June 2018 Update #3
Dear colleague,
The Oregon Marine Debris Action Plan was completed in April 2017, and has since seen
much progress. Highlighted below are recent marine debris accomplishments
in Oregon, as well as a brief summary of the Action Plan status update, and
other issues of interest. Many
thanks to everyone who contributed to this update!
Nir Barnea Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator NOAA Marine Debris Program
Volunteer at SOLVE beach cleanup. (Photo: Heidi Heaphy Photography)
Submitted by: Joy Hawkins, Oregon SOLVE
Volunteers continue to be a force in the fight against litter and marine debris. On March 24, over 3,100 Oregonians traveled from across the state to help at the SOLVE Spring Oregon Beach Cleanup. Despite the cold and rain, more than 16,000 pounds of debris was removed from 45 beach locations. This event was truly a coast-wide effort, made possible through the hard work and dedication of dozens of beach captains and partners including Oregon State Parks, Surfrider, Washed Ashore, local haulers, coastal cities, new Adopt-a-Beach groups, and many more.
In addition to the annual beach cleanup, local project leaders and volunteers continue to focus on upstream litter cleanups. Since January, an estimated 68,000 pounds of debris have been removed from streams, rivers, parks, and neighborhoods across Oregon. Way to go volunteers!
The River Queen, Columbia River. (Photo: Gary Cooper)
Submitted by: Christopher Castelli,
Oregon Department of State Lands
In 2017, the Department of State Lands began
removing the River Queen and other vessels from a site on the Columbia River
near Goble. The cleanup should be complete by October 2018. Approximately 100
tons of contaminated debris will be removed, at a cost of nearly $13 million
dollars.
The agency is working on a legislative concept
to address major cleanups on waterways, while reducing the financial burden to
the Common School Fund. One option is to acquire an umbrella insurance policy
and have lessees pay a pro-rated share of the premium costs.
The agency also launched a grant program under
the Submerged Lands Enhancement Fund in 2017. The priorities for 2018 grants
include projects that involve orphan/derelict piling and structure removal, and
recreation access. Up to five grants will be awarded for a total not to exceed
$100,000.
Oregon Coast Aquarium water bottle refill station. (Photo: Oregon Coast Aquarium)
Submitted by: Kerry Carlin Morgan,
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Oregon Coast
Aquarium’s green team is leading the charge to educate our staff and volunteers
about plastic, and reduce the amount of plastic in our facility. Internal
education includes monthly challenges to encourage staff to become more aware
of plastic in their lives and find alternatives. So far we have tackled plastic
bags, straws, water bottles, produce containers and packaging.
On the
guest side, we installed water bottle refill stations and our gift shop is
selling reusable bottles. We replaced single use plastic water bottles with
canned water – for those who forgot their reusable bottle! Straws are now by request only – moving
toward paper straws soon.
The Aquarium has brought in a new partner – the
Center for Geography Education in Oregon to develop a 2019 summer institute on
plastic pollution. We are in the planning stages for this exciting new teacher
professional development opportunity.
COASST UW undergraduate intern Abby Bratt works on analyses of seasonality of marine debris deposition. (Photo: COASST)
Submitted by: Hillary Burgess, University of Washington
There
are currently 15 actively monitored beaches in Oregon. A map of active and available
monitoring sites can be found here. Over the next six months, COASST plans to host trainings for
new participants in central and northern Oregon.
COASST
is just beginning work on preliminary analyses of the burgeoning dataset.
Anyone interested in updates can request to subscribe to our newsletter and
blog by emailing coasst@uw.edu.
Fawn Custer (far right) conducting a marine debris monitoring survey training. (Photo: Dennis White)
Submitted by:Phillip
Johnson, Oregon Shores
During the past six months,
CoastWatch has continued to conduct a monthly marine debris survey, using the
NOAA protocol, at 10 sites. During this
period, CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Fawn Custer has conducted 20
introductions/trainings for survey volunteers or prospective volunteers,
involving 231 participants. She has also
included information about the marine debris survey in the context of
CoastWatch’s larger citizen science effort (a total of seven projects) at 13
other events, reaching an estimated 1,155 people, including those interacted
with through tabling. An estimated 36
volunteers have actively participated at one of the sites during this span.
Fawn has also made presentations to
K-12 class audiences, including most recently schools in Toledo, Waldport, and
Lincoln City, and continues to seek to involve more schools in marine debris
monitoring and cleanup. For more
information about Oregon Shores and its activities, see https://oregonshores.org/.
Teachers discover microplastics in face wash. (Photo: OSG)
Submitted by: Cait
Goodwin, Oregon Sea Grant - HMSC Marine Education
In January
2018, Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) ran two full-day marine debris workshops for
educators that reached 37 educators. Many of these teachers are
implementing marine debris units with their students this spring. The teachers
and students are invited to present their projects at a Student Watershed
Symposium at Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) on May 22nd.
OSG shared
the STEAMSS marine debris curriculum developed in Oregon at the Sixth
International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego, CA on March 12th.
