A mass of derelict nets removed from the reefs surrounding Midway Atoll (Kuaihelani, Pihemanu) in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Credit: NOAA).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is pleased to announce our Fiscal Year 2022 NOAA Marine Debris Removal notice of funding opportunity. Funding for this opportunity is provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The NOAA Marine Debris Program will award up to $56 million to fund projects that remove marine debris to benefit marine and Great Lakes habitats and communities. This competition focuses on two priorities: removing large marine debris and using proven interception technologies to capture marine debris throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, territories, and Freely Associated States.
Proposals are due on Grants.gov on September 30, 2022, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time and an applicant webinar will be hosted on July 14, 2022, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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Hagfish/eel trap parts (Credit: Lauren Blickley).
Submitted by: Lauren Blickley, Surfrider Foundation
Research from Surfrider Foundation’s Hagfish/Eel Trap project was recently published in Marine Litter News. Since August 2021, collaborating organizations and community volunteers collected and reported over 7,500 trap parts (TE) from the Main Hawaiian Islands (including Kahoʻolawe) and the U.S. West Coast. Hundreds of TE were hand-sorted into groups based on a combination of characteristics of size, hole patterns, markings, and writing. Only 26.8% of the 7,480 TE pieces collected as beach debris were whole. In contrast, 45.8% comprised only the top “cone,” while 13.2% comprised the finger-like “funnels.”
Of a sample of 5,286 TE with complete flanges examined closely, only 8% were embossed with writing. One TE was embossed with “Made in Korea” and 136 with the names of companies in Korean lettering, suggesting that these were manufactured and used in South Korea.
Please continue to report hagfish traps to hagfish@surfrider.org.
Murals from Kōkua Hawai'i Foundationʻs 2022 Plastic Free Hawai'i School Mural Contest (Credit: Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation).
Submitted by: Lisa Jeffers-Fabro, Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation
Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation's 2022 Plastic Free Hawai'i School Mural Contest was a huge success! This year's theme: Innovation. Fifteen murals were submitted from 12 schools. A variety of materials were collected to create murals that spark conversations about the innovative solutions needed to solve plastic pollution. Guests were invited to view the murals in person at the Plastic Free Hawai'i School Mural Art Show and learn more about taking care of our oceans, reefs, and beaches. Grand prize winners, Wai'anae Elementary School, received an Elkay Water Refill station for their school. Congratulations to all 321 school students for their participation and for being caretakers of our island home!
Volunteers sifting through sand for marine debris at Wāwāmalu beach (Credit: Kate Dolbier).
Submitted by: Joshua Gonzalez, Parley for the Oceans
The Parley Hawai'i AIR Station continues to execute environmental education and activism. Located at Bishop Museum, this collaborative community hub teaches visitors about the beauty and fragility of the oceans through innovative events, talks, and workshops.
Over World Oceans Week 5/30/22-6/3/22, the Parley for the Oceans team, our partner organizations, and hundreds of volunteers gathered to share their environmental knowledge and passions to take action and celebrate the importance of the Wāwāmalu coastline. A network of Ocean Guardians was created, over three tons of waste and invasive species were removed, native species were planted, and important sites were preserved.
To learn more about the Parley Hawai'i AIR Station and its impact on the community and environment, visit our website, or come see us in person.
A figure showing the sources and transport pathways of plastic additive chemicals, similar to those discussed in the book chapter “Plastic Additives in the Ocean,” co-authored by Dr. Jennifer Lynch and Dr. Katy Shaw of NIST and CMDR (Credit: Katy Shaw).
Submitted by: Dr. Jennifer Lynch, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Hawaiʻi Pacific University's Center for Marine Debris Research
Drs. Jennifer Lynch and Katherine Shaw of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Hawai‘i Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research (CMDR) have recently co-authored “Plastic Additives in the Ocean,” a chapter within the newly published book Plastics and the Ocean: Origin, Characterization, Fate, and Impacts. The chapter, written with Dr. Katrina Knauer of the U.S. Department of Energy’s BOTTLE Consortium, provides an introduction to plastic additive chemicals, focusing on their chemistry, function, transport, fate, detection, and toxicities. This publication serves as a springboard for several research projects beginning at CMDR in an effort to detect and quantify plastic additives in Hawaiian marine debris samples. Email the CMDR team at cmdr@hpu.edu if you would like a copy of the chapter, and learn more about the book here.
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Dispersal of model tracer from the ONE Apus accident site (gray circle). Magenta/orange/green contours outline areas of high concentration in April/July/November 2021. Corresponding colors mark photographs of debris and sites (boxes and stars, respectively) where they were collected. Blue colors show model solution in February 2022, with deeper blue corresponding to higher model debris concentrations. White arrows indicate directions of drift (Sample and photo credits: Emily Onderbeke and Monk Seal Survey (Midway Atoll), Andrew McWhirter and Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, crew of S/V Lady Amber, and Russ Lewis (Washington)).
Submitted by: Nikolai Maximenko, University of Hawai‘i/International Pacific Research Center
Using a state-of-art ocean model, the University of Hawai‘i/International Pacific Research Center team followed the dispersal of the contents of 1,816 marine containers lost by the ONE Apus ship on November 30, 2020, during her encounter with bad weather hundreds of miles northwest of Midway. Synthesis with the model allowed for the connection of sparse and fragmentary reports into a continuous timeline linking spills in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, eastward drift, and two “waves” that arrived on the North American shoreline. At least one boat collision in summer 2021 was attributed to the container debris and boats competing in the 2022 Pacific Cup were alarmed. The Apus container debris, including identifiable items shown in the accompanying Figure, is expected to reach the main Hawaiian Islands from the east in summer-fall 2022. Please share you reports with Nikolai Meximenko at maximenk@hawaii.edu.
For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/apusdebris
Check out the 7IMDC Provisional Conference Programme and Schedule now (Credit: NOAA).
The 7th International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC) will take place September 18-23, 2022 in Busan, Republic of Korea. This conference is one of the world’s largest and longest-running events dedicated to the issue of marine debris. The 7IMDC is organized by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Registration for the 7IMDC is still open and the Provisional Conference Programme is now available.
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The articles written by partners are not the opinions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and do not imply that NOAA recommends or endorses those expressed by partner organizations. These opinions and their associated actions will be carried out by interested partner organizations and are not affiliated with NOAA or the NOAA Marine Debris Program.
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