Plastic pollution is now in the public and scientific domain as an emerging issue of global concern due
to their potential effects to nature and the society. There is high evidence that plastics are now present
in virtually all aquatic ecosystems and are ingested by several organisms, however, little is known
about their impact on deep marine ecosystems and especially on the deep-sea reefs built by
emblematic cold-water corals species. The occurrence and abundance of these organisms in the
Portuguese Atlantic coast is still largely unknown. During recent sampling campaigns aiming at
mapping these ecosystems in the Portuguese coast, preliminary analyses showed the presence of
nylon plastic lines in the stony cup corals of Dendrophylliidae, in Dendrophilia ramea, and a hook-andline fishing gear incrustated in Gorgonian organisms, in Leptogorgia sarmentosa, collected in two
different areas (north and central coastal area of Portugal, 30-50m depth). The derelict gear is mainly
composed of nets, ropes and lines made of non-biodegradable plastics and have been also reported
as causing tissue loss and fragmentation in corals and gorgonian habitat.
This preliminary assessment reveals that the occurrence of the species in sedimentary grounds makes
it especially vulnerable to bottom contact with fishing gear as bottom trawling and should be better
investigated and communicated to local stakeholders. The spatial distribution of these populations,
as well as a first attempt to characterize its habitat and the levels of plastics will be explored in the
next months as an approach to describe the habitat’s suitability and the vulnerability for the species
in the area. This is a first assessment but further studies are foreseen which include monitoring these
habitats and see how they interact with fishing gears over time in these areas, which will be also
presented and discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
