Samenvatting

It has been widely recognized that the rapidly increasing amounts of marine plastic debris are causing problems. However, current studies are mainly focused on the presence and effects of macroplastic and often do not consider microplastic. WMR has conducted research on microplastic uptake by North Sea prey fish, to better understand the potential of microplastic trophic transfer (O’Donoghue, 2017;Van Werven, 2016). However, more knowledge is needed on the abundance and spatial distribution of microplastic uptake by commercial North Sea species. In addition, a clear overview is lacking on how GES will be achieved with the current Marine Strategies of the North Sea Member States concerning marine microplastic. Foreign countries use a different format when regulating microplastic in their environments. These other regulations might provide opportunities for the North Sea Member States to enhance the reduction of microplastic emission.