Ocean and Coastal Management xxx (xxxx) xxx Please cite this article as: Laura Gjyli, Ocean and Coastal Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105108 0964-5691/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Marine litter on the Albanian coastline: Baseline information for improved management Laura Gjyli a , Thomais Vlachogianni b, * , Jerina Kolitari c , Gagan Matta d , Osman Metalla a , Silvana Gjyli e a Aleksand€ er Moisiu University of Durres, Durres, Albania b Mediterranean Information Offce for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development, Athens, Greece c Laboratory of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania d Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri University Haridwar, India e Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Albania A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Albanian coastline Marine litter Plastic pollution Monitoring marine pollution ABSTRACT Beach litter surveys represent a fundamental tool for monitoring marine litter pollution in the marine envi- ronment and have been used worldwide to quantify the amounts of litter deposited on the coastline and detect its sources. This study investigated the abundance, composition and sources of marine litter stranded on fve bea- ches located at the bay of Durres and the Bay of Lalzi in Albania. During April 2018, a total of 3,321 marine litter items were collected, classifed and recorded. Within this study the mean litter density was found to be 0.14 items/m 2 and 333 items/100m stretch of beach. The sites investigated differed in terms of human-induced pressures with 2 sites being classifed as semi-urban; 2 sites as urban and 1 as semi-rural. Artifcial/anthropo- genic polymer materials accounted for the majority of marine litter items found, with a percentage of 65%. The most abundant type of items was glass and ceramic fragments accounting for 19.7%, followed by cigarette butts and flters accounting for 17.9% of all litter collected. The vast majority of litter items (58.5%) originated from shoreline sources including poor waste management practices, tourism and recreational activities. Single-use plastics (SUPs) accounted for 48% of all items recorded ranging from 16.8% to 69.1% for the different beaches. 1. Introduction Marine litter -any anthropogenic persistent, manufactured or pro- cessed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment-is globally acknowledged as a major societal challenge of our times due to its signifcant environmental, economic, social, political and cultural implications (Galgani et al., 2010; Suther- land et al., 2010). Marine litter enters the ocean from diverse point and diffuse sources, which can be both land-based and ocean-based, while it can also be transported over long distances before being deposited on shorelines or settled on the seafoor (Veiga et al., 2016). Inadequate urban and in- dustrial solid waste management, discharges of inappropriately treate- d/untreated wastewater, agriculture, tourism and recreational activities are considered to be the main land-based sources of marine litter while the sea-based ones include fsheries and aquaculture, shipping (merchant, leisure and recreational) and off-shore installations (Li et al., 2016; UNEP, 2018). Marine litter reaches the coastal and marine envi- ronment via different pathways, including rivers, canals, drains, sewage outlets, storm water outfows, winds and tides. The Mediterranean Sea has been acknowledged as one of the most affected seas by marine litter worldwide (C� ozar et al., 2015; UNEP/- MAP, 2015; Suaria et al., 2016; Constantino et al., 2019; Fossi et al., 2019). Marine litter has been also identifed as a major growing envi- ronmental problem in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, as pinpointed by several studies carried out in the sub-basin. These studies document the occurrence, amounts, sources and to some extent the impacts of marine litter on beaches (Munari et al., 2016; Vlachogianni et al., 2018, 2019), the sea surface (Arcangeli et al., 2018; Zeri et al., 2018), the seafoor (Fortibuoni et al., 2019) and biota (Pellini et al., 2018; Anastasopoulou et al., 2018). Curbing the growing threat of marine litter requires reliable, * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: lauragjyli@yahoo.com (L. Gjyli), vlachogianni@mio-ecsde.org (T. Vlachogianni), j.kolitari@gmail.com (J. Kolitari), drgaganmatta@gkv.ac.in (G. Matta), o.metalla@gmail.com (O. Metalla), vanagjyli@yahoo.com (S. Gjyli). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ocean and Coastal Management journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105108 Received 24 September 2019; Received in revised form 14 December 2019; Accepted 13 January 2020