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Check out the link below to read the full Strategic Plan!
We are pleased to share our new Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2021-2025! This document highlights how the Marine Debris Program will work with dedicated staff and partners for the next five years to make a measurable change toward reaching our vision: the global ocean and its coasts free from the impacts of marine debris.
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Debris along the lower part of the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (Photo: Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve).
We are proud to announce our FY 2021 North America Marine Debris Prevention and Removal notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). Funding for this NOFO was provided through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act. The USMCA recognizes the importance of taking action to prevent and reduce marine debris, including plastic litter and microplastics, in order to preserve human health and marine and coastal ecosystems, prevent the loss of biodiversity, and mitigate the costs and impacts of marine debris.
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RSVP for the IMDCC meeting to learn about the marine debris monitoring and detection activities of the participating agencies (Photo: NOAA).
On December 15, 2020, the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC) will have a virtual meeting open to public attendance from 10:00am to 11am EST. The open meeting will include presentations on the marine debris monitoring and detection activities of the participating agencies. There will not be a public comment period.
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Artwork by Kate D. (Grade 8, Florida).
There's still time to submit your entry for the NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest! Students in grades K-8 from the United States and U.S. territories can submit their artwork in the mail and online until December 15.
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Some of the marine debris removed during a 2016 pilot project (Photo: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community/Natural Resources Consultants, Inc.).
Indigenous communities have a deep understanding of and relationship with the natural environment, which has fostered expert and nuanced traditional ecological knowledge, and shaped cultural practices and identity. NOAA recognizes the importance of indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge for understanding the environment, adapting to environmental change, and improving the health of environments that we all depend on. We are proud to work with indigenous communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to understand and reduce the impacts of marine debris through projects that prevent and remove marine debris.
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Youth participate in a beach cleanup on Gorbatch, adjacent to the town of St. Paul where seals occupy the shorelines during the summer months (Photo: Veronica Padula).
The Pribilof Islands are among the most unique and important places in the world. Three of the five islands making up the Pribilof Islands are uninhabited, but two of the largest islands, St. George and St. Paul Islands, host vibrant communities that are predominantly Unangax̂/Unangan. However, these communities have long shouldered the burdensome and overwhelming responsibility of removing tens of thousands of tons of debris, much of which originates far from the communities themselves. Because of the multitude of threats resulting from marine debris, these communities have developed and expanded locally-driven marine debris prevention and removal efforts.
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Broken coral heads inside of a derelict fishing net (Photo: NOAA).
Coral reefs are one of Earth’s most productive ecosystems. Rocky reefs can form barrier islands that protect the mainland from storms and destructive waves, they are home to a third of all the fish species in the ocean, and provide food for millions of people. They are also fragile, which means that marine debris can have a huge impact on these ecosystems. This #CoralsWeek learn about the impacts of marine debris to coral ecosystems and how you can make a difference!
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