A Message from the Regional Coordinator
Hello Washington Marine Debris Community,
We are fast approaching the conclusion of our inaugural 6-year Washington Marine Debris Action Plan (WAMDAP) and plans are underway to bring our marine debris community together, in person, to create a new one. The Steering Committee has met several times this spring and the next WAMDAP workshop will be held this fall in October 2024. We'll be in touch soon with more event details, if you are interested in more information reach out to us at andrew.mason@noaa.gov.
Best,
Andrew and Staci
Partner Updates
 Members of the SJC and NWSC at a demonstration day during the April vessel turn-in event. Photo: Kari Koski.
San Juan County Pilots a Free Vessel Recycling
Turn-in Event for Earth Month
San Juan County held a Free Vessel Recycling Turn-in Event this past April. A goal of the county’s derelict vessel prevention program is to make it easy for locals to do the right thing by turning in their old boats for recycling. This pilot event was held at the Port of Friday Harbor with a team of partners including the county’s Department of Environmental Stewardship, The San Juan Marine Resources Committee, the Port of Friday Harbor, Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC). 14 vessels from around the county were removed before causing environmental damage, at no cost to the owners or the county. Funding for this program was provided in part by DNR’s Derelict Vessel Program and NWSC via federal funding from NOAA.
Learn more about the San Juan County Derelict Vessel Program.
 SPU’s Susan Fife-Ferris addressing beach cleanup volunteers at Golden Gardens in Seattle. Photo: Maggie Yuse.
Collecting Litter and Talking Policy to
Protect the Earth
Seattle Public Utilities staff members Susan Fife-Ferris, McKenna Morrigan, and Maggie Yuse joined Washington State Representative Liz Berry and other elected officials at an Earth Day clean-up event at Golden Gardens Park on April 21. Environment Washington and the Surfrider Foundation hosted the event. More than 60 community volunteers collected nearly 100 pounds of litter and learned about policy solutions regarding plastic and pollution.
 Photo: COASST.
Upcoming COASST Virtual Training Workshop
In the upcoming quarter, the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) will launch a virtual training module for the COASST marine debris monitoring program. While COASST program staff will continue to host in-community training workshops throughout the year, the virtual training workshops will help to increase the accessibility of the survey program for a broader community. The pilot workshop (modeled after the COASSTLite! virtual training program for beached bird surveyors, which was developed mid- pandemic) will take place on Friday June, 14th from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm. Readers of this newsletter are warmly invited to attend and share feedback. Please email coasst@uw.edu to sign up (Attendance will be capped at 15, with a waitlist for an upcoming training date for interested potential surveyors).
 A volunteer holds up a handful of trash removed from the beach, including a chips bag, single-use water bottle, aquaculture rope, and a kid's headband. Photo: Surfrider Washington.
Washington Coastal Cleanup Day: A Collective Effort To Protect and Enjoy Our Coasts
One of the most inspiring aspects of our annual Washington Coastal Cleanup Day is the spirit of collaboration. Local businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, Tribes, and concerned community members came together with one goal - to leave the beaches better than we found them. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Earth Month than by working with like-minded folks to steward the shores we love. Beyond cleanup activities, WCC helps raise awareness about the importance of reducing waste, empowering volunteers to take action in their daily lives. Through collective action and shared values, we can inspire lasting change and foster a culture of environmental stewardship.
To read more about Surfrider Washington’s WCC efforts, check out the latest blog post.
 Photo: Kris Clark.
Earth Day Cleanups in Glen Cove
Recognizing the harm a degrading tire bulkhead could cause, OBC organized an Earth Day cleanup to remove debris scattered across Historic Glen Cove. Over 500 pounds of debris from the bulkhead was removed. Amongst the debris one could find tires, rebar, plywood blanks, and miscellaneous bindings used to enforce the once sturdy bulkhead. While volunteers slogged through the seemingly hungry substrate, they stumbled across a sunken rowboat that was promptly removed with the rest of the debris. To finish off the day, volunteers planted and helped maintain a reforested area just above the bulk in order to help stabilize the land in a more natural way.
OBC hopes to draw attention to the increased risk from debris as aging bulkheads continue to degrade; encouraging both homeowners and local/state officials to be proactive when dealing with aging bulkheads all throughout the state.
 Mini-toiletries in plastic containers. Photo: Heather Trim.
New law will reduce plastic pollution
In the 2023 legislative session, Representative Sharlett Mena championed a terrific new bill - Reducing Plastic Pollution (HB 1085) - that was signed into law by Governor Inslee. The law requires that in all new construction water refill stations are included wherever a water faucet is required in our state’s building code. So, as new buildings are built or undergo major remodels after July 1, 2026, it will be much easier to bring your own bottle and further shift the norm.
The new law also bans plastic mini-toiletries such as shampoo, hand soap and lotions in hotels and other lodging establishments. The law applies to facilities with 50 or more lodging units starting January 1, 2027 and less than 50 units by January 1, 2028. And finally, foam-filled floats that hold up docks that are wrapped in flimsy plastic were banned starting January 1, 2024. WA Department of Fish and Wildlife will also do a study of the foam-filled floats with hard-shell plastic coverings (these have only 1/8 inch thick walls!) by November 1, 2025.
The passage of the bill was supported by the Plastic Free Washington / Washington Sin Plástico Coalition which is led by Environment Washington, Latino Community Fund, Oceana, Puget Soundkeeper, Seattle Aquarium, Surfrider Foundation and Zero Waste Washington.
