May 2014. Vol. 5(1)1. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup of Japan in 2014 (Japan)
2. The Second Basic Plan to Manage Marine Debris of Korea (2014~2018) launched (Korea)
3. A Beautiful Ocean? Oceanic Debris Art Exhibition at National Museum of Marine Science &Technology (Taiwan)
4. Monitoring debris on beaches of Yamagata with Abundance Index (Japan)
5. Ten Associations Were Invited To Attend the First ‘China's Marine Protection’ NGO Seminar (China)
6. 'How to use the result of Korea National Marine Debris Monitoring' discussed
at Marine Litter Forum 2014 (Korea)
7 A leaflet and a video on marine debris impact on Black-faced Spoonbill, an endangered species of bird,
published in Korea (Korea)
8. Long-term monitoring of marine debris in Tainan region: results and future expectations (Taiwan)
9. Marine Debris in Africa (South Africa)

Marine Litter News_ 3

Preface
Dear readers from around the world concerned with marine litter,
From this volume, this newsletter has begun to have news from all around the world, expanded fromthe news from the East Asia Civil Forum. We have decided it with our awareness that we need to share
all the news from around the world, as the global ocean is linked together. Thanks to contribution from
China and South Africa, we could expand this newsletter as we wished.
Thus, this volume carries nine articles from five regions. Japan tells us that 2014 is the 25th
anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup in Japan. Many special events including Marine Litter
Summit are scheduled in Japan. And an interesting result of beached debris monitoring with abundanceindex is introduced. In Korea, the government launched the second basic plan to manage marine debris.
And the Korean NGOs published a leaflet on marine debris impact on Black-faced Spoonbills, aninternationally endangered species of birds. We are also happy to hear news from China that ten
associations attended the first marine debris seminar. In Taiwan, long-term monitoring revealed thatstyrofoam buoys and its fragments from oyster cultivation are abundant on beaches along with plasticbags. And lastly, South Africa explains the general situation related to marine litter in the region, which isvery informative.
Though the marine debris problem seems to become more serious year by year, I have become
confident from this news that we, the humans, have the willingness and ability to cope with this problem.
With love,
May 2014,
Sunwook Hong (Ph.D., President of OSEAN)

Marine Litter News_ 2

ACTIVITIES
1. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup ofJapan in 2014 (Japan)
By Ms. Kojima Azusa, ICC coordinator of Japan, director of JEAN,
k_azusa@jean.jp

Recommended Citation:

Azusa, Kojima (2014) Celebrating the 25th anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup of Japan in 2014.
Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(1): 3.

It was in 1990 when the first ICC was held in Japan. It will be the

The annual Marine Litter Summit will be held in Shonai District

25th ICC this year. We would like to take the 25th anniversary as anin Yamagata Prefecture in July, 2014. The objective of theimportant transition moment. JEAN is planning to enhance publicconference this year is to share the information from the city

relations activities. We will recruit more site captains and appeal for

administrators to expand effective countermeasures against themore volunteers. We will also shake up the trunk museum andmarine litter problem all over Japan. We will discuss measures increate memorial goods for the site captains for the comingwatershed areas since much of the marine litter reaches the ocean

September.

through the rivers and waterways.

In addition, we will send ICC study materials to the organizations
that carry out only cleanups and will promote their participation in
the ICC. We are also going to offer some ideas of awareness raisingprograms to the captains who have been helping us. The programs
can be done in a short time during the cleanups. Hopefully, theseplans will make our activities livelier this year and encourage thevolunteers who may find nothing exiting about the activities afterparticipating in it many times.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, there has been aconcern regarding safety management during the beach cleanups.
We were asked, “What if the earthquake occurs during the

Trunk museum created by JEAN

cleanup?” by the corporate workers who participated in our activity
as volunteers. It certainly is put us into the situation to be called into
the question the whole concept of risk control during the cleanup
activity. (At the site where JEAN hosts cleanups as a site captain,
we always tell the volunteers to stop the cleanup immediately andevacuate promptly to the higher place where they are informed inadvance.)Volunteers participating ICC

Marine Litter News_ 3

ACTIVITIES
2. The Second Basic Plan to Manage Marine Debris of Korea (2014~2018)
launched
By Dr. Jongmyoung Lee, Chief Science Officer, Korea Marine Litter Institute, Our Sea of East Asia Network
sachfem@nate.com

Recommended Citation:

Lee, Jongmyoung (2014) The Second Basic Plan to Manage Marine Debris of Korea (2014~2018) launched.
Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(1): 4.

