The beaches in the monitoring programme BM-1 in this catchment area are: Agiti (Guipúzcoa), Meñacacoz (Bizcea), Oyambre (Cantabria), Vega (Asturias), Covas (Lugo), Baldaio and O Rostro (A Coruña), A Lanzada and Rhodes (Pontevedra). A total of 205 sampling campaigns have been carried out. Abundance: In the 205 campaigns, a total count of 81.187 objects was recorded, with an average object abundance per beach and campaign of 396. Classification by category: Plastic items are the most common (78.1 %) and, to a lesser extent, paper/cardboard (6.2 %), health/hygiene and wood (2.6 %). The proportion obtained from paper/board is due to the abundance of cigarette filters that are to be classified in this category. Most commonly found objects: The most common objects were non-identifiable plastic items ranging from 0 to 2.5 cm in size and those of a larger size, between 2,5 and 50 cm (IDs 117 and 46), reaching the sum of both, amounting to 34.4 % of the total. The cabates, twine or twine with a diameter of less than 1 cm (ID 32) constitute 12.3 %, followed by lids and plastic caps (ID 15), cigarette buds (ID 64) and cotton buds (ID 98) that represent 7.4 %, 5.2 % and 5.0 %. Origin of marine litter: Marine litter of unknown origin or corresponding to more than one source is 54 %. 19 % are tourism (19 %) and shipping or shipping activities (17 %), much lower the impact of waste from health facilities (6 %) or waste from fishing activities (4 %). Trend in the abundance of the main marine litter categories: Plastics are likely to be growing. Trend of abundance of most common objects: The non-identifiable plastic fragments between 0 and 2.5 cm show a clear increasing trend. Also, synthetic foams show a probably growing trend. The abundance of plastic beverage bottles and bottles show a likely decreasing trend. The lids, caps and corchos of plastic, as well as plastic cords or cords with a diameter of more than 1 cm show a stable trend. The remaining objects of top X do not show a clear trend. The total abundance of marine litter on beaches does not show a clear trend, which can be considered not to be on the increase and is similar to a stable outcome.

Litter on the seabed was collected through bottom hauls during six oceanographic demersal seasons (ICES IBTSSWG) which were carried out by all autumn seasons between 2007 and 2012 on the north coast of Spain. Broken tow has been carried out on the slope and on the continental shelf. The distribution of deep-sea litter on the continental shelf of the North Atlantic Ocean on the Iberian Peninsula showed a high variability in the period between 2007 and 2012. In this period, the weight density for marine litter has decreased significantly, with the year that the density was found to be higher on 2007 (2.9 kg/km²) and the lower of 2011 (0.6 kg/km²). In the area under review, the areas with the highest concentrations were the Baixas Rías Baixas (38,4 items/km²) and the Cantabrian Sea (38,8 items/km²), although these differences were not statistically significant. The type of the most abundant marine litter and the fund were plastic (71.8 %), and as in the case of total refuse, it has tended to decline over the period of study. In contrast, the abundance of fisheries articles does not seem to decrease, accounting for 27 % of all litter collected.

(...) In this context, the free float has been monitored on the northern North Atlantic platform of the North Atlantic demarcation between 2007 and 2017, as part of the objectives of the annual collection of Peacus’s annualcollection by the IEO during the spring transition to winter (April). These campaigns, co-financed by the EU data collection framework, are used to provide an index of abundance of small pelagic species that are independent of the fishery using acoustic methods. In addition, environmental information and data on the abundance and distribution of the main predators are obtained. The observers who collect information on top predators also record data on floating floating floating (position, abundance, composition, etc.) that they find. The average number of floating litter collected, integrated in space and time off, was 0,71 ± 0,04 items km-2. The densities in the rías and the Western Cantabrian Sea were relatively low, with values lower than 0,8 in km-2. These figures contrast with the average density of the floating litre one litre floating in the Western Cantabrian Sea, which reached 2.0 t-km-2. These two situations include intermediate values (around 1.3 m-2 elements) of floating litter in the Rías Baixas and the Central Cantabrian Sea. Analysis of the floating litter composition showed that most of the items were made of plastic (40.8 %), the second largest material being wood, which accounted for approximately 2 % of floating waste.

