How many marine litter lay at the sea floor?
Project
How many marine litter lies at the sea floor?
Monitoring of macro litter at the sea floor
A soda can lying at the beach and a plastic bag floating at the surface are visible for everybody. But the major part of marine litter sinks to the sea floor someday and is concealed. How many and which kind of litter is lying there is investigated by the Thünen-Institute using litter in fishery catches.
Background and Objective
Marine litter has become a subject of major concern. Globally, huge amounts of man-made solid waste materials end up in the oceans coming from both land - and sea-based sources. Levels of marine litter at the seafloor are presumed to be rising with the increasing global population densities and industrial production.
Plastic waste materials are of special concern, as plastic items are highly persistent and compose the dominating category of marine litter. Plastic debris can pose a risk to the marine environment, by causing physical damage in marine organisms via ingestion or entanglement and also due to potential toxic effects .
In Europe marine litter was recognized as major risc factor for the marine environment and consequently included as one of eleven qualitative descriptors for the "good environmental status" in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The MSFD schedules monitoring programmes for the assessing the status of the marine ecosysteme. Surveys uses international agreed protocols (ICES), for standardized recording of marine macro litter (>2,5cm).
Approach
Macrolitter in bottom trawl fishery catches are regularly monitored and categorized according to ICES.
The amount of litter is given in litter items per km² area covered by the trawl.
Data and Methods
Every litter item collected on board is weighed, photographed and categorized according to IBTS. Platic litter items were taken to the lab to determine polymer composition using FTIR spectroscopy.
Our Research Questions
- How much litter is present at the sea floor of North Sea and Baltic Sea?
- Are there regional differences in litter amount and composition?
- How does the amount of marine litter changes in time?
- Which polymers are present in plastic litter?
- Which threats for fish and ecosystem are caused by marine litter?
Results
How much litter is present at the sea floor of North Sea and Baltic Sea?Answers can be found here (in german): www.thuenen.de/media/publikationen/thuenen-a-la-carte/ThuenenAlacarte13.pdf
Are there regional differences in litter amount and composition?
Yes, litter from North Sea and Baltic Sea differ in composition.
How does the amount of marine litter changes in time?
This is subject of current research. We cannot answer the question yet.
Which polymers are present in plastic litter?
Polyethylen is the polymer we find most in plastic litter items. Polypropylene is the second frequently polymer.
Which threats for fish and ecosystem are caused by marine litter?
In principle macro litter can be swallowed by organisms and clog their stomach. This may lead to starvation of marine mammals or marine birds. The second threat of macro plastic is entanglement. Fish or invertebrates can entangle e.g. in lost fishing gears. Further on macro plastic can decay to micro plastic which has a different effect on the environment as macro plastic.
Links and Downloads
www.thuenen.de/media/publikationen/thuenen-a-la-carte/ThuenenAlacarte13.pdf
Thünen-Contact
Involved Thünen-Partners
Duration
Permanent task 12.1987 - 12.2023
More Information
Project status:
finished
Publikations
- 0
Kammann UKR, Aust M-O, Lewin W-C, Nogueira P, Panten K, Sell AF, Stepputtis D, Strehlow HV, Weltersbach MS, Wysujack K (2024) Umweltkontamination: Müll in deutschen Meeresgebieten. Braunschweig: Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, 6 p, Thünen à la carte 13, DOI:10.3220/CA1701080947000
- 1
Kammann UKR, Nogueira P, Wilhelm E, Int-Veen I, Aust M-O, Wysujack K (2023) Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) as part of marine litter at the seafloor of the Baltic Sea - Characterization, quantification, polymer composition and possible impact. Mar Pollut Bull 194(Part A):115348, DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115348
- 2
Galgani F, Ruiz Orejon Sanchez Pastor L, Ronchi F, Tallec K, Fischer EK, Matiddi M, Anastasopoulou A, Andresmaa E, Angiolillo M, Bakker Paiva M, Booth AM, Buhhalko N, Cadiou B, Claro F, Consoli P, Darmon G, Deudero S, Fleet D, Fortibuoni T, Kammann UKR, et al (2023) Guidance on the monitoring of marine litter in European seas : An update to improve the harmonised monitoring of marine litter under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, iii, 193 p, JRC Techn Rep 133594, DOI:10.2760/59137
- 3
Kammann UKR, Nogueira P, Wilhelm E, Int-Veen I, Aust M-O, Wysujack K (2023) Item characteristics of marine litter at the seafloor of the Baltic Sea [Datenpublikation] [online]. Bremerhaven: PANGAEA, zu finden in <https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.958427> [zitiert am 07.08.2023], DOI:10.1594/PANGAEA.958427
- 4
Matiddi M, Silvestri C, Anastasopoulou A, Andresmaa E, Angiolillo M, Bakker Paiva M, Buhhalko N, Cadiou B, Claro F, Consoli P, Darmon G, Deudero S, Fischer EK, Fossi MC, Galgani F, Gerigny O, Guse N, Hanke G, Ioakeimidis C, Kammann UKR, et al (2023) Litter and microlitter ingested by biota and entanglement with litter. JRC Techn Rep 133594:91-133, DOI:10.2760/59137
