EMODnet Chemistry III

1. EMODnet Chemistry III Marine litter - possible approach for gathering and giving access, considering present landscape and possible synergies By Dick M.A. Schaap – Technical Coordinator Venice – Italy, 4th April 2017

2. Marine Litter • Marine litter (including plastics) is a new topic • The tender asks for marine litter: • collected on beaches • in fishermen's nets • in specific surveys • It is stipulated that digital layers of plastic or litter must be available after the first year. • Focus on: • Beach litter (nets, bottles etc.) • Seafloor Litter (i.e. litter collected by fish trawl surveys) • Not on litter in biota or floating litter

3. Possible cooperation • MSFD Technical Support Group – Marine Litter (TSG-ML), chaired by Francois Galgani – IFREMER with co-chair Georg Hanke – JRC • Project on Marine Litter baselines – chaired by Georg Hanke – JRC, project assigned by DG Env and EEA • Regional Sea Conventions (OSPAR, HELCOM, UNEP/MAP, BSCS) • EU Research projects (DeFishGear, PERSEUS, EMBLAS, …) • ICES • EMODnet Data Ingestion project

4. Present situation – beach litter • Western Europe: OSPAR countries are reporting about beach litter to OSPAR and this is published at the website of the UK based Marine Conservation Society (MCS) – contact: Sue Kinsey - MCS • List of possible items to be recorded for beach litter is described in the ‘Guideline for Monitoring Marine Litter on the Beaches in the OSPAR Maritime Area’; • Baltic Sea countries: there are some national pilot projects for beach litter. HELCOM is now developing the SPICE system, following UNEP protocol – contacts: Marta Ruiz and Joni Kaitaranta - HELCOM • Mediterranean countries: there is no formal gathering and reporting, however UNEP/MAP has aspirations to develop a Beach Litter system – contacts Tatiana Hema and Christos Ioakeimidis – UNEP/MAP • Black Sea countries: ? • In many countries there are beach litter projects at local and regional scales, organised by national agencies, NGOs and citizen projects.

5. Present situation – seafloor litter • North and Western Europe: ICES countries are reporting seafloor litter as collected through fish trawls to ICES and in particular to its DATRAS (the Database of Trawl Surveys) database; ICES publishes several controlled vocabularies at its website - contact Neil Holdsworth - ICES • Baltic countries: HELCOM has the Baltic International Trawl Surveys (BITS) system, hosted at ICES. Different from DATRAS? • Mediterranean countries: MEDITS initiative for trawl surveys - contact Maria Theresa Spedicato - COISPA, EU Research projects such as PERSEUS – contact Vangelis Papathanassiou – HCMR; DeFISHGEAR – contact Stefan Trdan – Slovenia http://defishgear.izvrs.si/defishgearpublic Adriatic - Ionian • Black Sea countries: EU Research projects such as PERSEUS, EMBLAS, …

6. Present situation – Master list • The TSG-ML has produced a guidance document ‘Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas’ in 2013 where a Master List of Categories of Litter Items gathers the different codes used in OSPAR, UNEP and TSG/ML in matrix considered in MSFD monitoring programs: Beach (macro and micro Litter), Seafloor (macro Litter), Floating (macro and micro Litter), Biota (Litter ingested). This list is being revised by TSG-ML. • Protocols for beach litter counting can be different leading to results which are not comparable and can not be harmonised • Different fish nets can give different results for seafloor litter

7. Approach as formulated in tender proposal • Evaluate the reporting formats and vocabularies as used by OSPAR for beach litter reporting; • Evaluate the reporting formats and vocabularies as used by ICES for marine litter reporting as part of fish trawl surveys; • Develop two central EMODnet internet databases, one for beach litter and one for marine litter as collected by fish trawl surveys, as part of the EMODnet Chemistry infrastructure, including import and output (publishing) routines; • As part of the database development, review existing vocabularies, considering ICES and OSPAR vocabularies and TSG-ML reporting, possibly adding extra terms and/or vocabs; • Populate and maintain these databases by combining entries from ICES, OSPAR and complementary entries from NODCs (consortium members); • Establish harvesting exchanges with existing databases of OSPAR (UKMCS) and ICES; • Establish harvesting exchange or as alternative online CMS with NODCs;

8. Approach as formulated in tender proposal • Encourage countries to report directly to the EMODnet Beach and Fish Trawl litter databases, by using local databases and harvesting scheme or by using the online CMS of the central EMODnet databases; • Develop search and display services (including maps) on the central EMODnet validated databases; • In addition, use will be made of the EMODnet Data Ingestion project to gather and include contributions from NGO’s, volunteers, etc., in the various countries for ingestion and further routing to EMODnet.

