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This book describes how man-made litter, primarily plastic, has spread into the remotest parts of the oceans and covers all aspects of this pollution problem from the impacts on wildlife and human health to socio-economic and political issues. Marine litter is a prime threat to marine wildlife, habitats and food webs worldwide.The book illustrates how advanced technologies from deep-sea research, microbiology and mathematic modelling as well as classic beach litter counts by volunteers contributed to the broad awareness of marine litter as a problem of global significance. The authors summarise more than five decades of marine litter research, which receives growing attention after the recent discovery of great oceanic garbage patches and the ubiquity of microscopic plastic particles in marine organisms and habitats.In 16 chapters, authors from all over the world have created a universal view on the diverse field of marine litter pollution, the biological impacts, dedicated research activities, and the various national and international legislative efforts to combat this environmental problem. They recommend future research directions necessary for a comprehensive understanding of this environmental issue and the development of efficient management strategies. This book addresses scientists, and it provides a solid knowledge base for policy makers, NGOs, and the broader public

Litter cleanup and disposal management in the marine environment are increasingly subject to public scrutiny, government regulation and stakeholder initiatives. In practice, ongoing efforts and new investment decisions, for example in new cleanup technologies, are constrained by financial and economic resources. Given budgetary restrictions, it is important to optimize decision-making using a scientific framework that takes into account the various effects of investments by combining multiple scientific perspectives and integrating these in a consistent and coherent way. Identifying optimal levels of marine litter cleanup is a challenge, because of its cross-disciplinary nature, involving physics, environmental engineering, science, and economics. In this paper, we propose a bridge-building, spatial cost-benefit optimization framework that allows prioritizing where to apply limited cleanup efforts within a regional spatial network of marine litter sources, using input from the maturing field of marine litter transport modeling. The framework also includes ecosystem functioning in relation to variable litter concentrations, as well as the potentially non-linear cost-efficiency of cleanup technologies. From these three components (transport modeling, ecosystem functioning, cleanup-effectiveness), along with litter source mapping, we outline the optimal cleanup solution at any given ecological target or economic constraint, as well as determine the cleanup feasibility. We illustrate our framework in a Baltic and Mediterranean Sea case study, using real data for litter transport and cleanup technology. Our study shows that including pollution Green's functions is essential to assess the feasibility of cleanup and determine optimal deployment of cleanup investments, where the presented framework combines physical, economical, technological and biological data consistently to compare and rank alternatives.

Litter cleanup and disposal management in the marine environment are increasingly subject to public scrutiny, government regulation and stakeholder initiatives. In practice, ongoing efforts and new investment decisions, for example in new cleanup technologies, are constrained by financial and economic resources. Given budgetary restrictions, it is important to optimize decision-making using a scientific framework that takes into account the various effects of investments by combining multiple scientific perspectives and integrating these in a consistent and coherent way. Identifying optimal levels of marine litter cleanup is a challenge, because of its cross-disciplinary nature, involving physics, environmental engineering, science, and economics. In this paper, we propose a bridge-building, spatial cost-benefit optimization framework that allows prioritizing where to apply limited cleanup efforts within a regional spatial network of marine litter sources, using input from the maturing field of marine litter transport modeling. The framework also includes ecosystem functioning in relation to variable litter concentrations, as well as the potentially non-linear cost-efficiency of cleanup technologies. From these three components (transport modeling, ecosystem functioning, cleanup-effectiveness), along with litter source mapping, we outline the optimal cleanup solution at any given ecological target or economic constraint, as well as determine the cleanup feasibility. We illustrate our framework in a Baltic and Mediterranean Sea case study, using real data for litter transport and cleanup technology. Our study shows that including pollution Green's functions is essential to assess the feasibility of cleanup and determine optimal deployment of cleanup investments, where the presented framework combines physical, economical, technological and biological data consistently to compare and rank alternatives.

