Status and future recommendations for recording and monitoring litter on the Arctic seafloor

Marine litter in the Arctic Basin is influenced by transport from Atlantic and Pacific waters. This highlights the need for harmonization of guidelines across regions. Monitoring can be used to assess temporal and spatial trends but can also be used to assess if environmental objectives are reached,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arctic Science
Main Authors: Grøsvik, Bjørn Einar, Buhl-Mortensen, Lene, Bergmann, Melanie, Booth, Andy M., Gomiero, Alessio, Galgani, Francois
Other Authors: Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Provence Azur Corse (LERPAC), Unité Littoral (LITTORAL), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2023
Subjects:
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]
Arctic
Pacific
Arctic Basin
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-04203919
https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2022-0017
Description
Summary:Marine litter in the Arctic Basin is influenced by transport from Atlantic and Pacific waters. This highlights the need for harmonization of guidelines across regions. Monitoring can be used to assess temporal and spatial trends but can also be used to assess if environmental objectives are reached, for example to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Seafloor monitoring by trawling needs substantial resources and specific sampling strategies to be sufficiently robust to demonstrate changes over time. Observation and visual evaluation in shallow and deep waters using towed camera systems, ROVs and submersibles are well suited for the Arctic environment. The use of imagery still needs to be adjusted through automation and image analyses, including deep learning approaches and data management, but will also serve to monitor areas with a rocky seafloor. We recommend developing a monitoring plan for seafloor litter by selecting representative sites for visual inspection that cover different depths and substrata in marine landscapes, and recording the litter collected or observed across all forms of seafloor sampling or imaging. We need better coverage and knowledge of status of seafloor litter for the whole Arctic and recommend initiatives to be taken for regions where such knowledge is lacking.

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