Saving Seafood

NOAA awards $7.3 million for marine debris removal, prevention, and research

September 9, 2021 — Today, NOAA announced $7.3 million in fiscal year 2021 grants supporting 25 projects to address the harmful effects of marine debris on wildlife, navigation safety, ecosystem health, and the economy. With the addition of non-federal matching contributions, the total investment in these marine debris projects is approximately $14.7 million. The grants, selected after a rigorous and competitive review process, are spread across 14 states and territories, as well as 8 international regions.

“Marine debris harms our coastal communities every day,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “These grants fund critical clean-up, while also working to prevent the problem at the source and better understand the movement of marine debris. These types of projects will help us remove the most harmful types of marine debris and mitigate the most harmful effects.”

Among the projects selected are the removal of up to 17 abandoned and derelict vessels from the Hudson River Estuary, representing all known abandoned and derelict vessels in the estuary; the removal of more than 100 metric tons of debris, including derelict fishing gear, from Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, and Maui Islands; an assessment of how marine debris moves from the upstream areas of the Guánica Watershed to the nearshore coastal waters of southwest Puerto Rico; reduction of the amount of marine debris entering the Tijuana River from the Los Laureles Canyon tributary in Mexico; and the launch of the North American Net Collection Initiative to collect and transform end-of-life fishing nets into high-value consumer goods.

Approximately $1.8 million will support 10 removal projects in Alaska, California, Hawaiʻi, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Washington. The grantees will implement locally developed and cost-effective activities to remove marine debris, including derelict fishing gear and other medium- and large-scale debris. Projects will benefit coastal habitats, waterways, wildlife, and surrounding communities.

Approximately $1.4 million will support 5 marine debris research projects in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Puerto Rico. The grantees will investigate and identify the critical input pathways for marine debris introduction into the coastal zone.

Approximately $4.1 million will support 10 marine debris prevention and removal projects in the Great Lakes, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Mexican Caribbean, North America Pacific Ocean, Salish Sea, and Tijuana River estuary. The grantees will address common marine debris issues in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas that impact the U.S. marine environment, including preventing or reducing the occurrence of marine debris, or removing marine debris from the environment.

Marine debris is not only a threat to wildlife in our ocean, Great Lakes, and waterways, but can adversely affect navigation safety and the economy. To address this growing challenge, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is dedicated to identifying, determining sources of, assessing, preventing, reducing and removing marine debris and addressing the adverse impacts of marine debris in our nation’s marine environment and Great Lakes. The Marine Debris Act authorized the NOAA Marine Debris Program in 2006 as the lead federal program for addressing the problem. This program was reauthorized in 2018 through the Save Our Seas Act, and recently amended by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is currently accepting Letters of Intent for its Fiscal Year 2022 Marine Debris Removal funding opportunity. In mid-September, the NOAA Marine Debris Program will announce its Fiscal Year 2022 Marine Debris Prevention notice of funding opportunity. For more information, visit the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s website.

 

HAWAII: Marine debris team joins the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project to remove fishing nets from coral reefs

August 30, 2021 — NOAA and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project partner to remove derelict fishing nets from coral reefs across the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

Scientists and divers from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center are teaming up with divers from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project for a 30-day mission to remove marine debris from the islands and atolls within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

The team departed Honolulu on the M/V Imua on Tuesday. We expect the ship to return with more than 110,000 pounds of derelict fishing gear and other marine debris at the end of September.

The 2021 marine debris removal mission will focus on surveying for and removing marine debris from coral reefs and coastal environments. They will be working on Kamole (Laysan Island), Kamokuokamohoali‘i (Maro Reef), Kapou (Lisianski Island), Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), Holaniku (Kure Atoll), and Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll).

Read the full story at KITV

MAINE: Maritime Shorts: Ghost gear, Marine Patrol, road map plans

August 18, 2021 — A study in southwest Nova Scotia estimated that abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear, also known as ghost gear, account for more than $175,000 Canadian dollars in commercial losses annually.  

A team of researchers conducted 60 trips to retrieve the gear in one of Canada’s most productive lobster fishing regions and removed 7,064 kilograms of ghost gear – two-thirds of which were lobster traps. Those traps continued to capture species and the scientists found 239 lobsters and seven groundfish in the study. Buoys, rope and dragger cable were also retrieved and were either disposed of or repurposed. 

Most of the traps were believed to be less than 4 years old, though the oldest found was from 1987. Based on their markings, some of the debris likely originated from the U.S., likely traveling northward from the southern Gulf of Maine, according to the study. Tires, party balloons and a fan belt were also recovered.  

“While fishers often attempt to retrieve gear when it becomes lost during the fishing season, regular retrieval is challenging due to regulatory requirements, relocation issues, and lack of resources,” the study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin last month read. “Thus, allowing (abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear) to persist, potentially continues to indiscriminately catch commercially valuable lobsters and other species and contributes to the growing problem of marine debris.” 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Hawaii launches hotline to report ghost fishing nets

June 4, 2021 — Hawaii has a new hotline to report ghost fishing nets, derelict gear and other plastic debris that washes ashore across the Hawaiian archipelago.

In a statement Thursday, state officials announced the new hotline, which uses phrasing from the Hawaii Pidgin language in the number: 833-4-Da-Nets.

State wildlife officials partnered with environmental groups to create the hotline so people can report marine debris that can then be quickly removed.

As they drift throughout the ocean, ghost nets and other fishing line continue to catch fish, sometimes entangling Hawaii’s humpback whales, sea turtles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals and seabirds.

“The idea is to have people call in hazardous nets immediately,” Kristen Kelly of Hawaii’s Division of Aquatic Resources Protected Species Program said in the statement. “We can mount a rapid response to remove these nets from our shorelines as quickly as possible and before they drift back into the open ocean.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NORTH CAROLINA: Hard-hit fishermen turn to new catch: cleaning up marine debris from southeastern shoreline

January 11, 2021 — Since July, a four-man crew of local commercial fisherman has switched their catch, resetting their lines on a different kind of haul: marine debris.

Unlike their lifelong trade of harvesting shellfish, the crew has found stocks of marine debris are plentiful. After walking nearly all the marshes from Sneads Ferry to Zeke’s Island, the men have encountered a seemingly endless yield of abandoned marine and construction debris.

Each storm and tide cycle churns up new debris for the crew to collect. With a 24-foot Carolina Skiff and a few homemade sleds assembled for clamming, the men trek through soupy shorelines, hauling about one ton of debris a day out of the waterway.

“We all grew up on the river — all of us did. But from the very first day we started this project, we had no idea the amount of debris out there,” crew supervisor Joe Huie said.

Tapped by the North Carolina Coastal Federation to help carry out a yearlong $2.4 million federal abandoned vessel and marine debris-removal program, the team is happy to have found steady work and put their skills to use. On their first day working the contract, the crew hoped they’d be able to find enough material to satisfy the program. Instead, they’ve found a theoretically neverending job (so long as the contract keeps getting renewed).

“After the first day, I said, ‘We could do this forever.’ I’m not even joking. We all looked at each other and said, ‘We could do this forever.’  Because that’s just how much it was,” Huie said. “We found so much debris we didn’t know if we could do the job. We were just physically exhausted at the end of the day. The first summer we did the contract I lost 27 pounds. It was brutal. It was a hot summer.”

Read the full story at Port City Daily

Marine Debris Removal Grants Available

July 16, 2020 — Applicants have until Sept. 4 to submit a letter of intent for review for marine debris removal project grants.

The fiscal year 2021 Marine Debris Removal grant competition is through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

The projects awarded through the removal grant competition are to create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources. Priority will be given for efforts targeting derelict fishing gear, abandoned and derelict vessels and other medium- and large-scale debris, according to NOAA.

The letter of intent submission period for removal projects began Wednesday. Applicants who submit successful letters of intent will be invited to submit a full proposal following the review period.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

Save Our Seas 2.0 tackles global marine debris crisis

November 12, 2019 — We may have plenty of political differences, but we come from coastal states. That means we have a front-row seat to the peril of plastic waste and marine debris flowing into our oceans at the rate of around 8 million metric tons per year. We understand what it will mean for our fishing and tourism industries when the weight of plastic in our oceans equals the weight of fish in the sea — something projected to happen by mid-century. We don’t have a moment to lose in confronting this problem.

