PRINCIPALS OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR LITTER MONITORING IN HARBOR WATERS

by Yana Yu. Blinovskaya

Researcher, Maritime State University named after Admiral G.I. Nevelskoy
50A Verkhneportovaya St., Vladivostok 690059, Russian Federation
blinovskaya@msun.ru

INTRODUCTION

According to statistical data approximately 80 per cent of the Earth’s population inhabits coastal zones (either directly on the coast or within a 100km band along it). Most of world’s biggest cities (of more than 1,000,000 residents) are located there. The same pattern is observed in leading industries distribution as well. All the said gives rise to a number of conflicts in the “man – environment” system, marine environment pollution with litter among them. This problem is one of the most serious ones in APR countries’ coastal zones. Various public and research organizations of the region are engaged in the study of coastal marine zone pollution and litter composition, actual and potential pollution sources are being revealed. However, there is no commonly accepted policy for coastal pollution evaluation yet, which causes wide-spread doubts as to the reliability of the data collected. This is of especial importance for marine litter monitoring principals in offshore zones.

Litter on the sea surface may be caused both by the shore-based (carryover from beaches) and by the sea-based sources (trans-border carryover, transport industry). About 6.5mln tons of litter are introduced into marine environment annually, a considerable portion being stable synthetic materials. As a consequence zones of high litter concentration suffer from environmental stresses.

Recent years have witnessed regular large-scale operations in cleaning sea coats from litter. For instance, 1993 international action (taken in 33 countries worldwide) resulted in cleaning 8,000km of shoreline. Almost 5.5mln articles dumped by men into the sea and then brought by the sea onto the shore were gathered. Of all the waste collected plastic articles accounted for 58.8 per cent, butts from cigarettes with filter (about 900,00pcs) accounted for 16.8 per cent, bottles and jars used for drinks, as well as their corks and lids accounted for 12.7 per cent. The fewest number (1 per cent) was accounted for by fishing gear and its components (fishing line, spoon-baits, net snatches, floats), which nevertheless present the highest danger to marine biota, as sea animals perish very soon once fouled by gear or lines.

Litter management is governed by the regulatory and legal framework of the present day. Thus, the Rules for Preventing Pollution by litter from Ships completely ban dumping of any type of plastics into the sea, including synthetic materials, but still considerable amounts of plastics show up in the marine environment. The Primorsky Krai coastal zone is no exception.

With due regard to all the above the Sea Protection Institute, Maritime State University named after Admiral G.I. Nevelskoy conducts assessment of coastal zone pollution in the Peter the Great Gulf and development of marine litter monitoring techniques. At the First International Marine Litter Workshop there was a presentation of techniques based on the assessment of qualitative and quantitative composition of litter in various geomorphologic sections of the beach, and of the results obtained from the coastal pollution study. The Workshop has demonstrated that despite the shared severity of the problem throughout NOWPAP region, the sources of pollutant introduction into the marine coastal environment of Japan, Korea, China, and Russia are quite different. In the south-western part of Primorsky Krai the “land originated” litter is prevailing. It is mainly coming from the enterprises and companies doing their business on the coast, as well as tourism, represented as a rule by unmanaged tourist camps. Litter of the sea origin is predominant in the southern part of the Khasan seashore. There wide sandy beaches are mostly polluted in the zones of max and medium setup, while litter is basically composed of the matter of overseas origin (e.g., consumer plastics). Thus one can make conclusions as to the litter origin and ways of coming. These may be, for instance, currents bringing litter from the open sea, or the Tumannaya River stream and its further spread by the currents over the sea water area. The analysis of the data obtained through the 1999-2005 research made it possible to arrive at the following conclusions:

1. it’s the beach supralittoral zone which is the most heavily polluted part of the coastal zone;

2. the coast is the more polluted the closer it is to the developed lands;

3. near-estuary areas are subject to extensive pollution;

4. smalls predominate in the litter structure.

As to the arrangements for marine litter monitoring in offshore zones, the first ever overall attempt to conduct it will be undertaken in the Peter the Great Gulf waters during summer, 2006 with the support of the Floating Lab (Sea Protection Institute) aboard motor sailing yacht “Rif”. The research in the course of the expedition is scheduled to be carried out by the Institute staff and students. Monitoring is based on the method of offshore zone pollution assessment tested in 2005. The method concept is as follows.

Regular-shaped grid has been selected as an operational area unit of mapping (Fig. 1), the cell frequency of which depends on the area of the zone under research. For instance, within the Amursky Bay waters it is practicable to use trigonometric grid with a cell’s side of 1km. The yacht design provides for a fine-meshed trawl net of 5m in breadth and 10m in length. The trawl net is thrown from the fore of the boat. Further course is shaped according to the predetermined grid supported by GPS fixes. Litter qualitative and quantitative characteristics are evaluated for every separate cell of the grid. Moreover, the quantity of litter of different size is calculated and the litter qualitative characteristics are recorded. Following the shoreline pollution evaluation policy the litter is graded as to its size. At that it is divided into three categories:

1. small-sized litter (articles up to 5cm);

2. medium-sized litter (sized from 5cm to 10cm);

3. large-sized litter (over 50cm).