9. Workplan • WP2.3: Formulating formats and vocabularies for reporting marine and beach litter – led by IFREMER with TWG • Evaluate the reporting formats and vocabularies as used by OSPAR for beach litter reporting and those as used by ICES for seabed litter reporting as part of fish trawl surveys. Considering these established databases and the work performed by the TSG-ML guidelines, formats and forms (most probably excel) will be formulated for the data providers how to gather and describe marine and beach litter data. Thereby if partners from OSPAR countries choose to report to the OSPAR UKMCS database for national beach litter or to the ICES DATRAS database for national fish trawl litter, they will be instructed how to do it. Other partners will be asked to gather and save their data at their centre, awaiting the development of the two central EMODnet databases for beach litter respectively marine litter from fish trawls. • D2.2: Guidelines and forms for seafloor and beach litter gathering; M3; IFREMER + TWG

10. Workplan • WP2.4: Seafloor and beach litter data gathering and population in databases – led by IFREMER • All data providers will work on gathering and describing their marine and beach litter data for inclusion in the OSPAR and/or ICES and/or EMODnet Central ML databases, following the guidelines, formats and forms. The EMODnet Central ML databases, once released, will be loaded with data entries from data providers and by regular harvesting from the OSPAR and ICES databases. In addition, there will be a close cooperation with the EMODnet Data Ingestion project, which will focus on identifying and bringing forward marine and beach litter data sets from NGOs, citizen observatories, projects, and other third parties. The data sets, received through ingestion, will be routed to relevant NODCs • D2.6: Marine and beach litter data sets from data providers, OSPAR, and ICES, included in the EMODnet databases; M10; IFREMER + all data providers • D2.7: Marine and beach litter data sets increased and also received through the EMODnet Data Ingestion portal; M22; IFREMER + all data providers

11. Workplan • WP3.3: Generating validated data collections and maps for marine litter and beach litter – led by IFREMER with TWG • The data as gathered and compiled in the two EMODnet databases for seafloor and beach litter will be validated, checking for possible inconsistencies. Concentration maps will have to be produced from the databases by extra manipulations on the data and consecutive presentations by means of dedicated maps. The mapping products will be shared as layers in the OceanBrowser viewing service and described in Sextant. Initial maps will be published after one year and expanded in the next year. • D3.6: First version concentration maps of marine and beach litter; M12; IFREMER + TWG • D3.7: Second version concentration maps of marine and beach litter; M24; IFREMER + TWG

12. Workplan • WP4.3: Developing the EMODnet database system for marine and beach litter – led by IFREMER + TWG • Setting up the database system following the format specifications as defined in WP2. Developing input options by harvesting and on-line CMS. • Developing output functions, such as discovery and mapping services. • D4.3:Operational EMODnet database system for marine and beach litter; M10; IFREMER + TWG

13. Revised approach • Evaluate the reporting formats and vocabularies as used by OSPAR for beach litter reporting; • Evaluate the reporting formats and vocabularies as used by ICES for marine litter reporting as part of fish trawl surveys; • Develop two central EMODnet internet databases, one for beach litter and one for marine litter as collected by fish trawl surveys, as part of the EMODnet Chemistry infrastructure, including import and output (publishing) routines; • seek cooperation and harvesting from: • Beach litter: OSPAR - MCS, HELCOM – SPICE (under construction), UNEP/MAP (offer help) • Seafloor litter: ICES - DATRAS, HELCOM – BITS, MEDITS, DeFISHGEAR, PERSEUS, … • Involve: Thomas Maes – Seafloor litter expert via OSPAR • Involve: David Fleet – Beach litter expert via OSPAR • Involve: Monika Peterlin – expert Master list

14. www.emodnet-chemistry.eu