Estimation of marine debris flow and stock of Korea
The information on amount of marine debris is essential for
deciding management priority and evaluating its outcome. There
have been few studies on the scientific estimation of the total
amount of marine debris at national level. The total amount ofmarine debris of South Korea was estimated in terms of inflow,
outflow, and stock for the Second Basic Plan to Manage Marine
Debris of Korea. The amount of annual inflow was calculated withthe sum of land- and ocean-based debris input. Land-based debris
consisted of riverine debris in non-flood and flood seasons anddebris from shoreline activities. Ocean-based debris consisted ofderelict fishing gears, garbage from ships, aquaculture buoys, anddebris form harbours. Annual outflow was based on the amounts ofdebris collected from beach, seabed, and sea surface, and generated

The 2nd Basic Plan to Manage Marine Debrisof Korea(2014~2018)
The Second Basic Plan to Manage Marine Debris of Korea

by storm events. Stock is the total of debris on beaches, seabeds, andsea surfaces at a certain point of time. We estimated the annual
inflow and outflow of marine debris in South Korea in 2012 to be
176,807 ton and 128,207 ton, respectively (natural debris fromstorm events). The stock was estimated to be 152,214 ton at the endof 2012.

(2014~2018) launched with joint commitment of Ministry of Oceans
and Fisheries, Ministry of Environment, and Korea Coast Guard.
The plan based on the result of the research project conducted by

The strategy to promote citizen participation for reducing themarine debris

Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and Our Sea of East Asia Network(OSEAN). The plan aimed 1) to minimize the inflow of debris
entering the sea, and strengthen the citizen oriented cleanup
capacity, and 2) to establish the scientific and active policy
infrastructure to manage marine debris. The strategies to achievethese goals include 1) focusing to source control of marine debris, 2)extending the citizen oriented cleanups, 3) advance in marine debris
management infrastructure, and 4) providing customized outreachprograms. According the plan, the Korean government will invest
about USD 330M for marine debris projects over a five year spanfrom 2014 to 2018. OSEAN contributed to the estimation of marine
debris stock and flow of South Korea, and development of strategies
for citizen participation and international cooperation.

Marine Litter News_ 4

The plan suggests the strategy to promote citizen participation for
reducing the marine debris. The strategy includes the projects ofpublic relation programs, supports for coastal cleanups, target
oriented education programs, and active participation to regionalseas programs. We can expect campaigns with mass media andpublishing of the white book on damages from marine debris innear future. International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in Korea will besupported by the government and other entities to extend theevent and host NOWPAP ICC Campaign and Workshop in 2014
and 2017.

3. A Beautiful Ocean? Oceanic Debris Art Exhibition at National Museum ofMarine Science & Technology
By Mr. Yun-Chih Liao/National Museum of Marine Science & Technology
fish1715@mail.nmmst.gov.tw

Recommended Citation:

Liao, Yun-Chih. (2014). A Beautiful Ocean? Oceanic Debris Art Exhibition at National Museum of Marine
Science & Technology. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(1): 5.

“During my voyage, I was floating and drifting by the current.
When the sunlight penetrated into the water, my body shape
looks like a real fish, swimming after them.” (Rahic Talif, 2014)“We were created to protect people and to offer people clean
bottom water, then we were abandoned and scattered drifting in
the ocean.” (Rahic Talif, 2014)

Rahic Talif, an aboriginal artist from Hualien, eastern Taiwan. “In
our traditional daily life, the ocean offers us plenty of foods andgoods”, he said. Debris or trash was not shown in our glossary
except the word “Rakaw”. It means that leaves or grass are easily
burnt and fade away, the greatest difficulty is burning the shells.
However, shells of great green turban, which used to be abundantalong the coast, were replaced by numerous bottoms, slippers, andplastics. These can float and drift by the current for an unexpectedlong voyage!
For a long time of self-reflection, Rahic Talif has transferred
traditional art to the global perspectives, for example, the oceanic
environmental issues, by using debris and driftwood collected along
the sea shore for his artistic creation.

A Beautiful Ocean? A tale for a long voyage in Oceanic Debris
Art Exhibition. (Rahic Talif, 2014)
used to own were then abandoned and could be harmful to the

National Museum of Marine Science & Technology is envisioned
as an ideal venue for encouraging visitors to “embrace”,

ocean. If we don’t take care of them and treat them well, the beautyof the ocean will vanish.

