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Addressing the Impacts of Marine Debris: Research, Removal, and Prevention Sherry Lippiatt California Regional Coordinator NOAA Marine Debris Program. www.MarineDebris.noaa.gov. NOAA Marine Debris Program. Established in 2005
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Addressing the Impacts of Marine Debris: Research, Removal, and Prevention Sherry Lippiatt California Regional Coordinator NOAA Marine Debris Program www.MarineDebris.noaa.gov
NOAA Marine Debris Program Established in 2005 Vision: the global ocean and its coasts, users, and inhabitants free from the impacts of marine debris How? Research ∣ Removal ∣ Response Prevention ∣ Outreach & Education Milton Love, UC Santa Barbara NOAA
NOAA MDP Mandates MDRPRA authorizes the MDP: • Research • Prevention • Removal • Response to severe events • Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC) • Information Clearinghouse
What Is Marine Debris? Marine debris is “any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes.” NOAA SEFSC
Marine Debris Sources • Ocean-based • Commercial and recreational fishing operations • Waste from vessels • Offshore industry (oil rigs) • Aquaculture • Land-based • Littering and poor waste management • Stormwater discharge • Illegal dumping • Accidental or storm-related movement from land (wind, hurricanes, flooding)
Marine Debris Drivers • Types and Abundance • Material science • Consumer behavior • Public Policy / TMDLs • Environmental forcing
Marine Debris Impacts • Socioeconomic • Vessel damage • Safety and navigation • Tourism and recreation • Human health • “Ghost fishing” of harvestable catch • Cost of cleanup Peri Paleracio NOAA Fisheries Service NOAA Fisheries Service
Marine Debris Impacts • West Coast communities spend an annual average of $13 per resident, or a total of more than $520M per year to combat litter and prevent marine debris. (Stickel et al., 2012) Peri Paleracio NOAA Fisheries Service
Research projects • Industrial Economics, Inc: • Survey of Orange County, CA residents • How do perceived debris loads influence recreational decision-making?
Marine Debris Impacts • Habitat destruction • Wildlife entanglement • Ingestion • Invasive species • Exposure to toxins US State Department
Marine Debris Impacts • “Microplastics” = < 5mm • Sources: • Pre-production pellets • Personal care products “microbeads” • Degradation of larger plastics • Polyester fibers (washing machine effluent) Photo Credit: SPI
Marine Debris Impacts • Plastic debris and exposure to POPs • How do plastics compare to other sources? • Trophic transfer of POPs? • UC Davis: microplasticsspiked with PCBs: mussels/clams sea stars freshwater sturgeon
Research projects • Shoreline monitoring • Detect trends, prevention targets, and effectiveness of efforts • Active monitoring sites along West Coast and Hawaii • New projects in Gulf of Mexico and Virginia Image: Cheshire et al. 2009
Behavior change • Outreach and Education partnerships • Annual grant opportunity • Monterey Bay Aquarium: Ocean Plastic Pollution Summits • School activities • Annual art contest for K-8th grades • Curriculum and activities, teacher workshops
Highlights • Honolulu Strategy • Global strategy to prevent, reduce, and manage marine debris • Innovation and creative partnerships • Reduce • Reuse • Recycle • Rethink NOAA Fisheries Service
Questions? Sherry.Lippiatt@noaa.gov