Out of sight, but not out of mind: Key issues regarding seafloor macrolitter monitoring

Hanke, Georg; Canals, Miquel; Nakajima, Ryota; Bergmann, Melanie; Galgani, Francois; Li, Daoji; Papatheodorou, George; Pham, Christopher Kim; Amon, Diva J.; Angiolillo, Michela; Buhl-Mortensen, Lene; Cau, Alessandro; Consoli, Pierpaolo; Davies, Jaime Selina; Dominguez-Carrió, Carlos; Duarte, Carlos M.; Giorgetti, Alessandra; Grøsvik, Bjørn Einar; Gutow, Lars; Huvenne, Veerle A.I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7135-6360; Ioakeimidis, Christos; Komorin, Viktor; Liu, Guangpeng; Lundsten, Lonny; Makarenko, Iryna; Martynova, Anastasiia; Jack, Maria Eugenia Molina; Nattkemper, Tim W.; Palacz, Artur P.; Palma, Marco; Pierdomenico, Martina; Pogojeva, Maria; Ruiz, Marta; Ruiz-Orejón, Luis F.; Russell, Josie; Shan, Xiujuan; Valdenegro-Toro, Matias; Vinci, Matteo; Wei, Nian; Woodall, Lucy C.; Zhang, Shoufeng. 2025 Out of sight, but not out of mind: Key issues regarding seafloor macrolitter monitoring. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 221. 118500. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118500

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Text © 2025 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 1-s2.0-S0025326X25009750-main.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (594kB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118500
ISSN:	0025326X
Additional Keywords:	Marine litter, Marine debris, Seafloor macrolitter, Marine plastic pollution, Imagery, Ocean monitoring
NORA Subject Terms:	Marine Sciences
Date made live:	03 Sep 2025 14:38 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/540173

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