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Marine Litter Issue in the Adriatic Sea

Marine litter has recently been more and more recognized as serious environmental problem with significant economic, social and health impacts. Problems like beach clean-up costs, degraded fish stocks, damaged fishing gear and health risks of microplastic require coordinated actions. Marine litter is generated solely due to human activities, on land or at sea. It is estimated that about 80% of marine litter comes from land-based sources and 20% ends in the sea as a result of irresponsible maritime transport and fisheries. Improving waste management in Croatia should be the key longterm strategy in combating marine litter in the Adriatic Sea. Since marine litter knows no boundaries, it represents a shared problem that cannot be successfully tackled within national borders. The most relevant policy instruments dealing with this huge environmental problem are: the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive sets ambitious objective to achieve and maintain good environmental status of European seas and oceans by 2020. This article analyses the activities Croatia has undertaken in recent years to deal with this problem in its part of the Adriatic Sea. It presents the results of the survey conducted among the key stakeholders on their perceptions on marine litter issues and the results of the cost benefit analysis on marine litter management in the Adriatic Sea.

marine litter, Adriatic Sea, EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, waste management, cost-benefit analysis

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