Plastic is the most common residual material along the Catalan coastline, with greater presence on the central coast.
We have published a new report on marine litter accidentally collected by the trawling fleet along the Catalan coastline during 2024. This work is part of the ongoing fisheries monitoring program carried out by the Fisheries Advisory Service of ICATMAR and helps us better understand the presence and distribution of marine litter on the seabed of the Catalan coast.
The characterization and analysis of the waste are carried out following the Fishing for Litter strategy, which provides key information on its typology and distribution.
The report’s conclusions show that marine litter continues to represent a small fraction of the total trawl fishing catches (around 2%), but it is present in all the areas and depths analyzed.
- Plastic is the most frequent material, with an average of 5.08 kg/km² between 2020 and 2024. However, in 2024 metal was the predominant category due to a large metal container caught in Blanes.
- The central areas of the Catalan coastline (province of Barcelona) concentrate the highest amounts of marine litter, with plastic as the dominant material.
This study is aligned with the objectives of the Estratègia Marítima de Catalunya 2030 and contributes valuable information to promote measures that reduce environmental impact and move towards more sustainable management of the marine environment.
Check the full report at this link or in the publications section.
