Sea floor litter monitored using catches of the International Bottom Trawl Survey

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires from the European Member States to develop programmes of measures to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) in European Seas. To be able to evaluate the quality state and trends of the marine waters on a regular basis and the effect of measures, monitoring programs for MSFD descriptors and indicators have been established by the Member states. GES is described by 11 descriptors, and marine litter is one of them. The Dutch monitoring program for this descriptor includes amongst others the collection of data on the presence and distribution on litter on the seafloor. This data should be collected by statutory task fish surveys using standardized bottom trawling gears, as used in the International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS). This report presents the results of the seafloor litter monitoring during the IBTS survey of Quarter 1 2015. Seafloor litter data is collected during this survey since 2013, and the new data is presented in perspective of the data collected in previous years. This is done for the composition and the spatial distribution of the seafloor litter from the catch