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Marine Debris Projects

NOAA MDP Partners

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Projects

The NOAA Marine Debris Program leads, coordinates, partners in, and provides funding opportunities for projects that address marine debris. Below are some of those projects.

For more information on any of them please contact us at marinedebris.web@noaa.gov.

Project Categories:

• Natural Disaster Marine Debris & Emergency Response
• Marine Debris At Sea
• Marine Debris Removal
• Abandoned and Derelict Vessels
• Marine Debris Survey & Assessment
• Research
• Education & Outreach
• Marine Debris Disposal & Prevention
• Action Plans, Meetings/Conferences, and Other

Additional Information:

• NOAA MDP-led projects begin with "NOAA MDP:"
• Projects funded by NOAA MDP but led by other NOAA Offices and Programs include information on the state/region and year of funding in parentheses.
• Projects with additional information listed are those funded by NOAA MDP through one of the external funding opportunities.

 

Natural Disaster Marine Debris & Emergency Response

• NOAA MDP: NOAA's American Samoa Tsunami Response

• NOAA MDP: Gulf of Mexico Marine Debris Project

• Emergency Response Field Data Collection - Integrating marine debris and shoreline assessment data through a common data standard (Nationwide, 2007)

• An Integrated PDA-GPS Protocol for Marine Debris and Oil Spill Cleanup, Mitigation, and Decision-Making (Nationwide, 2006)

• Post-Hurricane Marine Debris and Underwater Obstruction Assessment and Marking in Calcasieu Lake, LA (Louisiana, 2006)

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Marine Debris At Sea

• NOAA MDP: At-sea Detection of Derelict Fishing Gear in the North Pacific Ocean

• NOAA MDP: Economic Impact of Marine Debris to Fisheries: Marine debris encounter reporting project

• High Seas GhostNet Detection Project

• Malolo Project: Focusing Efforts to Detect Derelict Fishing Gear at Sea in the North Pacific (NE Pacific Ocean, 2008)

• Demonstration project for at-sea retrieval and shore-side removal of derelict fishing gear from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Massachusetts, 2007)

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Marine Debris Removal

• NOAA MDP: International Coastal Cleanup (and NOAA Cleanup Day)

• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Debris Removal Effort (Hawaii, 2005-present)

• Sea Debris: Locating and removing derelict fishing gear in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Massachusetts, 2008)

• Mapping, Assessment, and Removal of Derelict Fishing Gear from Stetson Bank, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (Texas, 2008)

• Oregon Derelict Crab Trap Recovery: Removal, Assessment, and Outreach (Oregon, 2007)

• Development of a Coordinated Strategy for the Washington Outer Coast Beach Cleanup and Debris Cache Removal (Washington, 2007)

• Debris Accumulation, Removal and Impact Assessment (DARIA) (North Carolina, 2007)

• Recovery and subsequent disposal of ghost Black Sea Bass traps in the U.S. South Atlantic Fishery Management Area (North Carolina, 2007)

• Tire Reef Cleanup: Determining viable disposal options for 1+ million tires recovered from Florida Reefs (Florida, 2006)

• Removal of Marine Debris used as Lobster Aggregating Structures [casitas] (Florida, 2006)

• Marine Debris Removal in Right Whale Habitat (Massachusetts, 2006)

• Removal of Derelict Fishing Gear from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Shipwrecks (Massachusetts, 2006)

• Removal of Large Concentrations of Marine Debris from the Unalaska Island Vicinity, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (Alaska, 2005)

• Derelict Fishing Gear Mapping and Removal in the Main Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii, 2005)

• Marine Debris Removal in Monk Seal Habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii, 2005)

• Marine Debris Removal from the Waiohinu-Ka Lae Coast Hawaii Island (Hawaii, 2005)

• Olympic Coast Clean-up Beach Debris Removal (Washington, 2005)

• Northwest Straits Derelict Fishing Gear Assessment, Recovery, Training and Outreach Project (Washington, 2005)

