Leading and learning in the fight against marine litter

Cooperating to reduce pollution in the Barents Sea

By GRID-Arendal

October 5^th, 2020

In October 2020, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) “Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)” on Marine Litter was made fully available in Russian for the first time, with a special focus on the Barents Sea. The 12-week course has been translated as part of the collaboration between the Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU), Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (KSC RAS), UNEP, Open University of Netherlands, UArctic and GRID-Arendal, funded by the Ministry of Environment and Climate of Norway.

The course consisted of two leadership track modules and six expert track modules now available in 10 different languages.

"We have included specific case studies from the Barents Sea region in the Russian MOOC highlighting ongoing efforts in combatting marine litter. However, we need to raise awareness and develop a comprehensive action plan in which all sectors and stakeholders are included to combat marine litter”, says Marina Kalinina, Advisor to the NArFU Rector for International Cooperation and UArctic Vice President Interregional Cooperation. She emphasized the significant role of cross-border cooperation and efforts of international research teams, NGOs, and volunteers to tackle the issue of marine litter regionally and globally.

Why is the Barents Sea a focal point in the fight against marine litter?

The Barents Sea has been found to be the most polluted Arctic Sea along the Northern Sea route (Тятте, А., 2019). This is what the TransArktika-2019 expedition reported from its 5,500-kilometre-long trip along the Russian Arctic coast from the Barents Sea to the Sea of Okhotsk. For 90 days, the expedition filtered 75,000 litres of water in order to assess the level of pollution in the Russian Arctic (Тятте, А., 2019). The surface water, up to 4.5 meters deep, has been found to be contaminated with pesticides and other toxic substances. According to scientists, these stem from plastics.

First stage of the expedition route of the R/V "AkademikTryoshnikov" from March 21 to May 28, 2019. (Frolov et al. 2019).

How does marine litter end up in the Barents Sea?

Plastics take many pathways to reach the sea. Sometimes, they originate from land-based sources. This is often due to poor waste management, with plastic packaging and other consumer items carried by wind and rivers to the sea. Other times, this pollution comes directly from the sea. Beach clean-up efforts in the Svalbard region have shown that fishing activities may account for around 80 per cent of plastic waste (Bergman, 2017). Other waste also stems from maritime transport. Additionally, scientists have found that ocean currents, particularly the thermohaline circulation, are carrying marine litter through the Atlantic and all the way up to the Arctic (A. Cózar et al., 2017). The Barents Sea seems to be one of the traps for this debris, storing around 79,000 tons of plastics, according to a study conducted in the south of Svalbard (Buhl-Mortensen and Buhl-Mortensen, 2017).

Tourists cleaning the shores on Amsterdamøya, Svalbard. Photo: Peter Prokosch, GRID-Arendal.

Transnational clean-ups and field studies to tackle the problem

Various initiatives have already begun, both on the Russian and Norwegian sides, to address the problem among the population, fishermen, and decision makers. The Norwegian Environmental Center NIBIO Svanhovd's “Northern Calotte Phenology” project has been promoting cooperation since 2016, engaging schools from East Finnmark in Norway and from Russia's Murmansk region in beach clean-ups. Five Norwegian schools and 11 Russian schools are involved in these cultural exchanges every year, focusing on different ecological issues. In 2016, the coastal clean-ups were conducted in the areas surrounding the Norwegian city of Vardø, while in 2017 they were focused along Kola Bay in Russia. The schools collected more than 13 cubic meters of waste.

These clean-ups not only reduce the amount of marine litter present, but they also help to identify the sources of waste and the causes for its presence on the beach. The process of identification can help to determine what the region lacks in terms of policy and population awareness, leading to new decisions in waste management, environmental standards, fishing norms, and awareness campaigns.

Leading and learning in the fight against marine litter

Universities have also been involved in studying marine litter in the Russian Arctic through field work in the Barents Sea. Since 2012, NArFU has been conducting annual “Arctic Floating University” scientific and educational expeditions monitoring plastic pollution in the open sea and along the Barents Sea coast. Over 600 people took part in 12 expeditions, including 260 students from partner universities from all over the world. These expeditions involved analysing macro and micro particles, investigating their provenance, and assessing the damage they inflict on the environment.

As part of the Russian federal program “Arctic Clean-up”, a special focus was put on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, where between 4 million and 12 million barrels of fuel and lubricants were abandoned on the sites of old military bases and small working settlements. The archipelago is one of the most contaminated areas of the Arctic. Since 2017, scientists have been involved through the “Arctic Floating University” and clean-ups to determine the extent of environmental damage and identify the impact of fuels and lubricants on the soil. In 2020, a new project has been launched to reconstruct the ecosystem on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago.

Scrap metal debris on Hayes Island, Franz Josef Land archipelago. Photo: D. Mennikov

"The purpose of these expeditions is to raise a new generation of researchers who take up fieldwork, study the Arctic across disciplines, understand the changes happening in this region and the fragile nature of the existing ecosystem, and then bring this accumulated knowledge back to the university", explains Marina Kalinina.

Research vessel "Professor Molchanov" for the Floating Arctic University. Photo: A. Todorov

Cooperation focused on economic sectors involved in pollution

The Norwegian-Russian cooperation against marine litter has focused primarily on the fishing sectors of the two countries, both quite active in the Barents Sea.

