Out of sight, but not out of mind: Key issues regarding seafloor macrolitter monitoring
Following a number of meetings devoted to knowledge sharing, identification of key issues, and discussing the best ways to move forward, a wide international expert community is now able to provide recommendations regarding the monitoring of seafloor macrolitter through observation and imaging. As the seafloor constitutes a major sink for marine litter including plastics, it is important to acquire robust and extensive data on litter distribution, abundance, types and size ranges across marine habitats. This should be done through widely agreed, harmonised, and non-destructive methods encompassing advanced technologies. Training and capacity building are essential elements in this endeavour. Both new and legacy imagery are needed to establish baseline assessments and trends. Informing policy-making is indispensable for effective action through upstream and targeted measures, with seafloor macrolitter (and megalitter) being a vital part of the evidence base for global mitigation measures.
Authors
- Diva J. Amon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3044-107X)
- Carlos Dominguez‐Carrió (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0025-9376)
- Shoufeng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6034-5041)
- François Galgani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8770-6054)
- Lucy C. Woodall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7295-7184)
- Martina Pierdomenico (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1840-2801)
- Matías Valdenegro-Toro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5793-9498)
- Georg Hanke
- Christopher K. Pham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3556-0492)
- George Papatheodorou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3732-1900)
- Josie Russell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1152-8495)
- Анастасия Мартынова
- Lars Gutow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9017-0083)
- Jaime S. Davies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6902-0937)
- Artur Palacz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1634-7880)
- Michela Angiolillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5420-8868)
- Tim W. Nattkemper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7986-1158)
- Luis F. Ruiz-Orejón (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8529-2927)
- Maria Eugenia Molina Jack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5032-6338)
- Alessandro Cau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4082-7531)
- Iryna Мakarenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7895-2664)
- Miquel Canals (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5267-7601)
- R. Nakajima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2351-6176)
- Lonny Lundsten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7464-7443)
- Marta Ruiz
- Alessandra Giorgetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0914-4831)
- Christos Ioakeimidis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9932-7836)
- Viktor Komorin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4847-0496)
- Matteo Vinci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1238-4083)
- Lene Buhl‐Mortensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0530-7119)
- Marco Palma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8658-9511)
- Veerle A.I. Huvenne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7135-6360)
- Bjørn Einar Grøsvik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0794-2212)
- Xiujuan Shan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5701-9894)
- Melanie Bergmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5212-9808)
- Carlos Manuel Duarte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1213-1361)
- Maria Pogojeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4763-2422)
- Nian Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7345-9547)
- Guangpeng Liu
- Daoji Li
- Pierpaolo Consoli
Institutions
- Universidade dos Açores (PT)
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE)
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP)
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (US)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (GB)
- Ifremer (FR)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- University of Cagliari (IT)
- University of Patras (GR)
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- National Oceanography Centre (GB)
- Bielefeld University (DE)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- Mediterranean University (ME)
- Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (FI)
- European Commission (BE)
- Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (NO)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT)
- Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IT)
- Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (TR)
- Institut Català de Ciències del Clima (ES)
- Memorial Sisli Hospital (TR)
- China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CN)
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT)
- Reial Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona (ES)
- Ukrainian scientific center of Ecology of Sea (UA)
- Instytut Oceanologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk (PL)
- Institut de Ciències del Mar (ES)
- Universidad Jean-Jacques Rousseau (NI)
- National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (IT)
- Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CN)
- East China Normal University (CN)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
- University of Plymouth (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Marine Pollution Bulletin
- Published
- 2025-08-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118500
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.51
Funders
- Joint Research Centre