PAME Work Plan

This assessment on the environmental state of the Gulf of Finland in 1996 – 2014 was produced by together over 100 scientists from Estonia, Finland, and Russia in the context of the Gulf of Finland Year 2014. The thematic year aimed at – and succeeded in – giving additional value for the protection and restoration of the Gulf of Finland environment by enhancing political presence and interaction between the private sector, decision-makers, and citizens.

This assessment concentrates on the past development and the current state of the Gulf of Finland environment and pressures affecting it. The themes include climate in the Gulf of Finland area, Gulf of Finland physics, geology and geodiversity, eutrophication, hazardous substances, biodiversity, fishes and fisheries, non- indigenous species, marine litter, underwater soundscape, maritime traffic and its safety, and environmental valuation. Each chapter also delivers expert opinions and recommendations for the future.

Microplastics are widely spread in the environ- ment, which along with still increasing production have aroused concern of their impacts on environmental health. The objective of this study is to quantify the number and mass of two most common textile fibers discharged from sequential machine washings to sewers. The number and mass of microfibers released from polyester and cotton textiles in the first wash varied in the range 2.1 × 105 to 1.3 × 107 and 0.12 to 0.33% w/w, respectively. Amounts of released microfibers showed a decreasing trend in sequential washes. The annual emission of polyester and cotton microfibers from household washing machines was estimated to be 154,000 (1.0 × 1014) and 411,000 kg (4.9 × 1014) in Finland (population 5.5 × 106). Due to the high emission values and sorption capacities, the polyester and cotton microfibers may play an important role in the transport and fate of chemical pollutants in the aquatic environment.

Plastic debris has now become the most serious problem affecting the marine environment, not only for coastal areas of developing countries that lack appropriate waste management infrastructures, but also for the world’s oceans as a whole because slowly degrading large plastic items generate microplastic (particles smaller than 1 to 5 mm) particles which spread over long distances by wind-driven ocean surface layer circulation.

Growing scientific and public awareness is fuelling global concern regarding the impact of plastic ingested by marine species and the accumulation of plastics in coastal and remote areas of oceans (in trash vortexes or gyres). Private and public initiatives, such as the volunteer beach cleanups and campaigns for removing beach debris, represent the major source of information concerning the amounts and types of marine litter. The regular cleaning by municipalities and public authorities to maintain beaches attractive to tourists engenders major economic costs.

It is now well recognized that drifting plastic debris has several adverse effects on marine species and ecosystems. However, there is still a lack of precise knowledge about the quantity, sources, transport, accumulation and fate of plastics in the oceans. The most visible and disturbing impact of marine plastic pollution is the ingestion, suffocation and entanglement of hundreds of marine species. Floating plastics, which are presently the most abundant items of marine litter, also contribute considerably to the transport of non-indigenous (alien) marine species thereby threatening marine biodiversity and the food web. These floating particles accumulate toxic pollutants on their surface during their long-residence time in polluted seawater and can therefore represent a concentrated source of environmental pollution, or serve as a vector for toxic pollutants that accumulate in the food webs (bio-accumulation of contaminants).

The globally emerging environmental, economic and health risks related to plastic pollution require immediate international attention. It is time to take regional- and global-level actions against the entry of plastics into the ocean. There is also an urgent need to monitor the type and quantity of marine plastics using standardized methodologies as well as to better assess the impacts of plastic pollution on marine environments, species and ecosystems. Environmental monitoring data will help to set up local and global action programmes that need to be effective from a long-term perspective so as to reduce the entry of marine plastic litter and their redistribution within the world’s oceans.

Fulmars found dead on the Dutch coast, and fulmars collectedin arctic colonies have considerable quantities of plastic in their stomachs. The average number of plastic items ingested is almost twelve in Dutch fulmars, and four to five in arctic fulmars. User-plastics and industrial plastics are about equally abundant. Ingestion of user-plastics suggests a stronger impact of toxic chemicals from plastics than generally assumed.

The abundance of plastics in stomachs of northern fulmars from the North Sea is used in the OSPAR Ecological Quality Objective (EcoQO) for marine litter. The preliminary EcoQO defines acceptable ecological quality as the situation where no more than 10% of fulmars exceed a critical level of 0.1 g of plastic in the stomach. During 2003e2007, 95% of 1295 fulmars sampled in the North Sea had plastic in the stomach (on average 35 pieces weighing 0.31 g) and the critical level of 0.1 g of plastic was exceeded by 58% of birds, with regional variations ranging from 48 to 78%. Long term data for the Netherlands since the 1980s show a decrease of industrial, but an increase of user plastics, with shipping and fisheries as the main sources. The EcoQO is now also used as an indicator for Good Environmental Status in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Plastics are a major source of global marine pollution. Once plastic particles reach the marine environment, wind and global ocean currents can spread them around the world. As a result, plastics are dispersed across all oceans, and can be found in remote locations such as the Arctic, Southern Ocean and deep oceans1,2. Ocean plastic pollution is an alarming issue due to
its persistence, complexity, steady growth and the pervasive impacts it has on all aspects of ecosystems. The problem requires holistic environmental remediation solutions at a global scale.

Ocean plastic pollution has received increased attention in recent years. There have been prominent advances in primary research as well as amendments in EU legislation, notably the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. High-level statements such as the Berlin declaration in 20133 and the G7 Leaders’ statement in 20154 singled out ocean plastic pollution, helping to push this issue up the international agenda. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) leads a programme on marine litter, and is supported by, amongst others, the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP).

This paper provides a summary of the scientific knowledge to date on the nature of the ocean plastic pollution challenge, current legislation and solutions from a UK perspective, and some reflections on what actions are needed now.

Marine plastic pollution has been a growing concern for decades. Single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads) are a significant source of this pollution. Although research outlining environmental, social, and economic impacts of marine plastic pollution is growing, few studies have examined policy and legislative tools to reduce plastic pollution, particularly single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads). This paper reviews current international market-based strategies and policies to reduce plastic bags and microbeads. While policies to reduce microbeads began in 2014, interventions for plastic bags began much earlier in 1991. However, few studies have documented or measured the effectiveness of these reduction strategies. Recommendations to further reduce single-use plastic marine pollution include: (i) research to evaluate effectiveness of bans and levies to ensure policies are having positive impacts on marine environments; and (ii) education and outreach to reduce consumption of plastic bags and microbeads at source.