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Figure 2.16 Summary view of Filmar-Litter monitoring results in the Netherlands from 1982 to 2006;comparing average data for incidence, number of items and mass (arithmetic average) in the 1980’swhilst running 5-year averages for the more recent period.In the Netherlands one of the main sources of information on the amount of litter on the seabed isfrom Fishing for Litter activities run by both the National Government and KIMO Netherlands andBelgium. The project involves fishing boats collecting marine litter that accumulates in their nets aspart of their normal fishing activity and taking it ashore in large hardwearing bags before it isprocessed in an onshore waste facility. In Den Helder harbour the weight and number of itemscollected has been monitored since 2000. 162 to 380 big bags are collected every year from15 ships operating in the North Sea and the weight of marine litter collected has ranged form60.000 to 100.000 kg at a cost of approximately 22.000 to 35.000 euros per year to transport andprocess.17