In 2017, the Fishing Industry Union of the North, the Union of Fishermen of Norway, and the Association of Coastal Fisheries and Farmers from Murmansk released a joint statement, agreeing to work together towards preventing pollution in the Barents Sea. The statement was a result of the workshop "Marine Litter: Sources, consequences and decisions" hosted by the Norwegian Consulate General in Murmansk with about 100 participants from Russia and Norway. This initiative originated from the "Marine Plastic Pollution in the Arctic: Origin, status, costs and incentives for prevention" (MARP) project led by NORCE (2016-2018) and implemented in cooperation with the Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute, Akvaplan Niva, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and KSC RAS.

Ludmila Ivanova, Senior Researcher at KSC RAS, explains the need to involve fishing companies in the dialogue on marine litter – assessing their awareness of the problem and getting their recommendations for prevention. This was the reason for the survey conducted within the RE-D-USE project campaign “New knowledge for reduction and utilization of marine waste from fisheries”, led by the Nordland Research Institute within the Arctic 2030 programme, funded by the Ministry for Climate and Environment of Norway (2017-2019).

The survey results show that fishermen desire to participate in solving the problem at the local level and in a wider international context. In general, this is in line with the global trend of turning the problem of plastic pollution into a promising business for recycling waste and obtaining useful products. At the same time, there is an obvious need for information on local conditions, such as stakeholders, availability of infrastructure, categories of marine litter, and alternatives for its transportation.

Fishing boats in the harbour in Lofoten, Norway. Photo: Lawrence Hislop, GRID-Arendal.

Promoting initiatives in Russia and Norway to further cooperation

In 2018, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology organized a Russian-Norwegian seminar on marine pollution in Moscow. The seminar highlighted the existing knowledge gaps of relevant stakeholders in regard to marine litter, to address these issues in the future. A follow-up seminar is to take place in Norway, but is currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sources & Partners

Bergmann, M., B. Lutz, M. B. Tekman, L. Gutow, Citizen scientists reveal: Marine litter pollutes Arctic beaches and affects wild life. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 125, 535–540 (2017).

Buhl-Mortensen L., Buhl-Mortensen P. Marine litter in the Nordic Seas: Distribution composition and abundance. Marine Pollution Bulletin 2017.

Cózar, A., E. Martí, C. M. Duarte, J. García-de-Lomas, E. van Sebille, T. J. Ballatore, V. M. Eguíluz, J. I. González-Gordillo, M. L. Pedrotti, F. Echevarría, R. Troublè, X. Irigoien, The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation. Sci. Adv. 3, e1600582 (2017).

Frolov, I. et al. (2019). Transarktika-2019: winter expedition in the Arctic Ocean on the R/V “Akademik Tryoshnikov”. Arctic and Antarctic Research. 65. 255-274. 10.30758/0555-2648-2019-65-3-255-274.

Trellevik, A. (2019). Scientists Found Microplastics Along the Entire Northern Sea Route. Available at: https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/scientists-found-microplastics-along-entire-northern-sea-route

Тятте, А., (2019). Пластик пошел Северным морским путем. Available at: https://plus-one.ru/ecology/plastik-poshel-severnym-morskim-putem

A. Cózar, E. Martí, C. M. Duarte, J. García-de-Lomas, E. van Sebille, T. J. Ballatore, V. M. Eguíluz, J. I. González-Gordillo, M. L. Pedrotti, F. Echevarría, R. Troublè, X. Irigoien, (2017). The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation. Sci. Adv. 3, e1600582

Vangelsten, B. V., Olsen, J., Haarr, M. L., Havas,V., Normann, A. K., Ivanova, L., Sanli, E. (2019). New knowledge for reduction and utilization of marine waste from fisheries (RE-D-USE). Available at: http://www.nordlandsforskning.no/getfile.php/1327647-1571136023/Dokumenter/Rapporter/2019/20191015-RE-D-USE%20FinalReport.pdf.

Falk-Andersson, J. (2019). A new Arctic project against marine plastic pollution. Available at: http://cnogear.org/news/english/a-new-artic-project-against-marine-plastic-pollution.

Carlsen, J. and Hagen, G. (2020). Waste Management and sustainability – Plastics in the Ocean. Available at: https://www.arcticfrontiers.com/young/arctic-frontiers-young-ambassadors/waste-management-and-sustainability-plastics-in-the-ocean/.

Saburov, A. and Minchuk, O. (2020). Арктический плавучий университет. Available at: https://narfu.ru/science/expeditions/floating_university/.

Рыбный Мурман . (2017). Пластик в море. Available at: http://www.рыбныймурман.рф/2017/11/16/plastik-v-more/.

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Co-funded by GRID-Arendal and the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Barents Sea Leadership Training on Marine Litter is being built on the Marine Litter UN Environment Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Targeting decision makers at national, regional, and local levels, the Barents Sea Leadership Training on Marine Litter project designs and implements Leadership Training Workshops in cooperation with the Northern (Arctic) Federal University in Arkhangelsk (NArFU) and the Kola Science Centre of RAS in order to raise awareness and stimulate action plans for combatting marine litter.