On the 19th and 25th of November 2014, IWRS (Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia) inspected the amount of marine litter collected by fishermen.
Fishermen participating in the project collected marine litter that has accumulated in their nets as part of their normal fishing activity. The collection started on the 20th of September, when all fishermen got their promotional material and bags. In less than two months, the wooden boxes at collection points were full of litter, collected from the sea. In every fishing port, IWRS have a contact person or a fisherman who informs us about the amount of litter. On the 19th and 25th of November 2014, IWRS (Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia) analysed the amount and type of marine litter.
Every bag with marine litter was analysed. In both ports, fishermen collected 38 plastic bags of waste. In every bag, an identification card was placed. The identification card is intended for tracking down the activities of fishermen, and also it provides information on the date and the location of the collected litter.
Each bag was emptied on a plastic sheet and sorted by the category of the material. There were some differences in the type of marine litter in both fishing ports. In Koper, fishermen caught a lot of plastic bags and pieces of bags, but in Izola, the most common items were plastic bottles.
In both ports, the fishermen collected over 188 kg of marine litter. The most common materials were artificial polymer materials (over 100 kg), textile (47 kg), metal (32 kg), rubber (3 kg), processed wood and glass.
