A study carried out by the Ocean Research Institute Okeanos, from the University of the Azores, identified marine plastic litter in coastal areas of two islands of the archipelago. This litter comes from fishing activity and originates from the United States and Canada.
The researchers managed to trace the origin of the material through the marks and identification codes present on the fishing objects found on Azorean beaches. This identification allowed associating the debris with specific sources in North America.
The study highlights that fishing-related materials, when they have marks or identification codes, constitute a unique opportunity to trace the origin of marine litter and understand the transatlantic pollution patterns that affect the Azorean islands.
The research shows that the Azores are affected by plastic waste that travels thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean, coming from fishing activities carried out on the North American and Canadian coast. The content of this research was published in the jornalacores9.pt.
