Saving Seafood

BoatUS Foundation launches first national database to track abandoned boats and derelict vessels across the U.S.

November 6, 2025 — The non-profit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water has developed a database that will identify the locations of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) across the U.S., freely associated states, and U.S. territories and track their removal.

Created in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, this national database will allow visitors to report abandoned and derelict vessels on their coastlines, allowing the issue to be better understood on a national scale with the support of the public. Eventually, this database will be able to track the impacts of removal and prevention efforts by showing how the number of ADVs across the country may one day decrease.

Read the full article at Island Free Press

Feds Fund ‘Abandoned Boats’ Program Nationwide

August 14, 2025 — More than 300 abandoned and derelict boats across six states and two unincorporated terrorities are earmarked for removal from local waterways under funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program.

The program will be administered through the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, according to a statement from the foundation last month. NOAA awarded $7.4 million to fund 10 projects in July.

“The ADV (abandoned and derelict vessels) grants will fund removal and education efforts in communities heavily impacted by ADVS and the navigation, safety and pollution hazards they pose,” the July 31 statement said.

A panel of independent salvage experts, state boating advocates and nonprofit research groups and planning states selected the projects.

Projects include the Metlakatla Indian Community in Alaska; city and borough of Yakutat, Ala.; Sitka Conservation Society, Ala.; Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, La.; Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, Washington state; state of Maine; U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources; North Carolina Coastal Federation; Oregon Department of State Lands; and the Port Authority of Guam.

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

New law targets ‘ghost fishing’ by old gear. How discarded traps and nets are harmful

December 26, 2024 — Abandoned fishing gear has posed problems for authorities wishing to clear it from state waters and shorelines for decades, but new legislation is aimed at making that task easier.

An amendment by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, to an existing statute will speed the process of removing the environmentally harmful debris.

“Left unchecked, abandoned fishing gear poses several threats to our marine environment and ecosystems,” Tarr stated in a press release.

One of the problems it creates, he said, is “ghost fishing.”

According to the NOAA Marine Debris Program, “Ghost fishing occurs when lost or discarded fishing gear that is no longer under a fisherman’s control continues to trap and kill target species like fish and crustaceans, and non-target species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Derelict fishing nets and traps can continue to ghost-fish for years once they are lost under the water’s surface. Storms, ship traffic, and interactions with other types of fishing gear are the primary mechanisms for gear loss, resulting in an estimated 1% to 5% annual rate of gear loss in the Massachusetts lobster fishery. In Cape Cod Bay, derelict lobster traps are estimated to kill 12,500 to 33,000 lobsters per year. By removing derelict fishing gear, ghost fishing can be reduced.”

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

Intertidal: Managing the Gulf of Maine’s migratory highway

November 18, 2021 — Travel between countries is beginning again in many places in the world. Travel for humans, that is. For those that live in the natural world, this is the season for migration and travel is just part of the normal cycle of things regardless of political boundaries. This is particularly true in the water where there is a literal fluidity of movement from place to place: shallow to deep, north to south, or salty to fresh. The ocean is perhaps the best example of a global resource where all the water is connected, and so is everything that lives in it.

In an effort to recognize the cross-boundary nature of ocean creatures, states and even countries sometimes work together to monitor who lives where and when. The Gulf of Maine is a boundary-crossing body of water on multiple levels. While it has “Maine” in its title, it stretches across New Hampshire and parts of Massachusetts to the south. To the north, it reaches up into Canada. One of the groups that has pulled together the many parties working on and studying the Gulf of Maine recently received funding to address the issue of marine debris in a collaborative way.

The Gulf of Maine Association is a non-profit whose mission is “to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine and allow for sustainable resource use by existing and future generations”. Partners in the Association have worked together on both research and policy in the past. The recently awarded grant is part of a larger initiative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) North America Marine Debris Prevention and Removal program that provides funding to prevent and remove debris from the oceans across the country as well as down into Mexico and up into Canada.

Read the full story from the Times Record at the Portland Press Herald

HAWAII: UH Sea Grant shares in award to address marine debris, protect wildlife

August 31, 2021 — To address the devastating impacts of marine debris in the coastal environment, one of the leading causes of injury and death for sea turtles, seabirds and Hawaiian monk seals, the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant) and Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response (HMAR), the largest Hawaiʻi-based marine species response and conservation nonprofit organization, received $50,000 from NOAA Sea Grant and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. This grant is matched by $50,000 from non-federal sources.

The funding is one of six new, creative projects to tackle marine debris challenges across the country awarded to Sea Grant programs in Hawaiʻi, Florida, Georgia, Illinois-Indiana, Puerto Rico and Wisconsin. These marine debris projects total $300,000 in federal funding and are matched by non-federal contributions, bringing the total investment to approximately $600,000.

“By preventing marine debris, we can reduce the impacts of this global problem,” stated NOAA Marine Debris Program Director Nancy Wallace. “We are pleased to partner with NOAA Sea Grant to provide support for projects that will help stop trash and fishing gear at their source.”

Read the full story at University of Hawaii News

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

Fishing for Energy marks 10 years of recycling derelict fishing gear

April 22, 2019 — Fishing for Energy, a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the NOAA Marine Debris Program, and Covanta and Schnitzer Steel Industries, celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year.

Fishing for Energy collects derelict fishing gear that otherwise would have become marine debris, and then recycles that gear and converts it into energy. So far, more than 4 million pounds of derelict gear have been kept out of the ocean.

“In the 10 years since the Fishing for Energy partnership was launched, participating ports have played a key role in promoting this free program to fishermen and local communities,” NFWF CEO and Executive Director Jeff Trandahl said in a release. “Together, we have created a solution that benefits wildlife, people, and local economies, and we look forward to continuing our efforts in the future.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

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

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

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