We'd like to say a huge thank you to OSPAR's marine litter group who met online this week. The group produced the thematic assessment, indicator assessments and feeder reports for the QSR 2023 featured in this week's newsletter.

They are also responsible for our 2nd Regional Action Plan (RAP) on marine litter which includes over 25 actions to tackle marine litter in addition to our first RAP.

A report of the meeting will be made available on the OSPAR website in due course.

Overall, marine litter levels are still high and further efforts are needed. There is a predominance of plastics among marine litter that is reported across all OSPAR Regions. Also, microplastics have been reported in sediments, surface waters, water column and in biota for the OSPAR Maritime Area at different concentrations. Single-use plastics and maritime-related litter are frequently found beach litter items at OSPAR level, with some important regional differences. Nonetheless, there are some positive signs: a decrease in the quantities of litter found on OSPAR beaches between 2015-2020 and in the floating litter in the North Sea between 2009-2018. When considered against the upward trend in plastic production and use in Europe over a similar period, this suggests that progress has been made on preventing plastics from entering the marine environment.

Beach litter levels remain high with plastic items predominating. Over the last six years, significant decreases in litter and plastic abundance have been observed at the OSPAR Maritime Area scale and in four OSPAR Regions. To substantially reduce marine litter, it is necessary to continue current efforts and take additional measures.

Seafloor litter is widespread across the area assessed; fisheries-related items and plastic materials predominate. The Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast had a higher probability of litter collected than both the Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas. In the Greater North Sea, the probability of litter collected has increased.

There is a high incidence of litter ingestion by sea turtles in the Bay of Biscay, Azores and Macaronesia, but with regional differences. Mean abundance of ingested plastics was 9,6, 16,3 and 16,3 pieces respectively. This new common indicator provides the baseline for further monitoring and evaluation of trends.

Currently 51% of beached North Sea fulmars have more than 0,1g of plastics in their stomachs, exceeding the Fulmar Threshold Value (Fulmar-TV) of 10%. This reflects the abundance of floating litter and provides an indication of harm. The amounts of ingested plastics have decreased significantly in the period 2009 to 2018.

This paper summarises the status and trends in waste water in relation to potential impacts in the OSPAR area, and measures taken to manage these impacts.

Waste water from domestic and commercial foul water and sewage and industrial sources can result in damaging impacts in the marine environment, particularly through emissions of nutrients, hazardous chemicals including oestrogens and antibiotics as well as litter, including microplastics.

This report deals with the production, use and disposal of plastics in the OSPAR area. It describes general measures relating to waste prevention and management, including some relating to marine litter. Feeder reports on shipping, aquaculture, fisheries, agriculture and waste water cover initiatives to address plastic waste from those sources.

Distribution of plastic litter in OSPAR waters is not covered in this feeder report; it is dealt with in a separate part of the Quality Status Report (QSR).