Abstract
A number of seabird species have been known to peck, displace, and ingest various plastic items including expanded polystyrene, for reasons that remain largely conjectural. Ingestion of polystyrene parts potentially causes lethal or sublethal effects on birds. Pecking can also result in the damage of polystyrene items, resulting in increased market turnover and environmental build-up, or economic consequences for stakeholders. In January and February, 2022, fishers in a portion of the western Adriatic Sea coast reported pecking damage caused by gulls (Laridae) to polystyrene buoys used to float, signal, and retrieve static fishing nets and traps. We investigated the magnitude of this phenomenon in four fishing harbours of Italy by scoring damage to 470 buoys and interviewing 29 fishers (encompassing 42% of the relevant fleet). Information was complemented by opportunistic observations at sea. Our preliminary assessment suggests that offshore polystyrene pecking increases in winter months, and it occurs sporadically among years. The overall economic damage to the static net fishery appeared generally modest (approximately 3–4 Euro to replace one buoy), with wide variations in the extent of reported damage. We reviewed the hypotheses behind polystyrene pecking, but none of them provide a clear explanation for the observed behaviour. Finally, we discuss potential effects on seabirds and advocate monitoring to investigate causal factors and mitigate damage to seabirds, fisheries, and marine environment.
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Data availability
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Davide Barbetta, Andrea Campagnoli, Stefano Chiarucci, Alfio Curzi, Ivaldo Latini, Emanuele Morelli, Francesco Orritti, Guido Paci, Alessandro Rosati, Nazario Rossi, Michele Russo, Simone Sgherri, and all other fishers who kindly shared information in Cattolica, Pesaro, Fano, and Senigallia. Bernd Würsig and an anonymous reviewer offered valuable comments that helped improve earlier drafts.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by GB, SB, and FF. An early draft of the manuscript was written by CB. The draft was then revised by GB and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Bearzi, G., Bonizzoni, S., Fanesi, F. et al. Seabirds pecking polystyrene items in offshore Adriatic Sea waters. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 8338–8346 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24290-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24290-0