• Olympic Coast Derelict Fishing Gear Pilot Project (Washington, 2005)

• Anacostia Watershed Cleanup (District of Columbia, 2005)

• Oregon Derelict Gear Recovery Project - This project recovered both fixed and mobile derelict fishing gear in the ocean waters off the Oregon coast, including four components: 1) cut-off crab pot recovery, 2) sacrificed net recovery, 3) education, and 4) stray pot recovery and retrieval. Link to video about the project - "Oregon Net Recovery" (by Oregon Public Broadcasting)

• Northwest Straits Regional Creosote Inventory and Removal Project - This project removed creosote debris from marine shoreline habitats and marine protected areas throughout the northwest straits region, WA. Five sites with known large accumulations of creosote debris were identified. Collectively these sites provide habitat for Caspian and arctic terns, juvenile Dungeness crab, black brant, salmon, steelhead, cutthroat trout, shorebirds and a variety of waterfowl. These sites included a national wildlife refuge, national historic park, nature preserve and state park. Removal of creosote debris immediately removed a chronic source of leaching toxins and rehabilitated degraded marine shoreline habitats.
  Coordinated by the Northwest Straits Commission and funded through the NOAA Restoration Center's Community-based Restoration Program in 2005.
  Link to video about the project.
  For more information visit the project page on the Northwest Straits Commission's website.

Abandoned and Derelict Vessels

• NOAA MDP: Abandoned and Derelict Vessels

• NOAA Abandoned Vessel Program

• Planning for Removal of Derelict Vessels and Vessel Debris in American Samoa (American Samoa, 2007)

• Prevention of Vessel Debris through Inspections and Outreach (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 2006)

• South Carolina Abandoned Vessel Project (South Carolina, 2005)

• Alabama and Mississippi Marine Debris Removal and Prevention: Boater Education and Volunteer-based Clean-up Program (Gulf Coast, 2005)

• Fordson Island Rids its Banks of Abandoned Boats - In a heavily urbanized area, the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority along with Friends of the Rouge River, AKT Peerless Environmental Services, and 12 other partners, are working to remove marine debris in a once underappreciated area. Fordson Island is located in the Rouge River just upstream of the Detroit River in Michigan. The Rouge River watershed is the oldest and most heavily populated and industrialized area in southeast Michigan. With funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through NOAA’s Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program, volunteers are being recruited to clean up the shoreline and jobs are being created to remove abandoned and derelict vessels in the nearshore area.  To date, approximately 18 boats have been removed, including those boats ranging from fully in-tact to those where the only indication of its existence is the steering wheel. Once complete, this project will remove 15 tons and 400 cubic yards of debris and will also create a self-sustaining area for recreation and wildlife in the heart of metro Detroit.
  Funded through the Community-based Marine Debris Removal grant in 2010.

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Marine Debris Survey & Assessment

• NOAA MDP: Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Projects

• An Aerial Survey of Marine Debris Along the Coast of Southwestern Alaska (Alaska, 2008)

• Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Marine Debris on Selected Beaches in the Gulf of Alaska (Alaska, 2008)

• Derelict Fishing Gear Mapping and Removal in the Main Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii, 2008)

• Collection of Benthic Marine Debris During the 2008 West Coast Groundfish Trawl Survey: Distribution, Characterization, and Weight (Pacific Ocean, west coast U.S., 2008)

• Marine Debris Characterization in Salt Marsh and Submerged Habitats in Coastal North Carolina (North Carolina, 2008)

• An Assessment of derelict fishing gear and other marine debris in deepwater benthic habitats off California (California, 2007)

• Assessment, monitoring, and reduction of the causes and impacts of marine debris in the South Atlantic Bight (Florida to North Carolina, 2007)

• Impact Assessment, Recovery, and Prevention of Derelict Fishing Gear (crab traps) in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, Virginia, 2007)

• Derelict Fishing Gear in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary: Surveys, Removal Protocol Development, and Removal Feasibility Assessment (California, 2006)