“appreciate” and “sustain” the ocean. Our purpose for thisexhibition is creating awareness in people that, the things we

5_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

ACTIVITIES
4. Monitoring debris on beaches of Yamagata with Abundance Index(Japan)By Mr. Hiroshi Kaneko, Representative Director of JEAN
cleanup@jean.jp

Recommended Citation:

Kaneko, Hiroshi. (2014). Monitoring debris on beaches of Yamagata with Abundance Index. Marine Litter
News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(1): 6.

There is an approximately 135-km-long coastline in Yamagata

Level 1: Fewer litter (5ℓ/100㎡ )Level: ManyLevel44:
Manylitter
litter(40ℓ/100㎡(40ℓ/100㎡))

prefecture in the Tohoku region, NW Japan. Since 2011, we havebeen working on the marine litter issue by setting goals to collectmarine litter more effectively.
We divide the beach into 39 areas and monitor the litters washedashore in the 166 research points set in the areas. We employ“Index Evaluation Measurement of the scattered trash in thewaterfront (for beaches)”(Fig. 1) and monitor it in the spring andLevel 8 : Wholly covered by litter(640ℓ/100㎡ )fall every year.
Our short-term goal is to make the amount of litter into half in thefall after cleaning up the beaches in the spring. Taking the case of2013 as an example, the rate of achievement to the short-term goal
was about 44% of total in 17 areas out of 39 areas (Fig. 2).
It is only Yamagata prefecture that uses the monitoring system forthe management of marine litter. We are hoping to grasp the actual
condition of the litter in each area by introducing the system to all

Fig. 1. Example of 'Index Evaluation Measurement of scatteredtrash'. Blue area of Level 1 and 4 means trash scattered on abeach. The index can be used as an alternative way to rapidly
assess beach litter pollution in a wide area. Surveyors can easily
assess the pollution level of a beach with the reference photos
and estimate the total amount of litter.

over Japan.

Fig. 2. Result of Index Evaluation Measurement of the scattered trash in the waterfront (for beaches), Yamagata prefecture, NWJapan in 2012. Circles on the x axis mean the areas which achieved their short-term goals set using Index.

Marine Litter News_ 6

5. Ten Associations Were Invited To Attend the First ‘China's Marine
Protection’ NGO Seminar (China)
By Mr. Yonglong Liu, Consultant at Shanghai Yinglv NPO Development Centerliuyonglun@163.com

Recommended Citation:

Liu, Yonglong. (2014) Ten Associations Were Invited To Attend the First ‘China's Marine Protection’ NGO
Seminar. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(1): 7-8.

The First Chinese Marine Environment Protection NGO Forum of
the Control of Marine Litter Pollution’was held on August
24th ,2013 in the conference room of the first floor,Building
1,No.2277, south Pudong road, Shanghai; hosted by Chinese
Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Department of
Water Environment, undertook by Shanghai Rendu Ocean NPO
Development Center. It also gained great support from NOWPAP,NPO Development Center Shanghai (Yinglv), Youth development
service center and Youth home public service support center ofPodong district in Shanghai, and so on. Ten NGOs which have taken
part in marine environment from Hainan, Guangzhou, Fujian,Shanghai, Liaoning and other coastal cities attended the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting,there was an official business

An official business launch for Shanghai Rendu Ocean NPO
Development Centerlaunch for Shanghai Rendu Ocean NPO Development Center. Thenthe use of the Honolulu Strategy (by NGO of Chinese marine
environment) and some questions about anticipating in protecting
marine were discussed. Dr. Chenhao of Chinese Research Academyof Environmental Sciences gave a report of the Honolulu Strategy
first,then after the introduction of GPML made by the volunteers ofRendu, all the members started a discussion of how to join the
GPML and how to contribute to it. In the third part of the forum, Dr.
Zhang Haofei was invited to make a recommendation of themonitoring system of State Oceanic Department, and therepresentatives talked over the Standardization of methods ofmonitoring of marine litter and data report in groups. We also talked
about how to communicate ,statistic sharing and joint action on
marine litter food of Chinese environmental protective NGO, andhow to build a Mechanism of Action or a platform to make a deep

Dr. Chen Hao of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental
Sciences, the Department of Water Environment is giving areportdiscussion.

