Thomais%20vlachogianni macrolitter%20monitoring

PHOTO BY: Boštjan Mljač

WP4: Marine litter assessment in the Adriatic WP4: Marine litter assessment in the Adriatic Defining a monitoring & assessment strategy for macro‐litter Thomais Vlachogianni | Phd | Phd Env Chem MIO‐ECSDE Programme Officer DeFishGear WP4 Leader M b Member of the MSFD TSG 10 f th MSFD TSG 10 Member of the CORMON Group

Building blocks of the proposed monitoring and assessment strategy for marine litter in the Adriatic Sea assessment strategy for marine litter in the Adriatic Sea

 The “Guidance Document on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas Seas”, developed in 2013 by the EU MSFD Technical Sub‐Group on Marine Litter.  The draft Monitoring Guidance Document on Ecological Objective 10: Marine Litter, Litter prepared by UNEP/MAP MEDPOL in April 2014.

Key elements of the proposed strategy General Marine Litter General Marine Litter Monitoring Approach, addressing key aspects related to the aspects related to the MSFD and the ECAP requirements

• • • •

Monitoring of beach litter, floating litter, benthic litter, litter in biota and microplastics

• Survey design (selection of survey sites, number of sites, etc.) number of sites, etc.)

• Sampling methodology/protocol • Sample processing methodology • Data analysis • Key considerations

Aim & objectives of monitoring Quality assessment & control approach gy Site selection strategy Data handling & reporting

Objectives of the DeFishGear monitoring and assessment strategy gy  To p provide a comprehensive, p , coherent and transparent characterization and analysis of the marine litter problem (including socio‐economic aspects)) in the Adriatic;  To pave the way for the adoption of a coordinated and harmonized approach in terms of marine litter monitoring;  To provide recommendations related to policy options in meeting regional and national objectives regarding marine litter (MSFD, (MSFD ECAP); ECAP)

Overview of selected monitoring protocols to be applied with the scope of the DeFishGear p project for macro‐litter p j Environ. matrice

Method/ protocol

Level of maturity

Technical requir.

Expertise needed

Beach

Visual/ collection

HIGH

LOW

LOW/ MEDIUM

Floating

Visual

HIGH

LOW

LOW/ MEDIUM

Sea floor Sea‐floor

Diving

MEDIUM

MEDIUM

MEDIUM

Sea‐floor

Bottom‐trawling

MEDIUM/ HIGH

LOW/ MEDIUM

LOW/ MEDIUM

Biota

Fish (ingestion)

LOW

MEDIUM/ HIGH

MEDIUM/ HIGH

Biota

Turtles (ingestion)

MEDIUM/ LOW

LOW

MEDIUM

Biota

Entanglement (Beached animals)

LOW

LOW

MEDIUM

Quality assessment & control approach It is important that the data generated is of acceptable It is important that the data generated is of acceptable quality!

To ensure that:  Capacity‐building activities for all partners involved in the monitoring surveys will take place;  A standard list of marine litter items will be used A standard list of marine litter items will be used (proposed master‐list);  An appropriate monitoring guide/handbook will be pp p gg / developed.

Site selection strategy A ‘stratified A stratified randomized sampling strategy randomized sampling strategy’ is proposed to be applied, where sites meeting certain criteria are (more or less) randomly chosen. ( ) y DeFishGear selected sites are situated:     

In the vicinity of ports or harbours; In the vicinity of river mouths; In the vicinity of coastal urban areas; In the vicinityy of tourists destinations;; In relatively remote areas.

Modeling marine debris movement and transport in the Adriatic sea The numerical methodology relies on a three‐stage process: (1)

(2)

(3)

• The input data of relevant Oceanographic and Atmospheric Eulerian models are prepared; • The outputs of the Adriatic Forecasting System and European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts models are utilized as input to the Lagrangian model in order to generate the trajectories and the distribution patterns of the marine litter

• The hazard‐mapping algorithm is employed to obtain p the hotspots of the marine litter in the Adriatic Sea.

