A Behavior Change Campaign to Reduce Plastic Shotgun Wad Debris on the North-Central California Coast

Between 2012 and 2018, monthly marine debris monitoring surveys were conducted at six Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary beaches, located on the North-central California Coast near San Francisco, using the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project protocols. Data analysis identified rope, straws, bottle caps, and shotgun wads as four of the most commonly found plastic items across all surveyed sites. 

With this data Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Greater Farallones Association, with funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, developed a project to reduce plastic shotgun wad debris from entering San Francisco Bay and depositing onto coastal beaches. The results of the pilot project affirmed that a behavior change campaign is an effective way to address this type of marine debris that can be easily connected to a specific activity and location. The pilot project is documented in the report, “A Behavior Change Campaign to Reduce Plastic Shotgun Wad Debris on the North-central California Coast.”