The benefits of marine litter reduction to society, which are mostly non-market ones, need to be valued and quantified in monetary terms to be included in cost benefit analyses required by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This article investigates the extent to which these benefits can be derived from existing studies. We review the available empirical evidence and analyze its key characteristics based on descriptive statistics. Comparing the availability of estimates with the requirements for the EU Member States, we find a striking mismatch between the data available and the information required, which cannot be alleviated by benefit transfer. This finding is valid for both, ex-ante and ex-post, evaluation attempts. We conclude that the evidence available at present is too patchy to derive country-wide policy implications to the extent necessary to comprehensively conduct the evaluations required by the Directive.

The benefits of marine litter reduction to society, which are mostly non-market ones, need to be valued and quantified in monetary terms to be included in cost benefit analyses required by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This article investigates the extent to which these benefits can be derived from existing studies. We review the available empirical evidence and analyze its key characteristics based on descriptive statistics. Comparing the availability of estimates with the requirements for the EU Member States, we find a striking mismatch between the data available and the information required, which cannot be alleviated by benefit transfer. This finding is valid for both, ex-ante and ex-post, evaluation attempts. We conclude that the evidence available at present is too patchy to derive country-wide policy implications to the extent necessary to comprehensively conduct the evaluations required by the Directive.

The benefits of marine litter reduction to society, which are mostly non-market ones, need to be valued and quantified in monetary terms to be included in cost benefit analyses required by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This article investigates the extent to which these benefits can be derived from existing studies. We review the available empirical evidence and analyze its key characteristics based on descriptive statistics. Comparing the availability of estimates with the requirements for the EU Member States, we find a striking mismatch between the data available and the information required, which cannot be alleviated by benefit transfer. This finding is valid for both, ex-ante and ex-post, evaluation attempts. We conclude that the evidence available at present is too patchy to derive country-wide policy implications to the extent necessary to comprehensively conduct the evaluations required by the Directive.

Pham, Christopher K. . et. al.-- 13 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, supporting information http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095839 ; Anthropogenic litter is present in all marine habitats, from beaches to the most remote points in the oceans. On the seafloor, marine litter, particularly plastic, can accumulate in high densities with deleterious consequences for its inhabitants. Yet, because of the high cost involved with sampling the seafloor, no large-scale assessment of distribution patterns was available to date. Here, we present data on litter distribution and density collected during 588 video and trawl surveys across 32 sites in European waters. We found litter to be present in the deepest areas and at locations as remote from land as the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The highest litter density occurs in submarine canyons, whilst the lowest density can be found on continental shelves and on ocean ridges. Plastic was the most prevalent litter item found on the seafloor. Litter from fishing activities (derelict fishing lines and nets) was particularly common on seamounts, banks, mounds and ocean ridges. Our results highlight the extent of the problem and the need for action to prevent increasing accumulation of litter in marine environments. © 2014 Pham et al. ; This research was supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007∧2013) under the HERMIONE project, Grant agreement (GA) no. 226354. The authors would like to acknowledge further funds from the Condor project (supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism (PT0040/2008)), Corazon (FCT/PTDC/MAR/72169/2006; COMPETE/QREN), CoralFISH (FP7 ENV/2007/1/21314 4), EC funded PERSEUS project (GA no. 287600), the ESF project BIOFUN (CTM2007-28739-E), the Spanish projects PROMETEO (CTM2007-66316-C02/MAR) and DOS MARES (CTM2010-21810-C03-01), la Caixa grant >Oasis del Mar>, the Generalitat de Catalunya grant to excellence research group number 2009 SGR 1305, UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the Ecosystems of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Sub-Polar Front and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (ECOMAR) project, the Marine Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP), the ERC (Starting Grant project CODEMAP, no 258482), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Lenfest Ocean Program (PEW Foundation), the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform through Strategic Environmental Assessment 7 (formerly the Department for Trade and Industry) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through their advisors, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the offshore Special Areas for Conservation programme, BELSPO and RBINS-OD Nature (Belgian Federal Government) for R/V Belgica shiptime. The footage from the HAUSGARTEN observatory was taken during expeditions ARK XVIII/1, ARK XX/1, ARK XXII/1, ARK XXIII/2 and ARK XXVI/2 of the German research icebreaker "Polarstern". The authors also acknowledge funds provided by FCT-IP/MEC to LARSyS Associated Laboratory and IMAR-University of the Azores (R&DU #531), Thematic Area E, through the Strategic Project (PEst-OE/EEI/LA0009/2011∧2014, COMPETE, QREN) and by the Government of Azores FRCT multiannual funding. CKP was supported by the doctoral grant from the Portuguese Science Foundation (SFRH/BD/66404/2009; COMPETE/QREN). AP was supported by Statoil as part of the CORAMM project. MB would like to thank Antje Boetius for financial support through the DFG Leibniz programme. JNGP was supported by the doctoral grant (M3.1.2/F/062/2011) from the Regional Directorate for Science, Technology and Communications (DRCTC) of the Regional Government of the Azores. ERLL was supported by a CSIC-JAE-postdocotral grant with co-funding from the European Social Fund. Publication fees for this open access publication were supported by IFREMER. ; Peer Reviewed

