Marine litter in the Atlantic Area

Reports


 

Title: Spatial and temporal variability in floating litter in North Sea / English Channel and Bay of Biscay / Celtic Sea 2015-2020
Responsible Partner: Ifremer
Date:  December 2021
Download: Link to report
Description: Study on the spatial and temporal variability of floating litter in the North Sea / English Channel and Bay of Biscay / Celtic Sea, based on data collected from the implementation of the monitoring program of macro marine-litter in the French Atlantic area in 2015 untill 2020.


 

Title: Overview of the marine litter status in the Atlantic Area: beach, floating and seabed litter
Responsible Partner: IEO Vigo
Date:  December 2021
Download: Link to report
Description:  The present deliverable aims at synthesizing the main results obtained on the frame of the action 1 of work package 4, which focused on the Regional characterisation of marine litter in the Atlantic Area. With this purpose, an overview of marine litter status in beach, floating and seabed compartments in the Atlantic Area is presented. Additionally, the major key findings, gaps on monitoring and research as well as potential improvements and recommendations are identified. Links to the complete dedicated reports for each compartment are included in the references section. Also, an interactive map for spatial visualization of data on beach,
floating and seabed litter composition and abundance in the Atlantic Area was created and is presented at the end of this report. 


 

Title: Overview of the marine litter status in the Atlantic Area: floating litter
Responsible Partner: IEO Vigo
Date:  Diciembre 2021
Download: Link to report
Description: The present deliverable aims at synthesizing the main results achieved on the frame of the action 1 of work package 4, which focused on the Regional characterisation of marine litter in the Atlantic Area. More specifically, this report deals with the assessment of the floating litter data available in this area. Additionally, the major key findings, gaps on monitoring and research as well as potential improvements and recommendations are identified.


 

Title: Identification of the initiatives, measures and actions to reduce the presence of litter in the marine environment 
Responsible Partner: CEDRE
Date:  October 2021
Download: Link to report
Description: As part of the Interreg CleanAtlantic project, Cedre has undertaken to produce an inventory of initiatives, measures and actions (IMAs) designed to reduce the presence of marine litter in the Atlantic Area (AA). This report presents main results of the online survey launched by Cedre in 2018 to this end, the data cleaning work, the new restructuring IMAs database and the different categories describing them. In addition to the inventory, a work of valorisation of all the initiatives has been done. An interactive online platform has been developed to showcase and facilitate dissemination of IMAs identified in the AA. In addition, a limited selection of the most interesting or innovative IMAs is proposed in the present report.


 

Title: Review of economic sectors impacted by marine litter in the Atlantic Area: Cost-benefit analysis; General overview of economic impacts and policy recommendations; Guidelines.
Responsible Partner: CEFAS
Date:  September 2021
Download: Link to report
Description: This document presents some cost-benefit analyses building on the results of the case study area investigations undertaken in previous tasks (UK, Ireland, Spain and Madeira) in order to provide some recommendations on how to design the needed marine litter policies for these three sectors in the light of the results of the whole work undertaken in WP4.


 

Title: Marine Litter and offshore Aquaculture: an interview survey-based case study in Madeira
Responsible Partner: ARDITI
Date:  February 2021
Download: Link to report
Description: This report showcases results gathered from interview-based surveys of aquaculture personnel in Madeira Island (Portugal) to investigate interactions between marine litter and this activity.


 

Title: Overview of marine litter status in the Atlantic Area: beach litter
Responsible Partner: CEDRE
Date: 30/09/2020 
Download: File
Description: This report presents a characterisation of beach litter pollution along the Atlantic Area shoreline at different relevant geographical scales (beach level, country level, OSPAR region level and Atlantic Area level). Litter abundance, composition and trends is assessed over the time period 2016-2019. Results confirm beach litter is abundant in the Atlantic Area, indicating measures are needed to reduce pollution, especially plastics which represent the majority of litter observed. Finally, gaps hindering a precise assessment of beach litter pollutions are identified and some recommandations to overcome these gaps are proposed


 

Title: Review of Economic Sectors Impacted by Marine Litter in the Atlantic Area
Responsible Partner: CEFAS
Date: 17/12/2019 
Download: File
Description: This report reviews the various forms of marine litter and explores their impacts on different economic sectors making use of an ecosystem services approach.

 

Publications


 

Title: Microplastics Pollution and Regulation
Responsible Partner: IEO Vigo
Date:  October 2020
Download: Link to publication
Description: This book chapter presents the latest evidence of microplastics as a global threat, together with current knowledge gaps, the challenges associated with establishing a global monitoring system and what legislative framework might be needed for their control. The chapter also describes the complexity of this environmental problem, highlighting the key reasons for why regulation at the local, regional, and global levels is currently limited and discussing possible ways forward.


 

Title: Microplastics in the Bay of Biscay: An overview
Responsible Partner: IEO Vigo
Date:  April 2020
Download: Link to publication
Description: This publication studies the abundance of Microplastics in the Bay of Biscay (BoB). It presents a critical overview compiling the research performed to date on the different water bodies, sediments and biota.


 

Title: Seabed litter distribution in the high seas of the Flemish Pass area (NW Atlantic)
Responsible Partner: IEO Vigo
Date: March 2021 
Download: Link to publication
Description: Seabed litter of the Flemish Pass area (NW Atlantic Ocean) was analysed and described using data from the EU-Spain groundfish survey (2006-2017 period). This study presents baseline information on seabed litter in this area. The Flemish Pass is located in areas beyond national jurisdiction within the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area Division 3L. A total of 1169 valid bottom trawl hauls were analysed (104-1478 m depth). Litter was found in 8.3% of the hauls, with mean densities of 1.4±0.2 items km–2 and 10.6±5.2 kg km–2. An increasing pattern with depth was found, the highest densities of seabed litter being identified in the deepest areas located in the Flemish Pass channel and down the northeastern flank of the Grand Bank. Fishing was found to be the main source of marine litter, and 61.9% of the hauls with litter presence showed litter included in the fisheries-related litter category. Whereas in most cases the litter was composed of small fragments of rope, in other cases it was composed of entire fishing gears such as traps. Plastics, metal and other anthropogenic litter were the next most abundant categories, accounting for 18.6%, 16.5% and 12.4% of the total, respectively.