Summary of current methods of monitoring and assessment for marine litter.. Deliverable D1.2 report. MARLISCO project.

Abstract

This report summarises the marine litter issue in relation to monitoring and assessment. It includes a brief summary of current assessment and monitoring techniques within European Seas in order to provide information for other Work Packages. Gathering data on marine litter is a relatively new concept within the monitoring field. Therefore, this report should rather be considered as a generic overview and an introduction to the possible monitoring approaches. It includes links to relevant information sources. The guidance is intended to support litter monitoring by the general public or other non-research trained persons. Certain aspects of marine litter monitoring remain rather scientific and are too complex to be carried out by members of the general public. Specific guidelines for these types of survey have not been included. For more detailed information we recommend the protocols as described in the reports of the European MSFD GES Technical Subgroup 10 (TSG10), an overview of this report has been given in section 6.4. Further developments in marine litter monitoring are ongoing and will take a more definitive shape in the coming years. Hence it will be important to follow up progress of European and regional marine litter expert groups tasked with the improvement of our understanding of this relatively new problem in our marine environment.