Data handling & reporting approach  Raw (and/or slightly processed) data acquired through the monitoring surveys will be collected by WP4 &WP5 leaders through g appropriately pp p y developed p templates; p ;  The development of reporting sheets which will capture the interpreted information is also foreseen (the usage of the reporting sheets on marine litter being developed by the ARCADIS led project on MED support to the MSFD implementation is been explored);  The development of a data/info collation system has been foreseen ((GIS database). )

Monitoring of beach litter

@ Thomais Vlachogianni

H2020 CB/MEP training activity on beach litter monitoring, Gothenburg 2012 Gothenburg 2012 @ Varvara Vasilaki

Monitoring of beach litter Selection of survey sites Selection of survey sites      

Having a minimum length of 100 m; Low to moderate slope; Clear access to sea; Accessible to survey teams throughout the year; Id ll the Ideally h site i should h ld not be b subject bj to cleaning l i activities; Survey activities posing no threat to endangered or protected species.

& i i f Frequency & timing of surveys Frequency: 4 surveys/year (minimum) Surveys timing:  Autumn: mid Sep‐mid Oct  Winter: mid Dec‐mid Jan  Spring: S i Apr A  Summer: mid Jun‐mid Jul

Monitoring of beach litter       

Number of sites Albania (2) Bosnia & Herzegovina (2) Croatia (3) Italyy ((10+3)) Greece (3+5) Montenegro (2) Slovenia (2) Sampling units  At least 2 sections of 100m on the same beach for lightly to moderately littered beaches;  At least 2 sections of 50m for At l t 2 ti f 50 f heavily polluted beaches.

Monitoring of beach litter Collection & identification of litter items Collection & identification of litter items

According to the ‘Master List’, which consists of a set of over 200 items which consists of a set of over 200 items The ‘Master List’ was developed based on the categories of items used in a series of other programmes: Beach litter: UNEP, OSPAR, ICC, Slovenia Floating oat g litter: tte : HELMEPA,, NOAA, O , ECOOCEAN COOC For seabed: OSPAR/ICES & HELMEPA WP5 For micro‐litter: CEFAS

Size limits & classes of items to be surveyed   

The are no upper size limits A lower l li i off 2.5 limit 2 5 cm in i the h longest l di dimension i Plastic pellets (~0.5cm) will be collected separately

Monitoring of floating litter

Photo credit: http://assets.inhabitat.com

Monitoring of floating litter Spatial distribution of survey sites Given the fact that there is very little information on floating litter in the Adriatic Sea, surveys will be carried out in different areas in order to understand the variability of litter distribution distribution.

The selected areas include:  Low density areas (e.g. open sea) y ( g p ) WP5  High density areas (e.g. close to ports)  Other selected areas, in the vicinity of cities, touristic traffic, etc. have been included. ff h b l d d Timing of floating litter surveys Timing of floating litter surveys After a minimum duration of calm sea, so as no bias by litter items, which have been mixed into the water column by y recent sea storms.

Monitoring of floating litter Material and item categories The list of item categories adopted for floating litter corresponds to the ‘Master Master List List’..

Size categories In the size range of 2 5cm to 50 cm In the size range of 2.5cm to 50 cm.    

Observation considerations Id l l ti f Ideal location for observation the bow area; b ti th b Observations to be made by dedicated observer; Typical transect width ~10 m [f (observation height, ship speed)] Transect lengths to be selected in such way that correspond to ~ 1h.

