Fulmar Litter EcoQO Monitoring in the Netherlands 1979 - 2007 in relation to EU Directive 2000/59/EC on Port Reception Facilities

Operational and cargo related wastes from ships are an important source of litter in the marine environment in the southern North Sea and cause serious economical and ecological damage. Marine litter monitoring program using plastic abundance in stomachs of a seabird, the Northern Fulmar, was already operational in The Netherlands and was further developed also for international implementation by OSPAR as one of the 'Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs)' for the North Sea (OSPAR 2008). Fulmars are purely oceanic foragers, ingest all sorts of litter from the sea surface, and do not regurgitate poorly degrading diet components, but slowly wear these down in the stomach. Accumulated hard plastic items in stomachs of beached Fulmars thus integrate marine litter levels encountered over a number of weeks in a particular area.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	van Franeker, J.A., Meijboom, A., de Jong, M.L., Verdaat, J.P.
Format:	External research report biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	IMARES
Subjects:	adverse effects, fulmarus, monitoring, sea birds, ships, wastes, water pollution, afval, nadelige gevolgen, schepen, waterverontreiniging, zeevogels,
Online Access:	https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/fulmar-litter-ecoqo-monitoring-in-the-netherlands-1979-2007-in-re
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