Fulmar Litter EcoQO monitoring along Durch and North Sea coasts

Wastes from ships are an important source of litter in the marine environment in the Southern North Sea and cause serious economic and ecological damage. Inadequacies in the ship to shore waste delivery procedures are considered a major factor in illegal discharges. The European Union addressed the problem with the Directive on Port Reception Facilities. Monitoring the effect of this EU Directive is required. A long term marine litter monitoring program based on plastic abundance in stomachs of a seabird, the Northern Fulmar, exists in the Netherlands. The Dutch monitoring approach using fulmars was further developed for international implementation by OSPAR as one of its 'Ecological Quality Objectives' (EcoQO's) for the North Sea. This report, in addition to Dutch monitoring data, also provides a North Sea wide EcoQO update to 2009