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© Anja Bunge / Thünen-Institut
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Institute of

FI Fisheries Ecology

Project

How many marine litter lies at the sea floor?

Lead Institute FI Institute of Fisheries Ecology
Involved Institutes SF Institute of Sea Fisheries OF Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries
© Thünen Institut
marine litter, metal IBTS-categorie B2: cans (beverages)

A soda can lying at the beach and a plastic bag floating at the surface are visible for everybody. But the major part of marine litter sinks to the sea floor someday and is concealed. How many and which kind of litter is lying there is investigated by the Thünen-Institute using litter in fishery catches.

Background and Objective

Marine litter has become a subject of major concern. Globally, huge amounts of man-made solid waste materials end up in the oceans coming from both land - and sea-based sources. Levels of marine litter at the seafloor are presumed to be rising with the increasing global population densities and industrial production.

Plastic waste materials are of special concern, as plastic items are highly persistent and compose the dominating category of marine litter. Plastic debris can pose a risk to the marine environment, by causing physical damage in marine organisms via ingestion or entanglement and also due to potential toxic effects .

In Europe marine litter was recognized as major risc factor for the marine environment and consequently included as one of eleven qualitative descriptors for the "good environmental status" in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The MSFD schedules monitoring programmes for the assessing the status of the marine ecosysteme. Surveys uses international agreed protocols (ICES), for standardized recording of marine macro litter (>2,5cm).

Approach

Macrolitter in bottom trawl fishery catches are regularly monitored and categorized according to ICES.
The amount of litter is given in litter items per km² area covered by the trawl.

Data and Methods

Every litter item collected on board is weighed, photographed and categorized according to IBTS. Platic litter items were taken to the lab to determine polymer composition using FTIR spectroscopy.

Links and Downloads

www.thuenen.de/media/publikationen/thuenen-a-la-carte/ThuenenAlacarte13.pdf

Thünen-Contact

Dr. Ulrike Kammann

Telephone
+ 49 471 94460 325
ulrike.kammann@thuenen.de
FI Institute of Fisheries Ecology

Involved Thünen-Partners

Duration

Permanent task 12.1987 - 12.2023

More Information

Project status: finished

Publications

  1. 0

    Sundin J, Freese M, Marohn L, Blancke T, Hanel R (2023) Occurrence of the pugnose pipefish Bryx dunckeri in the Sargasso Sea. J Fish Biol: in Press, DOI:10.1111/jfb.15642

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn067438.pdf

  2. 1

    Hanel R, Marohn L, Westerberg H (2022) No new evidence for an Atlantic eels spawning area outside the Sargasso Sea. Sci Rep 12:11778, DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-14882-8

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn065495.pdf

  3. 2

    Marohn L, Schaber M, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Wysujack K, Czudaj S, Blancke T, Hanel R (2021) Distribution and diel vertical migration of mesopelagic fishes in the Southern Sargasso Sea - observations through hydroacoustics and stratified catches. Mar Biodiv 51:87, DOI:10.1007/s12526-021-01216-6

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn064213.pdf

  4. 3

    Lupše N, Cortesi F, Freese M, Marohn L, Pohlmann J-D, Wysujack K, Hanel R, Musilova Z (2021) Visual gene expression reveals a cone-to-rod developmental progression in deep-sea fishes. Mol Biol Evol 38(12):5664-5677, DOI:10.1093/molbev/msab281

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn064142.pdf

  5. 4

    Thys TM, Nyegaard M, Whitney JL, Ryan JP, Potter I, Nakatsubo T, Freese M, Hellenbrecht LM, Kelly R, Tsukamoto K, Shinohara G, Mowatt-Larssen T, Kubicek L (2020) Ocean Sunfish larvae: Detections, identification and predation. In: Thys TM, Hays GC, Houghton JDR (eds) The Ocean Sunfishes : Evolution, biology and conservation. Boca Raton: CRC Press

  6. 5

    Miller MJ, Hanel R, Feunteun E, Tsukamoto K (2020) The food source of Sargasso Sea leptocephali. Mar Biol 167:57, DOI:10.1007/s00227-020-3662-6

  7. 6

    Hays GC, Houghton JDR, Thys TM, Adams DH, Ahuir-Baraja AE, Alvarez J, Baptista M, Batista H, Baylina N, Bemis KE, Bemis WE, Caldera E, Carnevale G, Carson CD, Correia JP, Reis Costa P, Daly O, Davenport J, Dutton J, Freese M, et al (2020) Unresolved questions about the Ocean Sunfishes, molidae - A family comprising some of the world’s largest eleosts. In: Thys TM, Hays GC, Houghton JDR (eds) The Ocean Sunfishes : Evolution, biology and conservation. Boca Raton: CRC Press

  8. 7

    Lüskow F, Neitzel P, Miller MJ, Marohn L, Wysujack K, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Hanel R (2019) Distribution and abundance of net-captured calycophoran siphonophores and other gelatinous zooplankton in the Sargasso Sea European eel spawning area. Mar Biodiv 49(5):2333-2349, DOI:10.1007/s12526-019-00971-x