A laboratory quantification of the number of microplastic particles contained in the most surface sandal of the beaches where it is collected on the line of the last fishing trip 5 within a frame of 0,5 x 0.5 m. its concentration expressed as a number of particles per kg of sand and particles per m² is calculated. Three beaches have been sampled. The average concentration obtained for the beaches of this Demarcación marina has been 14,8 particles/kg of sand, which is equivalent to 141,4 particles/m². The beach with the highest average concentration in the period 2016-2018 was Rhodes (23,4 particles/kg) and the lowest was that of Oyambre (7,4 particles/kg). Almost all of the microplastic particles accounted for in the north Atlantic district were smaller than 1 mm, the most frequent being smaller than 200 µm. Most of the particles accounted for are taken into account with fragments (61.2 %) or fibres or filaments (25.4 %), the rest being very low particles. Pre-production pellets are rather infrequent on the sampled beaches and account for 5.6 % of the total

MPs) and 208 macro particulates (> 5 mm

An analysis of microplastics in sediments from this demarcation has been carried out as an impact on the BABSEMAN projects. During the SICON-16 campaign, sediments were collected along the whole coastline of this area, which is still being analysed. These data will be the baseline in terms of microplastic pollution as there are no other values for this variable. The sediments of the Vigo estuary and an adjacent platform have been treated in detail as part of a doctoral thesis. A research article has been concluded as a result of this work. Microplastics were first determined in sediments in the Ría de Vigo. The area of study, Ría de Vigo, is known for its fishing activity and shellfish harvesting. The sediment samples were collected by means of a dredging box and the selected stations were exposed to different anthropogenic activities or pressures (fishing port, industrial port, UWWTP,...). The methodology is based on a density separation followed by examination under the stereo-microscope to identify the shape, colour and size of plastics. The results showed a spatial gradient along the estuary. The average concentration of PM microplastics was 101,7 ± 128,1 particulate/kg sediment (DW). The principal parliamentarians types of microplastics were fibres (75 %) and fragments (11 %). The predominant colours were transparent (63 %), blue (21 %) and toasted (6 %) and the average size was 1,24 ± 2.24 mm. It was found that there was no correlation between the TOC% and the concentration of PMSs in this area.

Microplastics were identified in all analysed samples, an average of 12 elements per stomach, although the abundance varied widely from one stomach to another.

The microplastic concentration observed in each mussel ranged from 0 to 12,69 microplastics/g PF, averaging 2,87 ± 2,81 microplastics/g PF

Cups, cups, cups of plastic

This monitoring programme has not yet delivered results.

Based on the work carried out in the CLANATLANTIC project, statistics were drawn up for the collection of information for bird-watchers and marine mammals of floating waste. In 2018 the first sampling was carried out using this methodology in the Gulf of Cádiz in collaboration with observers from the University of Cádiz.

A laboratory quantification of the number of microplastic particles contained in the most surface sandal of the beaches where it is collected on the line of the last fishing trip 5 within a frame of 0,5 x 0.5 m. its concentration expressed as a number of particles per kg of sand and particles per m² is calculated. 1 beach has been sampled in this demarcated area. the average concentration achieved in the period 2016-2 018 has been 9,7 particles/kg of sand, equivalent to 121,8 particles/m². A significant variability has been detected in the microplastic concentrations detected in the different seasons. Most of the particles accounted for are particles (46.2 %), expanded polystyrene particles (33.3 %) or fibres or filaments (14.0 %). Pre-production pellets are rather infrequent on sampled beaches and they account for 6.4 % of the total. The other forms referred to in the quantification protocol have not come to light within this Marine Demarcation Service.

The IEO started pilot sampling of microplastics in the surface column of water in the South Asian FD in 2016. Samples of surface water were collected using a cover trawl with a 333 μm grid during August 2016, 2017 and 2018. This sampling is part of the Gulf of Cádiz pelagic resource assessment campaigns (ECOCADIZ). It has not produced any results in due time. Work is currently under way on the 2016 samples at its TFA for the university in Vigo.