Articles exceeding 1m are considered beyond the categories.
The data is inserted into the table, a fragment of which is presented below (Table 1).

Simultaneously photographic work and video filming take place making it possible to grasp a whole picture when conducting office operations. The expedition results achieved through monitoring are then recorded into the database. Results analysis and pollution sources identification will facilitate the development of recommendations to the administrating authorities and top the organizations carrying out their activities within the coastal zone.

Fig. 1. Litter Mapping Territorial System for south-western part of Primorsky Krai

Table 1. A Fragment of Litter Monitoring in Offshore Zone Table

Monitoring frequency is dependent of the extent of the waters littering. Thus, within the zones featuring intensive economic activities it seems expedient to carry out monitoring on a quarterly basis. Seasonal activities, for example recreational activities, imply that monitoring should be carried out twice: prior to the season commencement and upon its termination. These measures would contribute into the development of the best litter management strategy.

In order to obtain a more or less adequate picture of waters littering the measurements are conducted taking hydrodynamic parameters into account. For instance, surface currents allow predicting the major litter migration routes. Viewing the Peter the Great Gulf current chart (Fig. 2) one can assume that the litter will tend to travel from the south-western part of the Primorsky Krai shores along the coast of the Khasan District towards the Amursky Bay. The current setting from the head of the Amursky bay is no less considerable and may serve as a litter migration route as well. Therefore, the highest litter concentration in the offshore zones will be observed in the central part of the Amursky Bay where currents meet.

Wind amplitude characteristics allow determining the litter concentration zones. Accounting for these characteristics in the course of the first trial sailings facilitated the disclosure of 300-500m wide litter plumes out from the Razdolnaya River. At that in windless regions litter tends to be accumulated for a long period of time, gradually shifting towards the near-shore waters, such as Peschanaya Bight and Melkovodnaya Bight.

Fig. 2. Surface Currents in Peter the Great Gulf

At a varying distance offshore litter's qualitative and quantitative characteristics will vary. They are governed by the currents’ strength and rate, pollution sources distribution, and some other factors.

For the purpose of identifying areas of increased litter concentration it is necessary to make use of the remote sensing data. For instance, litter may be introduced with river runoffs, which plumes are clearly seen on the space images. Therefore, when planning monitoring activities a stage of reconnaissance operations on the basis of modeling is essential. Modeling is based on the deployment of geoinformation systems. GIS databases, containing cartographic and semantic information, provide for a general idea of litter distribution locations. Monitoring carried out on a regular basis will make it possible to identify qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Application of these methods will also allow identifying pollution sources, litter travel routes and areas of litter concentration.

The use of the Floating Lab, featuring a high degree of independence and performance while being comparatively inexpensive, seems to be the best way for monitoring not only in inner waters but in the offshore zones as well. Harbor services may be incorporated into the monitoring process in the inner waters. In particular, data collected from garbage disposal vessels, will provide for an opportunity of marine litter management within the Maritime Administration of Sea Ports’ responsibility zones. Ports and sea-going vessels, being one of the sources of littering, can thus be involved into the unified monitoring system.

All of the NOWPAP participating nations are involved into finding a solution to this problem to a varying degree, but all of them share the same idea: it is necessary not only to keep a check on litter within their own territories and waters, but to unite efforts with the neighbors in domains of management, technologies, and monitoring, which is of special significance with regard to transborder litter carryover. Thus, the solution to the problem rests not only on its perception and some theoretical and practical studies, but also on administrating authorities contribution expressed in terms of certain legislative, legal, and financial support. This will serve as a basis for monitoring on a regular basis. Interaction of research, production and administrative agencies will allow implementing the centralized marine litter management program.

Thus, the marine pollution analysis conducted in accordance with the uniform monitoring policy will make it possible to grasp an adequate picture of the examined area state and to give recommendations for waters cleanup operations and for the pollution prevention measures, whether pollution is caused by land-based sources or sea-based ones. Our belief is that the proposed monitoring concept holds much promise not only for the RF part of the NOWPAP region, but for the other parts. It will facilitate identification of marine litter travel routes, as well as pollution sources.

REFERENCES

1. Blinovskaya Ya. Yu., Sergeyev V.V. Beach area sanitary and engineering condition evaluation //
Problems of Geography at the Turn of XXI-th Century. Proceedings of All-Russia Scientific Conference, February 24 – 26, 2000. Tomsk: University of Tomsk, 2000. Pp. 21 – 22.

2. Marine Litter. An Analytical Overview. UNEP. 2005. 48 p.

3. First International Workshop on Marine Litter in the Northwest Pacific Region 14 – 15 November 2005. Ministry of the Environment of Japan. 2005. 166 p.