Research on washed-up driftage on the coast of the Northwest Pacific Region 2004
(Toyama)
１．Objectives
It aims to grasp the current status of contamination by artificial articles such as plastic on the Coastof the Northwest Pacific Region. This is carried out by collecting,separating, counting, and weighing Washed-up driftage. Its findings will serve as primary data inworking out measures for the protection of the marine environment and fishing grounds andcountermeasures against wastes.
The Reseach will also make its participating residents gain a deeper understanding towards themarine environment and have a higher awareness of the importance of not throwing garbage andtrying to protect it.

２．Outline of the Research(1) Period:
From September to October of every year
(2) Places:
Coasts of the Northwest Pacific Region (1 or 2 coasts in each municipality)(3) Method:
Refer to the “Implementation Guidance for the Research of Washed-up Driftage on theCoast of the Northwest Pacific Region”(4) Implementation of the Research
The research is carried out with the cooperation of students of elementary schools, middle
schools and high schools and members of civil organizations.

３．Outcome of the Research in 2003
(1) Participating Municipalities
a. The members of the Association of Northeast Asia Regional Governments
Japan (19 coasts in 10 prefectures)：Aomori, Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui,Kyoto, Hyogo, Tottori and Shimane Prefecture
Russia (5 coasts in 2 regions)：Primorsky Territory and Khabarovsk Territory
Korea (5 coasts in 2 provinces)：Gangwon and Chungcheongnam Province
China (8 coasts in 2 provinces)：Liaoning and Shandong Provinceb. Others
Japan (7 coasts in 6 prefectures) ：Hokkaido,Akita,Yamaguchi,Fukuoka,Saga andNagasaki PrefectureChina (4 coasts in 2 provinces)：Hebei and Jiangsu Province

(2) Findings
The research was conducted at 48 coasts in 4 countries of Japan, Russia, Korea and China.
The number of participants was 1,620. The number and the total weight of collected articles were
70,000 and about 400kg. Plastics had the highest ratio; 74% in the number of articles and 53% in thetotal weight. These rations were almost the same as the findings of the research in the previous year.
As for a general feature of the distribution of wash-ed up driftage, the total number and weight tended
to decrease as a researched area going up north.
【The number of the collected objects per 100m2 in each area】(3) Others
An easy-to-understand leaflet was published in four languages, Japanese, Russian, Korean, andChinese, with illustrations to foster the people’s awareness of the environmental protection of theNorthwest Pacific Region.

4．Research Planned for 2004
(1) Participating Municipalities
a. Members of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments
Japan (18 coasts in 10 prefectures) ：Aomori, Yamagata, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui,Kyoto, Hyogo, Tottori and Shimane Prefecture
Russia (9 coasts in 3 regions)：Primorsky Territory, Khabarovsk Territory,Sakhalin Region
Korea (6 coasts in 3 provinces)：Gangwon, Chungcheongnam and Gyeongsangbuk
Province
China (8 coasts in 2 provinces)：Liaoning and Shandong Province

b. Others
Japan (7 coasts in 6 prefectures)：Hokkaido, Akita, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Sagaand Nagasaki Prefecture
China (6 coasts in 2 provinces)：Hebei and Jiangsu Province(2) Total number of coasts to be researched：54