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Socio-economic Costs and Benefits of Marine Debris Abatement

Nationwide; 2006, 2007

Background | Phase I | Phase II Background | Phase II Partners | Phase II Benefits | 1-pager

 

Background

Marine debris can have significant economic impacts to coastal communities and the fishing industry. Among a wide host of potential economic impacts are the cost of removal off beaches and reefs and at sea, lost tourism revenues, the cost of repairing boats and ships damaged by marine debris, and the cost to human health. A literature review has revealed that very little data exist that demonstrate economic benefits of marine debris abatement.

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Phase 1 (2006)

This study had four outcomes:

  1. To create a database of all available information and data on local, state and federal spending on marine debris cleanup programs.

  2. Implementation of a survey to fill data gaps identified in the literature review and database.

  3. To design a socio-economic model that will estimate the economic costs and benefits of marine debris prevention.

  4. Web-based application that will combine the information of the database and survey results that can be marketed to decision makers.

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Phase 2: Model Development, Data Gap Analysis, and Survey Design (2007)

This study has four outcomes over four phases. The first is the creation of a database of all available information and data on local, state, and federal spending on marine debris cleanup programs. The second is the design of a socio-economic model that will estimate the economic costs and benefits of marine debris prevention. The third is the implementation of a survey to obtain information for the economic model and to fill data gaps identified in the literature review and database. The fourth is a Web-based application that combine the information of the database and survey results that can be marketed to decision makers.

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Partners

  • NOAA/NOS/CCMA-Biogeography Team
  • NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu, HI
  • The Oceanic Institute
  • NOAA Central Library

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Benefits of the Project

  • This project will pull together all available information on marine debris into one database that can be queried for summary statistics. This tool will enable decision makers to view synthesized information on marine debris and highlight the full impact of the problem.

  • This information will lead to the construction of a model that will demonstrate the costs and benefits of reducing marine debris.

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1-pager

Download the 1-pager handout (pdf 1.02MB) on this project here.

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This program is housed within NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program and is funded through NOAA's Ocean Service, Office of Response & Restoration, Marine Debris Program.

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