| Summary: | North Sea Ministers at the Bergen Conference in 2002 decided that monitoring of marine plastic litter in stomachs of seabirds should become one of the 'Ecological Quality Objectives for the North Sea (EcoQO's)'. The task of implementation was delegated to OSPAR, which covers the wider northeast Atlantic Ocean. OSPAR has requested to expand Dutch studies using the Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) as a marine litter monitor to the wider North Sea, considering such a project as a pilot study for the introduction of a Fulmar-Litter-EcoQO in the wider OSPAR area. A North Sea international study of Fulmar stomach contents became possible as a part of the 'Save the North Sea (SNS)' project. SNS is an international and interdisciplinary initiative to reduce marine litter which received cofunding from EU Interreg IIIB program for the North Sea over the years 2002-2004. The Fulmar is used as the symbol of the SNS campaign. The SNS Fulmar study established a research network in all countries around the North Sea. Combined results from Dutch long-term work and the 2002-2004 North Sea study show the Fulmar to be a sensitive and robust monitoring tool for spatial and temporal trends in the marine litter situation that will be of use for EcoQO implementation by OSPAR and the European Marine Strategy
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