NZG

Martin HeubeckMick MellorEric MeekKeith FaircloughDan TurnerMark GranthamStuart NewsonJane GollanNicole Girard Gilles le GuillouChristine BlaizeEric StienenWouter CourtensMarc vd WalleKees CamphuysenAndré MeijboomDavid FleetNils GuseStefan GartheJohn PedersenHelle SchulzPoul Lindhard HansenPer-Joel AnderssonKare Olav OlsenBergur OlsenJohannes DanielsenJens-Kjeld JensenMaria Dam

PLASTIC SOUP Complexity and Certainty

A seabird view on marine debrisJan van Franeker

and the‘Save the North Sea’Fulmar study group

The Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the

Environment

marine litter = problem

DAMAGE economical

DAMAGE ecological

Northern Fulmar – Fulmarus glacialis

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Northern Fulmar

• numerous, widely distributed, beached birds available• consumes all sorts of litter • feeds exclusively at sea• retains litter in stomach• integrates pollution levels over its oceanic foraging range

Fulmars are

fools ….but because

of that they may be

…

a convenient ‘tool’ for monitoring:

NetherlandsFulmar-Litter

monitoring1982 – 20…

‘North Sea’Fulmar Study

2002-20....

Litter types in Fulmar stomachs

industrialplastic

userplastic

non plasticrubbish

pollutantschemical ?

Average mass ± se of plastics in stomachs of fulmars in the Netherlands (running 5-year arithmetic average for all ages, all plastics)

2007-2011 95% incidence 35 particles/stomach 0.33 gram/stomach

Average mass ± se of industrial and user plastics in stomachs of fulmars in the Netherlands (running 5-year arithmetic average for all ages)

EcoQO on marine litter (plastic) in the North Sea

Quality elementbeached Northern Fulmars

Objective (‘target’):the proportion of Fulmars with more than 0.1g of plastic in the stomach must be less than 10%(all regions, for at least 5 years)

EcoQO Compliance or Performance =the percentage of birds in a sample that have 0.1 g or more plastic mass in the stomach

OSPAR EcoQOs - Ecological Quality Objectives

EcoQO performance Netherlands 1982-2011

North Sea Regional Pattern (EcoQO performance 2005-2009)

The pattern indicates major local pollution sources (rather than ‘background’ from e.g.

Gulf Stream)

The southern area, in particular Channel, is most heavily polluted: ± twice level of that in Scottish Islands.

1

2

3

5

4

Clean Beach Texel 20 April 2005 – Origin (119 items; 15 nationalities)

NETHERLANDS42%

United Kingdom

14%

Germany12 %

France8%

Lituania1%

USA-CanadaTaiwan

Countries of origin

international origin, but dominated by

litter from own region

Clean Beach Texel(20 april 2005):

30 tons of litter removedmain origin shipping and fisheries

(± 1 ton each km)

Canadian Arctic data from Mallory et al. (2006; 2008), Provencher et al 2009 & pers. inf. authors

North Atlantic comparison

“member states shall take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment by 2020 at the latest

Litter descriptor:“ properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment”

Indicators for litter descriptor: Trends in quantities on beach, in water and microplastics and in ‘impact of litter on marine life *

* = measured by ingestion by animals as in Fulmar example

European MSFD 2008(Marine Strategy Framework Directive):

in regions where fulmar sampling is not possible other options for bio-monitoring have to be explored

Photo: G.Mauger, Groupe d'Étude des Cétacés du Cotentin - GECCmammals ? turtles ? fishes ? Other birds ?

European Marine Strategy Framework Directive :

North Sea 2007-2011 95% plastic incidence;

0.33 gram per bird Harm ?

Harm ?

HARM?

Fulmar wreck 2004:highly unusual sex & age

compositionserious deficiencies in down

plumage illogical reproductive decisions

Suggesting a disturbed endocrine hormonal system !

Hormonal disruptions are a known effect of the types of contaminants accumulated by fulmars through food and/or plastic ingestion

From Honolulu 2011 5IMDC presentation: Chemicals in marine plastics and risks: a mass mortality incident among fulmars in 2004 showed many characters of hormonal disturbance,

potentially related to plastic ingestion

Foto: Johan Kroll

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Fledglings(n=28)

1st year(n=42)

2nd year(n=21)

immature(n=55)

adult(n=253)

mas

s of p

lasti

c(g

ram

±se

)

Age related differences found in Fulmars from the Faroe Islands (period 2005-2009; n=371) Harm ?

RATE OF BREAKDOWN AND GUT PASSAGE OF PLASTIC IN DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS OF PETRELS ESTIMATED AT 75 % OF AVERAGE STOMAGE CONTENT PER MONTH

‘processed’ = reduced to mm size and below uptake of breakdown products in gut excretion as microplastics, partially in other habitats

Annually, in the North Sea ± 2 million Fulmars

reshape and relocate:

630 million pieces6 ton of plastic

HARM ?

Salko de Wolf, EcoMare

Effects on all marine life and ultimately man are

extremely complex and uncertain !!

G.Mauger, - GECC

Priority Actions 

REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE Make deposit & return systems legally required: high deposit fees

for ALL products containing plastic must be standard.

Forbid the production of so-called degradable or compostable packaging for both fossil- or bio-sourced

Make strong legislation on toxicity of compounds used in plastic production (also of non-food plastics)

Let plastic be plastic! Create value on plastic ‘waste’

Use common sense in addition to scientific evidence

IMARES

Thank you for

listening !