• Identification, Mapping and Assessment of Derelict Fishing Gear in the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, 2005)

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Research & Technology

• NOAA MDP: Microplastic Marine Debris

• NOAA MDP: Economic Impact of Marine Debris to Fisheries: Marine debris encounter reporting project

• NOAA MDP: Derelict Traps and Pots

• NOAA MDP: NOAA Submerged Derelict Trap Detection Methods Workshop: June 2-4, 2009, Silver Spring, MD

• Assessing change in Derelict Fishing Gear and Other Marine Debris in Deepwater Benthic Habitats Within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (California, 2008)

• An Assessment of the Impact of Derelict Fishing Nets on the Coral Reef Habitats of Midway Atoll (Hawaii, 2008)

• Derelict Crab Pots in North Carolina Waters and Their Effects on Diamondback Terrapin Populations: Proposed inventory, methodology development for effective location and removal, educational awareness campaign, and planning for long-term solutions (North Carolina, 2008)

• A Survey of Invertebrate and Algal Communities Colonizing Marine Debris in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii, 2007)

• Derelict Traps and Casita Debris in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Distribution, Habitat Impacts, and Bycatch Mortality (Florida, 2007)

• Quantifying Marine Debris in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (Pacific Ocean, 2006)

• Census of Marine Debris (Pacific Ocean, 2006)

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Education & Outreach

• NOAA MDP: Keep Oceans Clean Alliance

• A Web-based Education Campaign for Marine Debris Awareness and Prevention for NOAA's Marine Debris Program (Nationwide, 2006)

• Marine Debris Monitoring and Education - A west coast partnership with at sea surveys and educators to use seabirds as indicators of plastic pollution (California, 2006)

• Marine Debris Education Campaign for Guam (Guam, 2006)

• Take Action on Marine Debris - New Marine Debris Exhibit (Hawaii, 2006)

• Anacostia Watershed Explorers (District of Columbia, 2005)

• Marine Debris from Land to Sea: Holistic Characterization, Reducation and Education Efforts in New Hampshire - This project is unique in that it takes a holistic approach to marine debris identification, monitoring and mitigation by tracking marine debris on the shore, underwater, and on the ocean. The objectives of this project were to better characterize ocean-based debris (e.g., derelict fishing gear) sources and distribution patterns; utilize divers to implement a unique underwater cleanup program to remove both derelict fishing gear where possible and other debris, continue to investigate the prevalence of land-based debris sources, and mitigate the problem through education and outreach in the industry and community. For more information please visit http://www.nhmarinedebris.org/.

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Marine Debris Disposal & Prevention

• NOAA MDP: Hawaii's Pier 38 Port Reception Program

• NOAA MDP: Hawaii's Nets to Energy Program and Partnership

• NOAA MDP: Fishing for Energy Partnership

• NOAA-UPSAC Fishing Line Recycling Program (California, 2006)

• Regional Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program (Florida and Texas, 2006)

• Honolulu Marine Debris Port Reception Feasibility Project (Hawaii, 2005)

• Reel In and Recycle - The BoatUS Foundation and BoatUS Angler Program coordinate and lead the "Reel In and Recycle" monofilament fishing line recycling program.

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Action Plans, Meetings/Conferences, & Other

• NOAA MDP: 5th International Marine Debris Conference (March 2011)

• NOAA MDP: Joint Marine Debris Project with Republic of Korea (2008-2010)

• NOAA MDP: Hawaii Marine Debris Action Plan (HI-MDAP)

• NOAA MDP: NOAA Marine Debris Information Forum: April 1-3, 2008, Bethesda, MD

• Assessing the Global Impact of Marine Debris and Derelict Fishing Gear on Marine Mammals: Beginning the dialog (Hawaii/Worldwide, 2008)

• Coordinating Our Efforts: Establishing Effective and Scientifically Sound Marine Debris Goals, Practices, and Outreach for Alaska (Alaska, 2007)

• Address Lobster Line Work Associated with Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Atlantic, 2005)

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