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Plastics and Garbage Debris
Why We Act
Marine debris degrades water quality and defiles coastal beaches. One of the most
harmful effects of marine debris is its lethal impact on birds and marine animals. Sea
birds commonly ingest plastic: fishing line, plastic wrap, or plastic foam. Sea turtles
often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish - a common food. Every year an estimated
30,000 northern fur seals die due to entanglement in plastic debris. Lost fishing nests
and fishing line is one of the most dangerous forms of debris in the marine environment.
Discarded or lost nets continue to fish, resulting in economic losses to the fishing
industry as well as needlessly killing marine life. In one Florida beach cleanup,
volunteers retrieved several miles of fishing line in just three hours. Fishermen and
boaters are also affected when marine debris fouls propellers and clogs water intake
ports causing engines to overheat.
Key Factors
Key sources of marine debris are trash items and galley waste from fishing vessels,
cruise ships, and cargo ships; and fishing net fragments discarded or lost from fishing
vessels. Recreational fishing and boating also generates trash such as plastic bags and
cups, as well as tremendous amounts of the seriously threatening monofilament fishing
line. Over 25,925 pieces of fishing line were collected from U.S. beaches during the
Center for Marine Conservation's 1996 beach cleanup, and at least 40% of all the
entanglements reported during the cleanup involved fishing line.
Strategies
The Coast Guard promotes educational initiatives such as the Sea Partners program that
seeks to educate maritime users about the detrimental effects of maritime pollution, and
the laws prohibiting discharge of plastic into the water. It also promotes the use of
appropriate port disposal facilities in lieu of dumping debris overboard at sea. In
addition to education, the Coast Guard assists in developing, and enforcing the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, commonly referred
to as the MARPOL Treaty. Annex V of MARPOL deals with plastics and garbage disposal
from ships. It prohibits the ocean dumping of all ship-generated plastics. Trash
handling and distance from shore requirements have also been set on other types of solid
wastes. All vessels, regardless of nationality, are bound by these restrictions within
our territorial waters.
Coordination
The Coast Guard works with the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce pollution
regulations and keep beaches and other coastal areas free of contaminating debris. The
Coast Guard, EPA, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Park Service, and the
Center for Marine Conservation also coordinate in monitoring and measuring marine debris
amounts in efforts such as EPA's National Marine Debris Monitoring Program. We build on
the efforts of private groups such as the Center for Marine Conservation that seek to
educate mariners on marine debris regulations, and the harmful effects of debris.
20 Protection of Natural Resources
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