Fishing litter dominates the litter along the beaches of Palk Bay, Southeastern of India

In this study, we assessed the abundance, composition, source, and spatial distribution of marine litter on ten fishing beaches along Palk Bay, on the southeast coast of India. A total of 4,227 marine litter and their average density of 0.70 items/m2 were collected along the ten sites of Palk Bay, SE coast of India. Plastic (78.82%) is the most abundant in the study area, followed by cloths (7.46%), foam (5.72%), glass (5.19%), and rubber (3.47%). From the result, the value of CCI ranges from 6.26 to 25.7 indicating that the coast is "moderately clean" to "extremely dirty". The major sources of litter on the beaches are dumping (49%) and fishing activities (22%). The most common types of fishing litter are ropes, fishing lines and fishing gear, which pose a serious threat to marine life in this area. These findings could facilitate to development of better management measures in this region.