Monitoring of German coastal waters is undertaken by the individual Laender, while monitoring of open marine waters (outside of the EEZ) is undertaken by Federal institutes. The activities are coordinated by the "ARGE Bund/Laender Messprogramm". The aim of the marine monitoring programme is to evaluate:

• possible health risk from contaminated fish, mussels and schrimps
• the effect of anthropogenic substances on the ecosystem (effect monitoring)
• long-term effect of emission reduction (trend monitoring)

North Sea: At the national level, data collection aimed at assessing the environmental condition of the North Sea is undertaken according to the Bund/Laender Messprogramm and at the international level according to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of the Oslo and Paris Commissions (OSPARCOM). At sampling sites in estuarine and coastal areas as well as open marine waters measurement of general chemical and physical variables plus organic micropollutants and heavy metals in water, sediment and biota as well as biological variables are carried out. Species group: Macrozoobenthos, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton Level: Abundance; Diversity and Biomass (where applicable) on species level (where applicable) Temporal cover: - Since 1980 - Zooplankton (A) from 1974 - 1996 resp., (B) Helgoland Reede (Digital spreadsheets from 1975 to 2001) Size (No. Of measurments): 53 sampling sites; Sampling Frequenzy: 1-4/yr; Zooplankton A): 12/y, B): every second work day (52x3 = 156/y) Baltic Sea Monitoring of the Baltic is done on national level according to the Bund/Laender Messprogramm and internationally according to the Baltic Monitoring Programme (BMP/COMBINE) of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM). A number of sites in estuarine and coastal areas are sampled up to 11 times a year with measurements of physical, chemical and biological variables, including organic micropollutants and heavy metals. A number of off-shore sites are sampled 5 times a year, measuring physical, chemical and biological determinands. Species group: Macrozoobenthos, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton; [Macrophytobenthos, Epifauna] (Harmful substances in Biota (effect monitoring)) Temporal cover: Since 1979 Level: Abundance, Diversity and Biomass (where applicable) on species level (where applicable) Size (No. of measurments): Benthos: 39 Stations - Frequency (F): 1-3 times/y, Phytoplankton : 21 Stations, F: 5 -10/y; Zooplankton: 9 Station , F: 5/y; Macrophytobenthos: 16 Stations, 1/y, (*Epifauna: 39 Stations , F: 1-3/y -in the course of Makrozoobenthos investigations) Responsible: Data owner:

Originators - participating Federal Laender institutes and Federal institutes

Data holder: Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt fuer Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) (as German NODC)

Quality Assurance: Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA)