Saving Seafood

Protecting Paradise: Marine Debris Team Does the Heavy Lifting

The team removed more than 160,000 pounds of lost or abandoned fishing nets and plastics from the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, an ecologically and culturally significant area, part of the Papahānaumokuāea Marine National Monument.

November 12, 2018 — Stretching 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, a chain of remote islands and atolls known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are hundreds of miles from the nearest human populations. Yet, these beautiful coral reefs and uninhabited shorelines are centrally located in the North Pacific Gyre, where currents gather marine debris from all around the Pacific Ocean.

NOAA’s marine debris team travels from island to island by ship and small boat, carefully pulling derelict “ghost” fishing gear off of underwater reefs and collecting plastic debris from shorelines. They clean up nets and other debris that damage coral reefs and threaten wildlife, including endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles. Hauling debris is often a dirty, exhausting, and sometimes fly-filled task, but the team loves its work.

Read and view the full story at NOAA Fisheries

Before Kanye visit, Trump signed bill to help reduce plastics in ocean

October 15, 2018 — Before his much publicized visit with American musician Kanye West on Thursday, US president Donald Trump helped advance efforts to remove some of the mountains of plastic floating in the ocean by signing the Save Our Seas (SOS) Act.

The law, sponsored by senators Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, and Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, will allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare severe marine debris events and authorize funds to assist with cleanup and response efforts.

“Every year, over 8 million tons of garbage is dumped into our beautiful oceans by many countries of the world,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “That includes China, that includes Japan, and that includes many, many countries.

“This waste, trash, and debris harms not only marine life, but also fishermen, coastal economies along America’s vast stretches. The bad news is it floats toward us. I’ve seen pictures recently, and some of you have seen them, where there’s — a vast, tremendous, unthinkable amount of garbage is floating right into our coast, in particular along the West Coast.

“…This dumping has happened for years and even for decades. Previous administrations did absolutely nothing to take on the foreign countries responsible. We’ve already notified most of them and we’ve notified them very strongly.”

The SOS Act was introduced in March 2017 before being passed by unanimous consent in the Senate in early August 2018 after an identical bill, sponsored by Alaska representative Don Young, a Republican, was passed by a voice vote in the House in late July.

The law, which was supported by both the plastics industry and some ocean conservation groups, also reauthorizes NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, which carries a mission of supporting research on marine debris and the authority to take action to prevent and clean it up.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

President Trump Signs Save Our Seas Act

October 15, 2018 — The following was released by the President of the United States:

Today, I have signed into law S. 3508, the “Save Our Seas Act of 2018” (the “Act”). The Act reauthorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program for 5 years, promotes increased safety in the maritime industry, and promotes interagency and international action to reduce the amount of marine debris.

The Act, however, raises constitutional concerns. Sections 206(b), 208(a)(1), and 216 of the Act purport to dictate the position of the United States in external foreign affairs, and section 208(a)(2) of the Act purports to require an update to certain congressional committees on the progress of international negotiations. My Administration will treat these provisions in a manner consistent with the President’s constitutional authority as the sole representative of the Nation in foreign affairs, and with the President’s constitutional authority to withhold information protected by executive privilege, the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations.

Collaborative effort produces a new marine debris action plan for Washington

September 7, 2018 — Trash on our shorelines and in the ocean, also known as marine debris, is a persistent and growing global environmental issue. A lot is at stake particularly in Washington State, where outdoor recreation, shellfish harvests and aquaculture, and commercial, tribal and recreational fisheries are all economically and culturally significant. Marine debris interferes with the health of these important marine resources. Today September 5, 2018, local organizations and agencies released a marine debris action plan for the state, the result of a year-long collaborative process facilitated by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program.

The plan will facilitate and track actions that prevent and reduce marine debris throughout Washington, including Puget Sound, the Northwest Straits, Washington’s Pacific Coast, the Columbia River estuary and inland sources. To create the plan, 66 representatives from more than 40 entities participated in two workshops to compile and review current efforts, identify strategic gaps and recommend future actions. NOAA’s Marine Debris Program supported the effort by convening the planning committee, organizing and hosting the workshops and engaging the planning committee.

Read the full story at the San Juan Islander

Plastic-eating Microbes Won’t Solve Our Ocean Debris Problem

April 24, 2018 — Japanese scientists announced this past week that they had not only discovered bacteria that naturally digest the PET plastic used to make many water bottles, they had also genetically modified them to make them better at breaking down plastic. Headlines made it seem like our plastic pollution woes were over.

The world produces more than 40 million metric tons of PET plastic every year and, here in the U.S., less than a third of that gets recycled. At the same time, the amount of plastic floating around in the ocean is growing.

But Ramani Narayan, a university distinguished professor in chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University, says that touting plastic-eating bacteria as the solution misses the point.

“It is implied that the technology to break down this PET plastic and similar plastics, is the bottleneck in managing PET waste. And that this new enzyme is the breakthrough we have been waiting for,” Narayan said.

Read the full story at WCAI

 

Marine debris threatens Hawaii’s ecosystem, but collecting it can get complicated

February 15, 2018 — Marine debris continues to litter our beaches, and more of it is on the way if our current weather patterns continue.

Nets, floaters, and other rubbish aren’t just ugly and dangerous to marine life.

They hide small organisms and creatures that could harm our fragile shorelines.

Scott Godwin works with the Hawaii Department of Land and National Resources Division of Aquatics Resources Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) team. He’s been studying invasive species and marine debris for more than 15 years.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there all the time,” Godwin said, “and Hawaii seems to be in the right place to get that stuff just because of the oceanographic conditions.”

He explained that the current winds and currents have simply been washing debris onshore that would normally otherwise float by the islands and go unnoticed.

The debris poses many dangers. Marine mammals and fish get tangled in floating masses of nets and die.

Read and watch the full story at KHON2

 

Now Open: NOAA Marine Debris Prevention Grant Opportunity for 2018

September 11, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce our Marine Debris Prevention federal funding opportunity.

The Marine Debris Program offers funding that supports locally driven, community-based marine debris prevention and removal projects. These projects benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and wildlife including migratory fish.

This opportunity provides funding to support eligible organizations for activities to prevent the introduction of marine debris into the marine and coastal environment. Applicants requesting funding for projects to address a specific marine debris issue, and that will actively engage these groups in hands-on personal participation, are welcome to apply. Projects focused on efforts to prevent marine debris from entering the environment through targeted behavior change will be given priority.

To apply for marine debris prevention funding through this opportunity, applicants must first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), via email, to grants.marinedebris@noaa.gov.

The deadline for LOI submission is September 28. After NOAA reviews all submitted LOIs, only those invited to submit a full proposal will be considered for funding.

Applicants will be notified by November 1 if they have been invited to submit a full proposal.

Questions? Contact marinedebris.web@noaa.gov.