Abstract

Marine anthropogenic litter and microplastic pollution has long been recognised as a global environmental threat with ubiquitous distribution. These novel emergent pollutants have been highlighted by the 2012 Manila Declaration of the United Nations Environment Programme, by the 2017 G7 Leaders Summit and more recently by the National Geographic, who all have acknowledged its impacts and effects on "marine and coastal life, ecosystems and potentially human health".

The persistence of microplastics in the marine environment is a major cause for concern and despite recent efforts to map and estimate amounts, there is still a considerable lack of knowledge regarding its sources, distribution and effects on ecological functioning.  Literature on this topic shows that microplastics are not only restricted to surface waters, and have also been recorded in intertidal and benthic sediments; sea ice and aquatic fauna, ranging from zooplankton to cetaceans. 

The IMP.act - managIng for MicroPlastics: A baseline to inform poliCy sTakeholders - project aims to develop a long-term management plan using an ecosystem-based approach on Galway Bay and its environs, on the West of Ireland. This management plan intends to establish a working framework dedicated to marine anthropogenic litter and microplastic pollution, according to descriptor 10 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 56/CE/2008) and sampling focuses on microplastics in several habitats including the benthos (intertidal and subtidal) and a variety of marine fauna from different environmental compartments (surface waters, water columns and sediment). 

Sources of microplastics will be identified through monitoring several of the major inputs from both outside and within the Bay itself including the influence of the River Corrib.

A model of the ecosystem will be developed based on previously collected data and new field data, focused on hotspots of accumulation and distribution patterns of microplastics within the bay. 

The resulting model can be used as a management tool to inform both managers and policy makers about potential microplastic inputs and accumulation areas in Galway Bay, while serving as a potential tool to promote and/or create mitigation strategies to minimise the impacts of microplastics in this area.

This baseline data will directly contribute to the 10th descriptor of the MSFD and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4:Quality Education and Goal 14: Life Below Water.