7_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

ACTIVITIESPicture of Ma Tiannan, the director-general and the volunteer ofRendu in front of the poster

Representatives of NGO from the coastal cities all over ourcountry are discussing about the topic in group at the meeting

At a whole-day forum, the host arranged a special movie for theparticipants-《Build the image of marine》.It was a documentary ofamazing recent condition of marine pollution which has alreadybeen translated in Chinese. It described the effect of humanactivities on the ocean in various sights, especially the relationshipbetween litter and plastic things made by human beings with thegreat disaster suffered by the marine creatures.

Although the protection of the ocean still remains a daunting
task ,we wish that after the first meeting of Chinese marine
protection NGO, we can lift the curtain on the joint action ofprotection. We will try our best for a better ocean environment in the
future.

Marine Litter News_ 8

On-site meeting6. 'How to use the result of Korea National Marine Debris Monitoring'
discussed at Marine Litter Forum 2014
By Dr. Sunwook Hong, President of OSEAN
oceanook@gmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Hong, S., (2014). 'How to use the result of Korea National Marine Debris Monitoring' discussed at Marine Litter
Forum 2014. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(1): 9-10.

Participants in the Marine Litter Forum held in Feb. 7, 2014

International trend of beach debris monitoring and data use of
Korea Marine Debris Monitoring Program (KNMDMP) werediscussed in the Marine Litter Forum 2014, an annual event of
OSEAN. The forum was held on February 7, 2014 in Tongyeong
City, SE Korea.
Dr. Jongmyoung Lee of OSEAN introduced the global trend to
mitigate marine debris problems and cases of regional beach debris
monitoring by citizens in the U.S., England, and North Sea. He also

Dr. Jongmyoung Lee (left) and Dr. Sunwook Hong presenting in
the Marine Litter Forum held in Feb. 7, 2014

presented the efforts to standardize monitoring methods to makedata more useful and comparable, such as UNEP/IOC guidelines(Cheshire et al., 2009), NOAA of the U.S. (Lippiatt et al., 2013),
and AMETEC protocol in Asia (Jang, 2013).

9_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

ACTIVITIESI presented the assessment of marine debris pollution based on thefirst two year results of KNMDMP (Hong, 2013) and showed what
we, OSEAN, have been doing based on the KNMDMP result. We
have combated styrofoam buoy debris used for marine aquaculture
which was recognized as the most serious item in Korea. I alsosuggested building a quantitative goal for policy using marine debris
index and to evaluate outcome of policy measures through long termmonitoring.
KNMDMP was started in 2008 with the support of Ministry of
Ocean and Fisheries and Korea Marine Environment Management
Corporation. Annually, NGO leaders and over 1000 volunteers haveparticipated in the surveys. Comprehensive analysis of 6-year results
and its implication for governmental policies will be researched thisyear. Forty NGO leaders and managers of KNMDMP as well as

Artworks of Jung-Ah Kim (right) on marine litter issue were
exhibited

students in the forum actively discussed the problems to be
improved; such as communication, NGOs' expertise on monitoring,and integrated program management. Artworks of Jung-Ah Kim, art
director of OSEAN were also exhibited.

References
Cheshire, A.C., Adler, E., Barbière, J., Cohen, Y., Evans, S., Jarayabhand, S., Jeftic, L., Jung, R.T., Kinsey, S., Kusui, E.T., Lavine, I.,
Manyara, P., Oosterbaan, L., Pereira, M.A., Sheavly, S., Tkalin, A., Varadarajan, S., Wenneker, B., Westphalen, G. 2009.
UNEP/IOC Guidelines on Survey and Monitoring of Marine Litter. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies, No. 186; IOC
Technical Series No. 83: xii + 120 pp.
Jang, Y.C., 2013. AMETEC Training Workshop on marine debris for Asian ICC coordinators, Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil
Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 4(1): 2-5.
Hong, S., 2013. Assessment of marine debris pollution and emergy evaluation of management measures in Korea. Ph. D. Dissertation of
Graduate School, Pukyong National University. pp 155.
Lippiatt, S., Opfer, S., Arthur, C., 2013. Recommendations for monitoring debris trends in the marine environment, NOAA Technical
Memorandum NOS-OR&R-46.

