In support of the ICCAT ecosystem report card: indicators for marine debris

This document proposes to include “Marine debris” as an ecosystem component into the ICCAT Ecosystem Report Card. The addition of this pressure component will allow to highlight the importance of identifying marine debris produced by the fishing activities of the major ICCAT fisheries and its potential impact on the marine ecosystem in the Atlantic Ocean. Specifically this contribution provides the following four elements: (1) we describe what marine debris ecosystem component means in the context of ICCAT fisheries and the importance of monitoring as well as we make a proposal of a conceptual and an operational objective to measure progress towards the management of this component; (2) we present a list of candidate indicators, which are shared by all fishing gears, that could be measured to monitor the extent of marine debris both on the open ocean and coastal ecosystems produced by ICCAT fisheries; (3) we identify the potential sources of marine debris associated to different fishery activities, and we examine data availability and sources to support indicator development; and (4) we draft a work plan to guide future work.