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NOAA is working with other federal agencies through the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee.


 


About the Program

NOAA Marine Debris Program | Program Mission | Strategies to Address Marine Debris | Marine Debris Focus Areas | Programs and Projects | Program Background | NOAA Mandates on Marine Debris


Barrell and tire debris underwater
Metal and rubber are slow to degrade, acting as hazards to swimmers and boats, and polluting the environment.

NOAA Marine Debris Program

The NOAA Marine Debris Program serves as a centralized marine debris capability within NOAA in order to coordinate, strengthen, and increase the visibility of marine debris issues and efforts within the agency, its partners, and the public.  This Program is undertaking a national and international effort focusing on identifying, reducing, and preventing debris in the marine environment.  Additionally, the MDP supports and works closely with various partners across the U.S. to fulfill the Program’s mission.

Download the NOAA Marine Debris Program 1-pager here.

Staff locations for the NOAA MDP.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program has staff located in regions across the nation.

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Program Mission

To support a national and international effort focused on preventing, identifying, and reducing the occurrence of marine debris and to protect and conserve our nation’s natural resources, oceans, and coastal waterways from the impacts of marine debris.

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Strategies to Address Marine Debris

The program has identified four strategies to address marine debris:

  • Source Identification, Monitoring, Research and Information Transfer
  • Reduction through Removal
  • Prevention, including Education and Outreach
  • Emergency Response

Through these strategies, the program seeks to build a comprehensive and cohesive plan to address marine debris. 

In January 2006, the Marine Debris Program held its first program implementation workshop with 40 internal (NOAA) and external (government, academics, industry, and non-governmental organizations) marine debris experts to determine potential actions that will help guide the program over the next few years. A total of 105 actions were produced across the four strategies, ranging from title only to specifically detailed actions.

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Marine Debris Focus Areas

Categories identified within each strategy were further refined into comprehensive focus areas by NOAA Marine Debris Program personnel:

  • Education/Outreach and Training/Protocols
  • Derelict Fishing Gear (DFG)
  • Derelict Vessels
  • Data Collection and Research
  • On-the-Ground Efforts
  • Coordination

These focus areas will serve as guides for program implementation and in the development of requests for proposals (RFPs) for federal funding opportunities.

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Programs and Projects

Marine Debris Project Descriptions

Maps of Project Locations

The Marine Debris Program seeks to bring greater attention and solutions to this environmental problem by:

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Locations of projects (2005-2007) funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program

Green dot = 1 MDP-funded project

*Each discrete point is one project.  However, each project may  encompass an area much greater than the point indicates.

MDP-funded project locations on the Atlantic coast.

MDP-funded project locations on the Gulf coast.

MDP-funded project locations on the Pacific Northwest coast.

MDP-funded project locations on the West coast and Pacific Islands region.

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Program Background

History of Programs Within NOAA

From 1985 to 1996, NOAA administered the Marine Entanglement Research Program, a marine debris research and management program that was created in response to growing public concern over the impacts of marine debris on wildlife.  Since then, NOAA has continued to support marine debris clean-up and prevention activities, such as the debris assessment and removal project in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the use of satellite and aerial remote sensing to locate and track oceanographic features likely to accumulate floating marine debris, and support for the development and testing protocols for removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters. 

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NOAA Marine Debris Program

The NOAA Marine Debris Program was launched in 2005 after the NOAA National Ocean Service's Office of Response and Restoration received a budget line titled “Marine Debris” for $5M.  On December 22, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act, which legally establishes the NOAA Marine Debris Program. 

To date, the program has (1) reviewed and inventoried existing debris projects in NOAA; (2) conducted two workshops with internal and external partners focused on the activities and needs of NOAA and the marine debris community; (3) developed a two-year implementation plan; (4) established bi-weekly marine debris meetings with representatives from over ten offices across five NOAA line offices; (5) identified regional coordinators to promote the program’s objectives; (6) established an outreach program; and (7) created three competitive grant programs for distributing funds. 

The implementation plan sets the focus areas for the program and is used to direct the three grant programs, internal and external partnerships the program is engaged in, and general program activities.  

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NOAA Mandates on Marine Debris

NOAA has a number of mandates that require the agency to address marine debris. These include, but are not limited to:

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