OSG’s interactive exhibit at the annual Marine
Science Day event at Hatfield Marine Science Center on April 14th
focused on marine debris. Visitors sorted Beach Box contents, and pledged to
engage in personal behaviors that would reduce marine debris. This year’s event
reached an estimate 1,700 visitors.
Hold on to Your Butt canister near a beach in Oregon. (Photo: Mike Harrington)
Submitted by: Bri Goodwin, Surfrider Oregon
Surfrider's anti-cigarette
litter program, called Hold on to Your Butt, is increasing in popularity.
Through the program, Chapters recruit businesses to sponsor a cigarette butt
canister. Sponsorship includes paying the cost of the canister, emptying it on
a regular basis, and reporting on the amount of cigarette butts. The Portland Chapter
has been participating in the program for nearly three years and has placed
more than 30 canisters. The Newport Chapter, who launched the program this
year, just placed their first canister.
In addition to placing canisters in their
communities, these programs help fund cigarette butt canisters in Oregon State
Parks. From 2016-2017, 19 canisters were placed in parks, keeping thousands of
cigarette butts from making their way to the beach. This year, the Newport and
Portland Chapters assisted State Parks in ordering 27 new canisters, more than
doubling the amount of cigarette butt canisters in State Parks.
Beach cleanup on the Oregon coast. (Photo: Surfrider Oregon)
Submitted by: Bri Goodwin, Surfrider Oregon
Surfrider Oregon, with support
from the National
Marine Sanctuaries Foundation and the NOAA Marine Debris Program, has launched the Oregon Beach Ambassador program to increase
the amount of data collected during marine debris cleanup in Oregon. A pilot
project of the program is on-going in Newport and Florence.
Beach Ambassadors clean any beach of their choice at least monthly while recording each piece
of marine debris in the NOAA Marine Debris Tracker App. In return,
Ambassadors get some sampling gear and a beach cleanup kit.
The program appeals to people
who regularly clean their beach, but want their cleanups to be more impactful.
One Ambassador in Newport who cleaned the beach weekly even before the program launched
said the program makes her “feel like I’m actually making a difference.”
The pilot phase ends on June 30, but we are looking for funding to
continue this program and expand it coast wide.
DitchTheStraw participants in Portland. (Photo: Surfrider Oregon)
Submitted by: Bri Goodwin, Surfrider Oregon
The Portland Chapter launched DitchTheStrawPDX in August 2017 and the
Newport Chapter launched Ditch the Straw Lincoln County in January 2018. Both
Chapters are taking a business-first approach by reaching out individually to businesses and
supporting their switch to a straws-upon-request policy. Portland’s campaign
requires businesses to only offer paper or reusable straws while Newport’s program
encourages, but does not require, the use of alternatives.
Between the two Chapters, more than
60 businesses (and counting) have moved to a straws-upon-request only policy.
Additionally, most of those businesses have also switched to a more sustainable
reusable or paper straw. Read more about these programs and
why we're focusing on straws.
Portland’s Green Street cleanup in action. (Photo: Surfrider Oregon)
Submitted by: Bri Goodwin, Surfrider Oregon
The Portland Chapter of
Surfrider Foundation was recognized by the City of Portland's Green Streets Program as the "Most
Valuable Partner" for removing 616 gallons of trash with the Green Streets
cleanups in 2017. Surfrider Portland has been doing Green Streets clean ups for more than 5 years,
collecting trash inland before it can be carried by wind or water to our beaches
and ocean.
The Portland Chapter's Green
Streets program also recruits business partners to participate. In many cases,
a business will host the volunteers for orientation and send employees out to
help. When our hardworking volunteers return to the business, they are often
rewarded with a tasty beverage courtesy of the hosting establishment. It's a
win-win – promoting business stewardship of their communities and keeping it
clean upstream!
Submitted by: Nir Barnea, NOAA Marine Debris Program
6IMDC
The Sixth International Marine Debris Conference
in San Diego, California, was a smashing success. Over 700 participants from 54
countries attended the conference, and all contributed by presenting their work
through posters and talks, leading discussions at networking events, or simply
sharing their experience and lessons learned. The proceedings are now available, and includes highlights of the activities and summaries of the technical sessions. A Book of Abstracts is available as well, and includes both the oral and poster abstracts.
The Oregon
Marine Debris Action Plan Status Update
Only a year since its inception, the Oregon
Marine Debris Action Plan and actions within it have made remarkable progress,
as can be seen by the recent status update. Of the 71 current and future
actions, we received updates on 58 actions, of which 45 are in progress, 7 were
completed, and 6 are pending. The completion of the first 2-year operating
cycle is a year away, at which point the partners will convene in a workshop to
review progress, evaluate the Plan, and consider future actions.
NOAA Marine
Debris Program Funding Opportunities
Federal
Funding Opportunities through the NOAA Marine Debris Program are posted on the Program’s website in the late summer, early fall. If you are interested in submitting a
proposal, please check the website for updates.
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