Description: Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases on the seafloor over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists, which participated in sailing cruises around Svalbard in 2016. Litter quantities on six beaches varied from 9 - 524 g m-2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for 〉 80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife including polar bears (Ursus maritimus), which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. Similar programmes could be adopted in other poorly sampled areas of the world to increase our knowledge base and to stimulate a sense of connectedness with the environment visited.

Description: Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases on the seafloor over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists, which participated in sailing cruises around Svalbard in 2016. Litter quantities on six beaches varied from 9 - 524 g m-2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for 〉 80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife including polar bears (Ursus maritimus), which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. Similar programmes could be adopted in other poorly sampled areas of the world to increase our knowledge base and to stimulate a sense of connectedness with the environment visited.

Description: Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists on six beaches of Svalbard. Litter quantities recorded by cruise tourists varied from 9-524 g m-2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for 〉80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife, which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. The results stress once more that current legislative frameworks are insufficient to tackle the pollution of Arctic ecosystems.

Description: 〈jats:p〉Plastic debris is ubiquitous in all ecosystems and has even reached locations that humans will hardly reach such as the deep ocean floor and the atmosphere. Research has highlighted that plastic debris is now pervasive even in remote Arctic regions. While modeling projections indicated local sources and long-distance transport as causes, empirical data about its origin and sources are scarce. Data collected by citizen scientists can increase the scale of observations, especially in such remote regions. Here, we report abundance and composition data of marine debris collected by citizen scientists on 14 remote Arctic beaches on the Spitsbergen archipelago. In addition, citizen scientists collected three large, industrial sized canvas bags (hereafter: big packs), filled with beached debris, of which composition, sources and origin were determined. A total debris mass of 1,620 kg was collected on about 38,000 m〈jats:sup〉2〈/jats:sup〉 (total mean = 41.83 g m〈jats:sup〉-2〈/jats:sup〉, SEM = ± 31.62). In terms of abundance, 23,000 pieces of debris were collected on 25,500 m〈jats:sup〉2〈/jats:sup〉 (total mean = 0.37 items of debris m〈jats:sup〉-2〈/jats:sup〉, SEM = ± 0.17). Although most items were plastic in both abundance and mass, fisheries waste, such as nets, rope, and large containers, dominated in mass (87%), and general plastics, such as packaging and plastic articles, dominated in abundance (80%). Fisheries-related debris points to local sea-based sources from vessels operating in the Arctic and nearby. General plastics could point to both land- and ship based sources, as household items are also used on ships and debris can be transported to the north 〈jats:italic〉via〈/jats:italic〉 the oceans current. Overall, 1% of the items (206 out of 14,707 pieces) collected in two big packs (2017 and 2021), bore imprints or labels allowing an analysis of their origin. If the categories ‘global’ and ‘English language’ were excluded, most of identifiable items originated from Arctic states (65%), especially from Russia (32%) and Norway (16%). But almost a third of the items (30%) was of European provenance, especially from Germany (8%). Five percent originated from more distant sources (e.g. USA, China, Korea, Brazil). Global measures such as an efficient and legally binding plastic treaty with improved upstream measures and waste management are urgently needed, to lower the amount of plastic entering our environments and in turn lifting the pressure on the Arctic region and its sensitive biota.〈/jats:p〉

Description: Recent research has highlighted that marine debris has become pervasive in Arctic waters with an increasing trend on the seafloor. Nevertheless, since many areas are difficult to access, our knowledge remains scarce. Citizen science has the potential to increase the spatial and temporal scale of knowledge of plastic pollution, especially in under-sampled remote areas. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters quite well. Here, we present a framework that enabled us to assess beached and floating debris as well as microplastic pollution in beach sediment and snow samples from Svalbard and is embedded into the work of the FRAM Pollution Observatory. This talk will focus on surveys conducted during 15 beach clean-ups conducted by citizen scientists, which participated in sailing cruises around Svalbard between 2016-2021. In addition, we present data from more detailed analyses on the composition, origin, and potential sources of the debris based on the examination of three samples sent to the institute. In total 1,620 kg of debris was collected on 38,000 m2 (mean = 41.8 g m-2) and 23,000 debris items were collected on 25,500 m2 (mean = 0.37 items m-2). Although most debris was plastic in both abundance and mass, fisheries-related items such as nets, rope and large containers, dominated in mass (87%) and general plastics, such as packaging and plastic articles, dominated in abundance (80%). Fishery-related items point to sea-based sources, whereas the origin of general plastic is difficult to determine with certainty. The country of origin could be determined for ~3% of the 225 items, which still bore labels or imprints. Most items stem from nearby Arctic countries (local sources), such as Norway, Russia, Denmark (45%) and Atlantic countries, which were mostly European (22%). 4% originated from more distant sources (USA, Brazil, China, etc.). Our data point to local and distant sources. They show that mitigation in form of a binding global plastic treaty with better waste management and upstream measures is urgently needed, to lower the amount of plastic entering our oceans and in turn lifting the pressure on the Arctic region and its sensitive biota.