amount of plastic fishing gear discharged into the sea.

Abstract

The study estimated and compared the amount of plastic fishing gear used and spilled by type using two methods of surveying plastic spillage: a survey using fishermen's logbooks and a survey combining a questionnaire to fishermen and purchase records. The fishing method assessed was longline fishing, which uses a relatively high amount of plastic gear per tonne of catch among boat fisheries. The specific volume of marine runoff was calculated. The average unit of plastic gear marine discharge per tonne of catch, for example, was 18 kg/t (1.9-34 kg/t) in the logbook survey and 14 kg/t (5.4-21 kg/t) in the questionnaire and purchase record survey, with slightly higher average values in the logbook survey, but the two surveys were broadly similar. values were generally close.