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The NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to share the 2020-2025 Great Lakes Marine Debris Action Plan. This document is the result of a collaborative effort between the NOAA Marine Debris Program and partners in Ontario, Canada and eight U.S. states (IL, IN, MI, MN, NY, OH, PA, WI), and represents a partner-led effort to guide marine debris actions in the Great Lakes for the next five years.
Tags Great LakesWestern New York State lies in the heart of the lower Great Lakes Basin and includes the Niagara River Watershed. The Niagara River Watershed is notable for its important habitats, which supports lake sturgeon, muskellunge, lake trout, walleye, and northern pike, and has been internationally recognized as an important migratory route for birds.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program Great Lakes Region spans eight states from Minnesota to New York, covers the north coast, and forms a water boundary between the United States and our Canadian friends to the North.
Tags Great Lakes prevention removalHistorically, the tribal community of St. Paul Island, Alaska, would walk the shorelines of our island to remove debris, such as driftwood and animal bones from the beaches, ensuring that the summer homes of laaqudan, or Northern Fur Seals, were clean and accessible.
Tags AlaskaAlaska is often thought of as the “last frontier.” For verification, one needs only look as far as the license plate.
Tags AlaskaIt is ironic and sad that balloons, meant to convey a message of compassion, love, and best wishes, become anything but when they are lost and become marine debris. Balloons may be ingested by marine animals, their ribbons can entangle marine life, and when they are deposited on the beach, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles from where they were first lost, they add to the marine debris burden on the beach ecology.
Tags balloons Pacific NorthwestOn a recent cool foggy morning near Surf City, North Carolina, Joe Huie stepped out of his skiff, trudged through the marsh, and up to a small hammock. Hoping he wouldn’t see what he knew would be there, he gazed out over the marsh dotted with small spider webs glistening with the morning fog and dew. Soon, Joe could pick out the telltale signs of the pieces of docks, polystyrene, and other hurricane debris that littered the beautiful marsh.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Southeast region, which spans Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, includes gorgeous sandy beaches, expansive meandering marshlands, diverse wildlife, significant history, and lots of southern charm. While sweet tea, hospitality, downhome sayings, and “y’all” are signatures of the south, so too are issues with marine debris.
Tags SoutheastThe NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to share the Great Lakes Land-based Marine Debris Action Plan Accomplishments Report 2014-2019. The Report documents the many actions taken over the five years of the Action Plan to reduce the impacts of marine debris in the Great Lakes.