Marine Litter in Nordic Waters
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TemaNord 2015:521 TemaNord TemaNord 2015:521 TemaNord Ved Stranden 18 DK-1061 Copenhagen K www.norden.org Marine Litter in Nordic waters Marine Litter in Nordic waters This report provides an overview of the currently available data from studies on marine litter in the Nordic countries. This covers various field studies on amount, distribution, characteristics and impact of macro- and micro-litter particles. The data reported can provide a good basis for prioritisation of activities, especially having the establishment of marine litter indicators for EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive monitoring and national management plans in the Nordic countries in mind. TemaNord 2015:521 ISBN 978-92-893-4030-4 (PRINT) ISBN 978-92-893-4031-1 (PDF) ISBN 978-92-893-4032-8 (EPUB) ISSN 0908-6692 TN2015521 omslag.indd 1 11-05-2015 08:00:03 Marine Litter in Nordic waters Jakob Strand, Zhanna Tairova, Jóhannis Danielsen, Jens Würgler Hansen, Kerstin Magnusson, Lars‐Johan Naustvoll and Thomas Kirk Sørensen TemaNord 2015:521 Marine Litter in Nordic waters Jakob Strand, Zhanna Tairova, Jóhannis Danielsen, Jens Würgler Hansen, Kerstin Magnusson, Lars‐Johan Naustvoll and Thomas Kirk Sørensen ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4030‐4 (PRINT) ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4031‐1 (PDF) ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4032‐8 (EPUB) http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/TN2015‐521 TemaNord 2015:521 ISSN 0908‐6692 © Nordic Council of Ministers 2015 Layout: Hanne Lebech Cover photo: Jakob Strand; Kresten Hansen; Søren Kristensen Print: Rosendahls‐Schultz Grafisk Copies: 200 Printed in Denmark This publication has been published with financial support by the Nordic Council of Ministers. However, the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or recom‐ mendations of the Nordic Council of Ministers. www.norden.org/nordpub Nordic co‐operation Nordic co‐operation is one of the world’s most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involv‐ ing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. Nordic co‐operation has firm traditions in politics, the economy, and culture. It plays an im‐ portant role in European and international collaboration, and aims at creating a strong Nordic community in a strong Europe. Nordic co‐operation seeks to safeguard Nordic and regional interests and principles in the global community. Common Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the world’s most innovative and competitive. Nordic Council of Ministers Ved Stranden 18 DK‐1061 Copenhagen K Phone (+45) 3396 0200 www.norden.org Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................11 What is marine litter? .....................................................................................................................13 Sources and fate of the marine litter ........................................................................................14 Impact of marine litter in the environment ..........................................................................18 Marine litter as an environmental indicator .........................................................................21 1. Overview of studies on macro-litter indicators with emphasis toward findings in the Nordic countries ................................................................................................. 25 1.1 Beach litter ............................................................................................................................25 1.2 Macro-litter on the seafloor ...........................................................................................31 1.3 Macro-litter floating in the water column ................................................................34 1.4 Ingestion and impact of macro-litter in biota .........................................................34 2. Overview of studies on micro-litter indicators with emphasis on findings in the Nordic countries ..................................................................................................................41 2.1 Microplastic in the water column ................................................................................44 2.2 Microplastics on the beaches and in sub-tidal sediments ................................. 46 2.3 Microplastics in marine biota ........................................................................................48 3. Status for management actions on marine litter with relevance for Nordic waters ....................................................................................................................................................51 3.1 Current status for implementing Marine Strategy Framework Directive and national management plans in the Nordic countries ............. 51 3.2 Status for some international activities related to management of marine litter ..........................................................................................................................55 4. Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................61 5. References ...........................................................................................................................................65 6. Sammenfatning ................................................................................................................................. 71 7. Workshop 1 Programme and participants ...........................................................................73 8. Workshop 2 Programme and participants ...........................................................................75 Preface This report is one of the outcomes of a Nordic project called “Marine litter in the Nordic waters” funded by The Marine Group (HAV) under The Nordic Council of Ministers in 2013–2014. The main aim of the project was to establish a Nordic forum for col- laboration and exchange of knowledge on status for methodologies and available data for marine litter between Nordic experts, environmental managers and stakeholders, due to the common environmental concerns in our shared seas. This report compiles information that can be used as a contribution to facilitate the framing of this environmental problem in a Nordic perspective. This report includes also input from two work- shops on I) Common knowledge status on marine litter in the Nordic countries, and indicators relevant for EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (November 14, 2013 in Gothenburg, Sweden) and II) Status for monitoring and Future actions (November 6–7, 2014 in Oslo, Norway). The affiliations of the authors are as follows: • Jakob Strand,1 Zhanna Tairova,1 Jóhannis Danielsen,2 Jens Würgler Hansen,1 Kerstin Magnusson,3 Lars-Johan Naustvoll4 and Thomas Kirk Sørensen.3 ────────────────────────── 1 Aarhus University (Denmark). 2 Swedish Environmental Research Institute (Sweden). 3 Technical University of Denmark. Summary In recent years there has been an increased focus on environmental problems arising from litter pollution in the oceans after various studies have described instances of vast amounts of litter including microscopic particles consisting of plastic debris and other synthetic materials. In- ternational institutions such as EU, OSPAR, HELCOM and UN have identi- fied marine litter as an important issue that should be prioritized both in terms of knowledge building and the development of environmental indicators that can be used for characterization of the environmental quality. In Europe, marine litter is now high on the environmental agen- da, especially after the implementation of the Marine Strategy Frame- work Directive (MSFD) with obligations for all the EU member states. Subsequently, marine litter has also received increasing attention in the Nordic countries. In Nordic countries, there has been and are also several on-going field studies, including research, monitoring and other types of surveys. These studies demonstrate ubiquitous occurrence of marine litter in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the North Atlantic as well as in the Arctic, where marine litter have been found in all relevant marine compart- ments, i.e. at beaches, in the water column (incl. sea ice), on the sea floor (incl. in sediments) and in biota. This report provides an overview of the currently available data from studies on marine litter in the Nordic countries. This covers various field studies on amount, distribution, characteristics and impact of macro- and micro-litter particles. The data reported can provide a good basis for prioritisation of activities, especially having the establishment of marine litter indicators for MSFD monitoring and national management plans in the Nordic countries in mind. However, results from the different Nordic studies are not always comparable due to employment of different methodologies for sampling and analyses have been employed. There is therefore a need for a common assemblage of knowledge and experi- ence, and also a standartisation of methods based on the regional condi- tions that facilitate the framing of this environmental problem