The quest for seafloor macrolitter: A critical review of background knowledge, current methods and future prospects

The seafloor covers some 70% of the Earth’s surface and has been recognized as a major sink for marine litter. Still, litter on the seafloor is the least investigated fraction of marine litter, which is not surprising given the deep-sea remains the least explored ecosystem compartment. Although marine litter is considered a major threat for the oceans, monitoring frameworks are still being set-up. This paper reviews current knowledge and methods, identifies existing needs and points to future developments that are required to address the seafloor macrolitter issue. It conveys background knowledge and the views and thoughts of scientific experts on marine litter, the seafloor, deep-sea monitoring techniques and ocean modeling. Knowledge gaps that need to be tackled, data needs for modeling or the comparability and harmonization of data are discussed in the paper. It also addresses how research on seafloor macrolitter can assist international protection frameworks to prioritize efforts and measures against marine litter and its deleterious impacts.

CANALS Miquel;  PHAM Christopher;  BERGMANN Melanie;  GUTOW Lars;  HANKE Georg;  VAN SEBILLE Erik;  ANGIOLILLO Michela;  BUHL-MORTENSEN Lene;  CAU Alessandro;  IOAKEIMIDIS Christos;  KAMMANN Ulrike;  LUNDSTEN Lonny;  PAPATHEODOROU George;  PURSER Autun;  SANCHEZ-VIDAL Anna;  SCHULZ Marcus;  VINCI Matteo;  CHIBA Sanae;  GALGANI Francois;  LANGENKÄMPER Daniel;  MÖLLER Tiia;  NATTKEMPER Tim W.;  RUIZ Marta;  SUIKKANEN Sanna;  WOODALL Lucy;  FAKIRIS Elias;  MOLINA JACK Maria Eugenia;  GIORGETTI Alessandra; 

2021-01-21

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

JRC121525

1748-9326 (online),   

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abc6d4,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC121525,   

10.1088/1748-9326/abc6d4 (online),