Marine Litter News_ 10

7. A leaflet and a video on marine debris impact on Black-faced Spoonbill,an endangered species of bird, published in Korea
By Dr. Yong Chang Jang , Researcher at Our Sea of East Asia Network
yongchangjang@hotmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2014) A leaflet and a video on marine debris impact on Black-faced Spoonbill, an
endangered species of bird, published in Korea. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine
Litter, Vol 5(1): 11.
A leaflet and a on marine debris impact on Black-faced Spoonbill

Network Korea, who has been monitoring the breeding condition of

was published in May, 2014 in South Korea. Our Sea of East Asia

this bird for a long time. He agreed with us that Korean people

Network prepared this leaflet and the video with Water Birds

should pay lot of attention to the damage from marine debris,

Network Korea and Design SI company. The pdf file of the leaflet

especially the sports fishing debris. As the Spoonbill collect fishes in(Lee et al., 2014), published with Korean and English together, canshallow waters by shaking its bills, the risk is very high that this bird

be downloaded (http://cafe.naver.com/osean/1403) without login.

can be entangled with buoyant debris, he explained. And as lots of

And the video can be viewed on Youtube.

leisure fishers left fishing debris, there are lots of fishing hooks and(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh7ns2TjP6Y)

lines left on shallow waters, where the Spoonbill usually collect

The Black-faced Spoonbill, Platalea minor, is an internationalfood.

endangered species whose population is less than 3,000 (Birdlife

The publication of this leaflet and this video is only a part of ourInternational, 2014). It breeds mainly in small uninhabited islets ofefforts to reduce impact of marine debris on marine wildlife. As thethe western coasts of South Korea, with only a small population

conference on the Convention on the Biological Diversity (CBD)

breeding in the other areas of China, North Korea, and Russia

will be held in 2014 in Korea, we will do our best to make more.

(Birdlife International, 2014). So, the sound environment in thepeople know the impact of marine debris on wildlife. We will try to

breeding areas in South Korea is a crucial factor affecting its

persuade the government to establish and implement proper

population.

regulation on littering related withWe have come to know that marine debris is a big threat to thisendangered species of bird when we surveyed the marine debris

sports fishing activities.
We

truly

appreciateMs.

impact on wildlife in Korea from 2012 to 2013. It led us toJeongwon Park, who produced thecooperate with Dr. Kisup Lee, the representative ofvideo, and many photographers

Waterbird

including Prof. Nam Jun Jee forproviding the source files of thevideo and pictures.
Ms. Jeongwon Park

<References>
BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Platalea minor.
Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2014.
Lee, Kisup, Hong, Sunwook, Si, Jihoon, Jang, Yong Chang, Lee,
Jongmyoung (2014) Please save the Black-faced Spoonbills
from recreational fishing debris. Waterbird Network Korea,
OSEAN, Si Design, 12pp.
Leaflet published by Waterbird Network Korea and OSEAN
11_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

RESEARCHES
8. Long-term monitoring of marine debris in Tainan region: results
and future expectations
By Mr. Chao Rui Guang , researcher in Tainan Community University
c7720831@gmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Guang, Chao Rui. (2014). Long-term monitoring of marine debris in Tainan region: results and future
expectations . Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(1): 12-15.

Tainan Community University (TCU) is located in Tainan, one of
the countries along the western coastline of Taiwan. Almost nine
years into the long-term monitoring of marine debris since its initialestablishment in October 2005, TCU has been gathering information
about the composition and origin of the omnipresent marine debris
scattered along the coastline. By elucidating this information, TCU
strive to resort to citizens’ actions and urge the government to ratify
comprehensive plans and policies to address the issue of marine
litters.

Throughout these years, styrofoam and disposable products
represent an enormous amount of marine debris. The former
originate mainly from oyster aquaculture further offshore, while theFig. 1. The beach is fully covered with rubbish and looks like a
dumping ground after a typhoon

latter include drinking cups, straws, bottle caps and glass bottles etc.
Plastic bags on the other hand, are increasing in amount in recent
years, and are the major contributor to marine debris in most monthsof the year. They are locally produced in Taiwan and are washedashore or brought in via the rivers.

Data shows that from 2008 onwards, the amount of beach trash
has increased considerably during the typhoon season between Juneand November, with more plastic fragments and plastic pellets
found on the beach. After a typhoon, any beach above the highwater mark would be seen covered with miscellaneous plastic
fragments (Fig. 2) and look like a dumping ground (Fig.1).