 Over a dozen buoys tied together and being drug down the beach for a cleanup effort partnering with the Makah Tribe. Photo: Washington CoastSavers.
Washington CoastSavers: Working Together
to Remove Marine Debris
We are very excited to have just wrapped up an innovative marine debris recycling pilot, Salish Synergy, with support provided by the NOAA Marine Debris Program working with Net Your Problem and Ocean Legacy Foundation. Not only were we able to remove over 96 tons of marine debris from the Pacific Coast and Strait of Juan de Fuca coastline, but we were also able to recycle 10,713 lbs of marine debris.
We have recently begun a new project Clean Coast Quest! that will be implemented with NOAA/Sea Grant funding. This project will support regularly scheduled annual cleanups, a yearly remote cleanup with the Quinault Indian Nation, outreach education with Neah Bay High School and the mapping and cataloging of the marine debris along the Olympic Peninsula.
Washington CoastSavers is a program of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
 WCC crew at Blake Island with staged creosote debris. Photo: Washington Department of Natural Resources.
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Marine Debris Removal Program (MDRP)
In April, WA Department of Natural Resources partnered with WA State Parks to remove defuse creosote debris from the shorelines of Blake Island State Park. WA DNR’s Marine Debris Removal Program (MDRP) utilizes allocated funding, programmatic permits, and a trained fulltime Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crew to remove marine debris from Puget Sound shorelines. This partnership allowed the crew to stay on island, collect and stage the debris, and finally remove the debris via boat for disposal in May.
A valuable tool the MDRP utilizes is a free mobile app called MyCoast. This is a public resource, where beach goers can report abandoned boats, creosote treated debris, and large marine debris. We encourage you to utilize MyCoast to help the MDRP prioritize cleanup sites and be our eyes and ears on the shorelines.
 Photo: Nancy Messmer.
My Plastics Journey and our Shared Mission
Dr. Nancy Messmer. Lions International Regional Environment Chair (Washington, British Columbia, N. Idaho)
As we work together in Washington on marine debris, we will continue our efforts to remove marine debris, and we also must stop plastic pollution, individually, in our communities and globally. Please watch this video as I talk about my Journey with Plastics and make something similar about your efforts. Our shared and coordinated efforts will make a difference. All “hands on deck” are needed to pass a strong global Plastics Treaty.
Use these resources:
Turning off the Tap Link to Full Report and many Topic Reports
Beat Plastic Pollution, a Practical Guide: World Environment Day 2023 UNEP
 San Juan County Department of Environmental Stewardship staff fill the boat with cleanup debris from the outer islands. Photo by Kari Koski.
Spring Cleaning: Island Style
Plastic Free Salish Sea recently co-hosted the Spring Great Islands Clean-up, a community effort to remove trash and debris from beaches, shorelines, and roadways of the San Juan Islands. This year’s event made quite an impact, with 282 dedicated volunteers joining forces to clear litter from over 272 miles of roads and beaches. Clean-up operations were conducted across Decatur, Orcas, Lopez, San Juan, Shaw, Stuart, Waldron, and Yellow Islands. San Juan County Department of Environmental Stewardship staff ventured to the outer islands, retrieving nearly 1,000 pounds of assorted debris, ranging from sizable Styrofoam chunks to defunct crab pots and colorful buoys. A heartfelt thank you to all who contributed their time and energy in preventing a staggering 4,679 pounds of litter from polluting the Salish Sea!
Learn more at plasticfreesalishsea.org.
 Puget Sound Lost Shellfish Prevention Plan. Photo: Natural Resources Consultants.
2024 Puget Sound Lost Shellfish Pot Prevention Plan
The 2024 Puget Sound Lost Shellfish Pot Prevention Plan was published March 31. The plan articulates goals, strategies, and specific actions needed to prevent the accumulation of and minimize the harm caused by lost shellfish pots in Puget Sound. It is designed to be used by any organization, business, or agency that can take action to reduce the problem of lost shellfish pots. The desired outcomes of plan implementation are to reduce unobserved mortality caused by lost shellfish pots, increase shellfish harvest, reduce marine habitat damage, reduce repair and maintenance costs for vessels caused by conflicts with shellfish gear, and reduce marine pollution. Actions are identified to achieve three overarching goals. The first goal is to reduce shellfish pot loss in the commercial sector by reducing vessel interactions with active shellfish gear, reducing tampering and sabotage of commercial shellfish fishing gear, and reducing conflicts between different fishing gears. The second goal is to reduce shellfish pot loss in the recreational sector by improving recreational shellfish fishing regulations and licensing, and reducing user error. And the third goal is to mitigate impacts on species, habitat, and harvest after shellfish pots are lost by improving shellfish fishing gear setup and design to reduce negative impacts of lost pots, and removing lost shellfish pots from the marine environment. Natural Resources Consultants worked with partners including the Northwest Straits Foundation, tribal and non-tribal commercial fishing industry, recreational fishers, fisheries co-managers, vessel traffic authorities, the maritime industry, citizen marine resources committees, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies to develop the through a collaborative process. The plan development included focused advisory meetings, workshops, and online surveys. The plan’s actions are informed by the following key considerations: respect for tribal treaty rights, support for sustainable commercial and recreational fishing, marine habitat protection, feasibility, and sound science. Find the full plan here.
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