Monitoring Guidance for Marine litter in European Seas

Abstract

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires European Member States (MS) to develop strategies that should lead to programmes of measures that achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) in European Seas. As an essential step reaching good environmental status, MS should establish monitoring programmes for assessment, enabling the state of the marine waters concerned to be evaluated on a regular basis. As a follow up to the Commission Decision on criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status (GES) of marine waters (Commission Decision 2010/477/EU), the Marine Directors requested the Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENV) in 2010 to establish a Technical Subgroup (TSG) under the Working Group on Good Environmental Status (WG GES) for further development of Descriptor 10 Marine Litter (TSG-ML). TSG-ML in 2011 focused on providing advise through the EU Report 25009 “Marine Litter – Technical Recommendations for the implementation of MSFD requirements”. Within that report the options and available tools for the monitoring of marine litter in the different environmental compartments have been identified. Member States have then requested a follow-up through an additional mandate. One scope of this work is to provide harmonized protocols for the monitoring of marine litter for the European Seas. The present document is the Monitoring Guidance for Marine Litter in European Seas (Draft Report) and provides MS with the recommendations and information needed to commence the monitoring required this aspect of MSFD. This draft report divided in 8 sections/chapters presents a general overview of approaches and strategies dealing with marine litter monitoring and provides protocols for the monitoring of specifically: beach litter, floating litter, seafloor litter, litter in biota, microlitter. It concludes by presenting an introduction to a Master List of all litter items for use in litter monitoring programmes in the European marine environment.JRC.H.1-Water Resource