That’s why we built a coalition in Congress and gathered input from environmental and industry stakeholders alike. Despite a divided Washington, that work resulted in a bill that won broad, bipartisan support. When the Save Our Seas Act became law last October, it was a moment of bipartisan progress on a vital issue — one to be celebrated.

Before the president’s ink on Save Our Seas was dry, our bipartisan trio of senators began developing the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. We sought to harness the momentum behind the first bill to up the ante on combatting the global marine debris crisis. Marine debris requires multifaceted, multisector solutions with a global reach, and the United States ought to be driving these solutions.

Read the full story at Roll Call

Fishing Gear Recovery Project Begins in Cape Cod Bay

April 8, 2019 — The Center for Coastal Studies has begun field work with area lobstermen to remove, document, and properly dispose of lost, abandoned or derelict fishing gear in Cape Cod Bay.

“Mobilizing Diverse Stakeholders to Remove Derelict Fishing Gear from Beaches & Bay” is a project funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program. It takes place during the winter season, when lobster fishing is prohibited in the bay to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales who feed here.

The CCS Marine Geology Program will first conduct side-scan sonar surveys in areas identified by fishermen as locations where lost gear likely exists.

Commercial fishing vessels from each area are enlisted to recover the gear by towing grappling equipment in targeted locations.  Once returned to shore, the derelict gear will be sorted for recycling, disposal, or return to rightful owners.

“Who better to help in this effort than the fishermen who have dedicated their lives to understanding the environment?” said Demi Fox, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator.

“They have a critical desire to protect the ecosystem upon which their livelihoods depend, and we are grateful for their expertise. The NOAA Marine Debris Program appreciates the hard work of passionate partners like CCS and the fishing community.”

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NORTH CAROLINA: Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project Begins Mid-January

January 4, 2019 — A large scale cleanup project to improve water quality, remove fishing debris and collect derelict crab pots from all of Eastern North Carolina’s coastal sounds will soon get underway.

Commercial fishers and North Carolina Marine Patrol will participate in the annual cleanup effort which takes from January 15th to February 7th.  Now in its third year, the project received $100,000 in funding from the General Assembly, allowing the North Carolina Coastal Federation to hire and train 76 local fishers to remove lost fishing gear during the “no-potting” period.

“This is helping the economy,” said Sara Hallas, the Coastal Education Coordinator for the North Carolina Coastal Federation.  “This is a slower time of the year for the fishing industry, especially for the crabbing industry, the fishing would be closed during this time of the year. So it does give them an option for employment during the slow winter season.”

Crews, which are comprised of two people, are paid $450 per day.  Last year, 3,496 crab pots were collected from coastal fishing waters.  But Hallas expects crews will encounter more marine debris this year because of Hurricane Florence.

Read the full story at Public Radio East

Divers haul in large amount of debris from marine monument

November 13, 2018 — A team of divers hauled in nearly 165,000 pounds (75,000 kilograms) of abandoned fishing nets and plastic waste during a cleanup expedition at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, federal officials said.

The 18 divers left Sept. 19 and returned Oct. 29 from a trek to the chain of isles and atolls located 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) northwest of the main Hawaiian islands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which runs the expeditions.

The divers hauled in about 82 tons (74 metric tons), which is comparable to the weight of 45 mid-sized cars or one space shuttle, NOAA said.

The team of divers from NOAA Fisheries and University of Hawaii’s Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research sorted out the debris Friday.

The group split the debris into categories such as plastic laundry baskets, fishing nets, tires, buoys and smaller personal-care items such as plastic toothbrushes and combs.

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is uninhabited by humans. But due to its central location in the system of circulating currents called the North Pacific Gyre, the debris has been carried by currents to its shores for decades.

NOAA’s marine debris team has been going on expeditions to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands almost yearly to survey and remove litter since 1996. Cumulatively, including the last mission, teams have collected about 2 million pounds (0.91 million kilograms) of debris.

The litter does ecological damage at Papahanaumokuakea, said NOAA’s Kevin O’Brien, who served as chief scientist for the mission this year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Hawaii Tribune-Herald