Data & metadata reporting

 Items/km2  Coordinates  Wind speed (m/s) p ( /)

Monitoring of litter on the seafloor

@ Steve Spring/Marine Photobank

Monitoring of benthic litter | Protocol for Sea‐floor Monitoring of benthic litter | Protocol for Sea‐ (20‐‐800m) (20 Spatial distribution of survey sites Restrictions: in rocky areas & soft sediments (as the method may underestimate in rocky areas & soft sediments (as the method may underestimate the quantities present) Sites selection criteria: Sit l ti it i  Areas with uniform substrate (ideally sand/silt bottom)  Areas that might accumulate litter g  Avoid areas of risk (presence of munitions), sensitive or protected areas Timing/frequency of surveys Minimum frequency: annually Ideal frequency: on a quarterly basis, however due to budgetary constraints surveys is proposed to be performed biannually

Monitoring of benthic litter The protocol for sampling and trawling margins (20‐ 800m) has been standardized for each region 800m) has been standardized for each region (MEDITS Protocol) Material and item categories The list of item categories adopted for benthic litter corresponds to the ‘Master List’.     

Data & metadata reporting Data & metadata reporting Items/ha or Items/km2 Coordinates Speed (m/s) Sampled area (ha or /km2) Depth (m) h( )

Monitoring of benthic litter | Protocol for Sea‐floor Monitoring of benthic litter | Protocol for Sea‐ (<20m) Frequency of surveys Minimum frequency: annually Ideal frequency: on a quarterly basis Transects length & width Debris Density

Environmental Conditions

Sampling Unit (length x width)

0 1 – 1 items / m 0.1 1 items / m2

Low turbidity & high Low turbidity & high habitat complexity

20 m x 4 m 20 m x 4 m

0.1 – 1 items / m2

High turbidity

20 m x 4 m

0.01 – 0.1 items / m2

In every case

100 m x 8 m

< 0.01 items / m2

In every case

200 m x 8 m

Line transects are defined with a nylon line, marked every 5 meters with resistant paint.

Size categories In the size range of >2.5cm.

Monitoring of litter in biota

@ @ Steve Spring/Marine Photobank Spring/Marine © Kristin Nilsen/Marine Photobank © K Steve i ti Nil /M i Photobank Ph t b k

Monitoring of litter in biota| Protocol for litter ingestion by fish ingestion by fish Related marine compartments Pelagic & benthic feeding fish species  addressing litter in the water column and the seafloor Parameters recorded Parameters recorded       

Location Trawl/fishery type Species Length Age Sex Visible deformations and skin condition

Sample size At least 50 specimens per species and age group is recommended p p p g g p

Monitoring of litter in biota| Protocol for litter ingestion by fish ingestion by fish Chemical treatment of stomachs 10% KOH H2O2 at ambient temperature 10% KOH or H bi

WP5

Macro‐ vs micro litter An 1mm sieve is used to separate micro‐litter with dimensions smaller than 1mm and the fraction passing the sieve may then be used for micro litter analysis micro‐litter analysis.

Data reported Incidence (% investigated stomachs containing litter) Abundance by number (average number of items per individual) Abundance by mass (weight in grams) Abundance by mass (weight in grams)

Monitoring of litter in biota| Turtles protocol?

The potential will be explored (at l least in Greece & Slovenia) to i G & Sl i ) collaborate with NGOs working for the protection of turtles to utilize p opportunities to analyze the stomach contents of stranded turtles found dead turtles found dead…

© Greenpeace/Carè/Marine Photobank

WP4 Team

MIO‐ECSDE (FB12) Lead Partner National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia (LB) National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia (LB) ISPRA ARPA Emilio‐Romagna (FB4) (FB1) Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia (FB5) Institute for Oceanography & Fisheries, Croatia (FB7) Hydro‐Engineering Hydro Engineering Institute, BiH Institute, BiH University of Montenegro, Institute of marine biology (FB9) Agricultural University of Tirana, Laboratory Agricultural University of Tirana Laboratory of of Fisheries and Aquaculture (FB10) Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece (FB13) Euro‐Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (FB15)

PHOTO BY: Boštjan Mljač

Thank you! vlachogianni@mio‐ecsde.org vlachogianni@mio ecsde org www.mio‐ecsde.org

Name Surname organization name.surname@email.com WWW.DEFISHGEAR.NET

PHOTO BY: Boštjan Mljač