The following protocol is intended to respond to the requirements set by the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directives (MSFD) for the D10C3 Criteria reported in the Commission Decision (EU), related to the amount of litter ingested by marine animals. Standardized methodologies for extracting litter items ingested from dead sea turtles along with guidelines on data analysis are provided. The protocol starts with the collection of dead sea turtles and classification of samples according to the decomposition status. Turtle necropsy must be performed in authorized centers and the protocol described here explains the best procedure for gastrointestinal (GI) tract isolation. The three parts of the GI (esophagus, stomach, intestine) should be separated, opened lengthways and contents filtered using a 1 mm mesh sieve. The article describes the classification and quantification of ingested litter, classifying GI contents into seven different categories of marine litter and two categories of natural remains. The quantity of ingested litter should be reported as total dry mass (weight in grams, with two decimal places) and abundance (number of items). The protocol proposes two possible scenarios to achieve the Good Environmental Status (GES). First: "There should be less than X% of sea turtles having Y g or more plastic in the GI in samples of 50-100 dead turtles from each sub-region", where Y is the average weight of plastic ingested and X% is the percentage of sea turtles with more weight (in grams) of plastic than Y. The second one, which considers the food remain versus plastic as a proxy of individual health, is: "There should be less than X% of sea turtles having more weight of plastic (in grams) than food remains in the GI in samples of 50-100 dead turtles from each sub-region". ; C1 [Matiddi, Marco; Silvestri, Cecilia; Piermarini, Raffaella; Daffina, Roberto; Pisapia, Marco; Genta, Daniela] Italian Natl Inst Environm Protect & Res ISPRA, Rome, Italy. ; [deLucia, Giuseppe A.; Camedda, Andrea] Inst Coastal Marine Environm Natl Res Council IAM, Rome, Italy. ; [Darmon, Gaelle; Gambaiani, Delphine; Miaud, Claude] Univ P Valery, PSL Res Univ, UMR 5175 CE3FE,EPHE, CNRS,UM,IRD,INRA,SupAgro,Biogeog & Ecol Vertebras, Montpellier, France. ; [Tomas, Jesus; Revuelta, Ohiana] Univ Valencia, Cavanilles Inst Biodivers & Evolutionary Biol, Valencia, Spain. ; [Pham, Christopher K.; Vandeperre, Frederic; Rodriguez, Yasmina] Univ Acores, Dept Oceanog & Pescas, Inst Mar Okeanos, Ponta Delgada, Portugal. ; [Vandeperre, Frederic] Univ Acores, MARE Marine & Environm Sci Ctr, Ponta Delgada, Portugal. ; [Claro, Francoise; Moussier, Judicaelle] Museum Natl Hist Nat, Paris, France. ; [Kaska, Yakup; Sozbilen, Dogan] Pamukkale Univ, Sea Turtle Res & Applicat Ctr DEKAMER, Pamukkale, Turkey. ; [Kaberi, Helen; Tsangaris, Catherine] Hellenic Ctr Marine Res, Inst Oceanografy, Anavyssos, Greece. ; [Bradai, Mohamed N.; Chaieb, Olfa] INSTM, Salammbo, Tunisia. ; [Loza, Ana L.] Univ Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Spain.