Fisheries are one of the main economic sectors affected by marine litter, which can damage gear, reduce catch, and require time to repair or clean nets. This study aims to evaluate the type and density of marine litter in two shallow fishing grounds in the NW Mediterranean Sea, both belonging to the Natura 2000 network. Moreover, it quantifies the fraction of marine litter within the total catch to help understand the potential influence of marine litter on fisheries. Two study areas were selected, one in the vicinity of urban populated areas and high navigational traffic and one in a rural site off an agricultural area. The urban area had more benthic marine litter (393 to 198 kg km⁻²) including clinker (residue from coal-burning steamships), fabric, plastics, and processed wood and accounting for up to 38% of the total catch. The rural area had far less marine litter (34–56 kg km⁻²), accounting for only 5% of the total catch. Marine litter may have potential negative effects on fisheries; thus we propose that government credit trading programs could be promoted to help recover litter from fishing catches, to reduce fishing costs and hazards to marine ecosystems.

渔业是受海洋垃圾影响的主要经济部门之一，可能损坏渔具，减少渔获，并需要时间进行修理或清洁网。这项研究旨在评估西北地中海两个浅渔场中海洋垃圾的类型和密度，这两个渔场均属于Natura 2000网络。此外，它量化了海洋垃圾在总捕获量中的比例，以帮助了解海洋垃圾对渔业的潜在影响。选择了两个研究区域，一个位于城市人口稠密地区和高通航量附近，另一个位于农业区以外的农村地区。市区的底栖海洋垃圾较多（393至198 kg km ^-2），包括熟料（燃煤轮船的残留物），织物，塑料和加工木材，占渔获总量的38％。农村地区的海洋垃圾少得多（34-56 kg km ^-2），仅占总捕获量的5％。海洋垃圾可能对渔业有潜在的负面影响；因此，我们建议可以推广政府信贷交易计划，以帮助从渔获物中回收垃圾，从而降低捕捞成本和对海洋生态系统的危害。