In order to ensure the continuous operation of long-termmonitoring of marine debris, we have established an association
where we raise public awareness and encourage their participation.
Besides giving talks in schools and different communities to
elucidate the current status of marine litter issues and recommended
actions, we also integrate with service learning activities in schools,
in order to get more teachers and students involved. Instead ofMarine Litter News_ 12

Fig. 2. Miscellaneous plastic fragments are often washed ashore
after a typhoon. This is a common scene on any beach above thehigh water markclearing up marine litter, we strongly advocate the concept of
reducing the source of waste in the first place. In TCU, we have theopportunity to discuss with many teachers, who help integrate andpromote this concept in their teachings and activity programs.
Actions taken include: avoiding disposable tableware and using
reusable ones instead, recycling reusable materials, repairing old

clothing and goods, creating art works from used glass bottles, andactively promoting this concept to others etc. (Fig. 3).

Fig. 4. Tens of thousands of EPS foam blocks were washedashore on Tainan coastline in late May, 2010

Fig. 3. Love the earth bring your own reusable drinking bottles
and shopping bags. Would you like to do the same?
If you have been to Taiwan, you would probably not fail to notice
the plentiful street shops entirely devoted to selling mixed beverages
such as the well-known bubble tea and other fruit-flavored or teabased drinks. It is a deeply rooted street food culture here and weunderstand that under certain circumstances, it is not always easy tocompletely avoid disposable tableware such as paper cups. But what
we citizens could do (and did!), was to urge our government to

Fig. 5. Despite the recycling of EPS foam blocks, the enormous
amount of their small fragments still cover the beach. 20th
April, 2014.

ratify plans to improve the situation. EPA of Taiwan decided tooffshore. Oyster cultivation usually starts in late September each

adopt this strategy after having secured public support according toyear, and they are harvested in March the year after. Each oyster

opinion poll; they have pushed forward a regulation on 1st May,

float uses around 15 huge EPS foams as floating aids, and more than

2011, where the public could enjoy a 10% discount in any beverage

12,000 oyster floats would be seen across the sea at its peak. The

shop if they use their own drinking containers instead. Secondly,

EPS foams are then causally discarded into the sea once theminimizing the diversity of such waste materials would greatly

cultivation season is over. Actually there is a regulation about oyster

improve the cost-effectiveness of the recycling operation. Given theaquaculture first formulated by Tainan government since 1st July

relatively more harmful properties of Styrofoam (polystyrene),

2004, but was never properly executed. The regulation was revised

Tainan city, which was the first and the only local government, has

on 5th August 2008, but its implementation remained problematic.

thus completely banned the use of Styrofoam cups within the region,

In May 2010, tens of thousands of huge EPS foams were washedtaking effect from January 2013.

ashore and covered the beaches in Tainan (Fig. 4). The severity ofthe problem was demonstrated to the Tainan city government, based

In terms of the expandable polystyrene (EPS) foams used by theon long-term monitoring data and photos evidence, with further

fisheries and aquaculture industries, monitoring data reveal that allpressure exerted through media exposure. In a search of a solutionof them arguably originate from the oyster cultivation further

to the problem, the current mayor of Tainan city summoned a

13_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

RESEARCHES
conference with NGO bodies and oyster farmers on 1st June, 2011.

the Environmental Protection Agency in Taiwan. To further

The city government has earnestly encouraged oyster farmers toestablish itself as a low carbon city, we suggest that Tainan takes

handle these EPS foams more responsibly through recycling.

advantage of what the oyster cultivation can offer and make it one

Progress throughout the last three years has been gradual but slow,

of its own distinguishing features. For example, used oyster sheds

as fragments of EPS foams are still covering the beaches (Fig. 5)

with marine life attached can be secured and made into an artificial

and used oyster floats are piling up and incinerated directly (Fig. 6).

floating island. When the amount of attached marine organisms
grows to a certain extent and the bamboo starts to crack, thisartificial island will sink to the seabed and gradually become abiological platform for marine diversity. Given the enormous
amount of on-going oyster cultivation, this proposal would not only
greatly reduce marine litter, but also benefit the community bypotentially creating marine resources and removing carbon dioxidefrom the atmosphere. If necessary, scientific research andexperiments can be conducted to testify its feasibility.