  9. 8

    Hellenbrecht LM, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Westerberg H, Blancke T, Hanel R (2019) Larval distribution of the ocean sunfishes Ranzania laevis and Masturus lanceolatus (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) in the Sargasso Sea subtropical convergence zone. J Plankton Res 41(5):595-608, DOI:10.1093/plankt/fbz057

  10. 9

    Miller MJ, Marohn L, Wysujack K, Bonhommeau S, Kuroki M, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Watanabe S, Blancke T, Weist P, Castonguay M, Westerberg H, Tsukamoto K, Hanel R (2019) Larval size-distributions of Ariosoma balearicum cryptic species during the March-April season in the Sargasso Sea Subtropical Convergence Zone. Environ Biol Fishes 102(10):1231–1252, DOI:10.1007/s10641-019-00900-8

  11. 10

    Miller MJ, Marohn L, Wysujack K, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Westerberg H, Tsukamoto K, Hanel R (2019) Morphology and gut contents of anguillid and marine eel larvae in the Sargasso Sea. Zool Anz 279:138-151, DOI:10.1016/j.jcz.2019.01.008

  12. 11

    Miller MJ, Westerberg H, Sparholt H, Wysujack K, Sorensen SR, Marohn L, Jacobsen MW, Freese M, Ayala DJ, Pohlmann J-D, Svendsen JC, Watanabe S, Andersen L, Moller PR, Tsukamoto K, Munk P, Hanel R (2019) Spawning by the European eel across 2000 km of the Sargasso Sea. Biol Lett 15:20180835, DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0835

  13. 12

    Musilova Z, Cortesi F, Matschiner M, Davies WIL, Suresh Patel J, Stieb SM, de Busserolles F, Malmstroem M, Tørresen OK, Brown CJ, Mountford JK, Hanel R, Stenkamp DL, Jakobsen KS, Carleton KL, Jentoft S, Marshall J, Salzburger W (2019) Vision using multiple distinct rod opsins in deep-sea fishes. Science 364(6440):588-592

  14. 13

    Westerberg H, Miller MJ, Wysujack K, Marohn L, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Watanabe S, Tsukamoto K, Hanel R (2018) Larval abundance across the European eel spawning area: An analysis of recent and historic data. Fish Fisheries 19(5):890-902, DOI:10.1111/faf.12298

  15. 14

    Westerberg H, Pacariz S, Marohn L, Fagerström V, Wysujack K, Miller MJ, Freese M, Pohlmann J-D, Hanel R (2018) Modeling the drift of European (Anguilla anguilla) and American (Anguilla rostrata) eel larvae during the year of spawning. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 75(2):224-234, DOI:10.1139/cjfas-2016-0256

  16. 15

    Poulsen JY, Miller MJ, Sado T, Hanel R, Tsukamoto K, Miya M (2018) Resolving deep-sea pelagic saccopharyngiform eel mysteries: Identification of Neocyema and Monognathidae leptocephali and establishment of a new fish family "Neocyematidae" based on larvae, adults and mitogenomic gene orders. PLoS One 13(7):e0199982, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0199982

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn060053.pdf

  17. 16

    Lischka A, Piatkowski U, Hanel R (2017) Cephalopods of the Sargasso Sea: distribution patterns in relation to oceanography. Mar Biodiv 47(3):685-697, DOI:10.1007/s12526-016-0629-4

  18. 17

    Kuroki M, Marohn L, Wysujack K, Miller MJ, Tsukamoto K, Hanel R (2017) Hatching time and larval growth of Atlantic eels in the Sargasso Sea. Mar Biol 164:118, DOI:10.1007/s00227-017-3150-9

  19. 18

    Durif CM, Bonhommeau S, Briand C, Browman HI, Castonguay M, Daverat F, Dekker W, Diaz E, Hanel R, Miller M, Moore A, Paris C, Skiftesvik AB, Westerberg H, Wickström H (2017) Whether European eel leptocephali use the Earth’s magnetic field to guide their migration remains an open question. Current Biol 27:R998-R1000, DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.045

  20. 19

    Miller MJ, Bonhommeau S, Munk P, Castonguay M, Hanel R, McCleave JD (2015) A century of research on the larval distributions of the Atlantic eels: a re-examination of the data. Biol Rev Cambridge Philos Soc 90(4):1035-1064, DOI:10.1111/brv.12144

  21. 20

    Wysujack K, Westerberg H, Aarestrup K, Trautner J, Kurwie T, Nagel F, Hanel R (2015) The migration behaviour of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla) released in open ocean conditions. Mar Freshwater Res 66(2):145-157, DOI:10.1071/MF14023

  22. 21

    Hanel R, Stepputtis D, Bonhommeau S, Castonguay M, Schaber M, Wysujack K, Vobach M, Miller MJ (2014) Low larval abundance in the Sargasso Sea: new evidence about reduced recruitment of the Atlantic eels. Naturwiss 101(12):1041-1054, DOI:10.1007/s00114-014-1243-6

  23. 22

    Miller MJ, Stepputtis D, Bonhommeau S, Castonguay M, Schaber M, Vobach M, Wysujack K, Hanel R (2013) Comparisons of catches of large leptocephali using an IKMT and a large pelagic trawl in the Sargasso Sea. Mar Biodiv 43(4):493-501, DOI:10.1007/s12526-013-0170-7

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