DAERA CSEMP Annual Biota Contaminant Monitoring 1999 - present dataset https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=010_585b7fe33e4a7381848d7d937b96ff97 In Northern Ireland, an annual analysis of a suite of contaminants in shellfish flesh is carried out in all seven of the sea loughs/areas in Northern Ireland in which shellfish are cultivated and harvested. This is a joint programme of monitoring currently in place with FSA (Foods Standards Agency) in Northern Ireland and DAERA (Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs) to meet both organisations requirements. For DAERA these include; EU legislative requirements, OSPAR (Oslo/Paris convention (for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic)), Shellfish Water Protected Areas and as the Competent Monitoring Authority responsible for reporting Clean Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP) Biota Contaminant Monitoring data in Northern Ireland. The CSEMP is a UK wide monitoring programme coordinated by the Clean, Safe Seas Evidence Group (CSSEG). The suite of contaminants tested for includes trace metals, lipids, dioxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). DAERA reports data to the National Marine Database (MERMAN) annually. The data is used to assess the status and trend of contaminant concentrations in biota, and to support the UK's 2018 assessments for Descriptor 8 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The biota data used in the 2018 CSEMP assessment using data from MERMAN may be cited with the citation provided by Marine Scotland https://doi.org/10.7489/12227-1. 20191014