In any case,it can only be a better option than to stay idle with the current
situation. We will continue our effort, and hope that we will all finda better solution for our environment through experience sharing.
Fig. 6. Stacks of recycled oyster floats are piled up on the beachand incinerated directly. 20th April, 2014
We do hope that the Tainan city government would manage thewaste products from oyster cultivation more rigorously, where
oyster floats and huge EPS foams are distinctly separated before
recycling. EPS foams should be further selected manually, so thatthe ones that are not recyclable (due to overly complex composition)
can be assembled and incinerated altogether. While this can help
tackle the problem of huge EPS foams, that of fragmented EPS
foams remains unsolved. The alternative, therefore, is to replace
EPS foams with good quality plastics for floating buoys, as they do

Fig 7. Oysters floats provide a special substrate for marineorganisms

not break down into small fragments as easily.

The practice of oyster cultivation in Tainan imposes very little
impact on its surrounding environment, and represents a traditional
culture that many locals depend on for their livelihood. The artificial
structure of oyster sheds also maintains biodiversity by providing
substrate for many marine organisms such as marine gastropod andshellfish (Fig. 7).

These organisms, on the other hand, could

potentially remove a substantial amount of carbon dioxide from theatmosphere by carbon sequestration. Tainan city has won the firstprize (southern area) of low carbon city selection program held byMarine Litter News_ 14

References:
1) Preliminary study on the effect of oyster cultivation on water
purification and carbon sequestration. (National Cheng Kung
University, Taiwan).
à One study shows that an individual oyster shell has a growthrate of 0.3g/day. It is roughly estimated that a surface area of 1m2
can store 0.78kg of carbon dioxide per day.

http://www.tsoe.org.tw/downloads/thesis/2010D9.pdf

2) Ecosystem services of oysters (Fisheries Research Institute, COA, Taiwan)
à Oyster reefs may provide coastal protection by reducing erosion from sea level rise, heavy rain and storm, and waves and currents.
Moreover, oyster reefs provide nurseries and habitats for juveniles and other organisms. They also attract shoals of fishes that areeconomically valuable. Stretching between Lukang

and the mouth of Jhushuei River, the oyster farms in the southwestern coast of

Taiwan attract numbers of fish and crabs such as black sea-bream, spotted scad, red sea-bream, yellow tail, snappers, giant mud crab,
which enrich this area with marine resources and create spot for leisure fishing.

http://www.tfrin.gov.tw/friweb/frienews/enews0065/s1.html

2013~2014 Top 4 items of Tainan Community University Long term
marine debris monitoring
Date

Top1

Top2

Top3

Top4

2013/01

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Plastic fragment

Fireworks

2013/02

Plastic bags

Fireworks

Plastic fragment

Straws、Stirrers

2013/03

Plastic bags

Plastic fragment

Styrofoam

Fireworks

2013/04

Styrofoam

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Plastic fragment

2013/05

Styrofoam

Plastic fragment

Plastic bottles

Straws、Stirrers

2013/06

Plastic bags

Styrofoam

Plastic fragment

Straws、Stirrers

2013/07

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Plastic fragment

Fireworks

2013/08

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

food containers

2013/09

Plastic bags

Caps & Lids

Straws、Stirrers

2013/10

Plastic bags

Plastic fragment

Styrofoam

2013/11

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Beverage Cups
(Plastic)

Plastic fragment

2013/12

Plastic bags

Plastic fragment

Straws、Stirrers

Caps & Lids

2014/01

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Plastic fragment

Fireworks

2014/02

Plastic fragment

Plastic bags

Straws、Stirrers

Fireworks

2014/03

Plastic bags

Plastic fragment

Styrofoam

Straws、Stirrers

2014/04

Styrofoam

Plastic bags

Strings and ropes

Straws、Stirrers

Beverage Cups
(Plastic)
Beverage Cups
(Plastic)
Beverage Cups
(Plastic)

15_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

LETTER FROM AFRICA
9. Marine Debris in Africa
By Mr. John Kieser, Environmental Manager at Plastics South Africa
john.kieser@plasticssa.co.za
Recommended Citation:

Kieser, John. (2014). Long Marine Debris in Africa. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine
Litter, Vol 5(1): 16-18.

lMarine Debris. 12 African countries was represented and one of

BACKGROUND

The economies of most African countries are growing at
escalating levels and linked to a growing population, the continent
has entered the 21st century with gusto.

the goals was to establish an African Network on the issue ofMarine Debris.

Unfortunately with thisgrowth, African countries are starting to face the same

At the 2nd Global Conference on Land Ocean Connections inenvironmental degradation as witnessed in the developed countries.

Jamaica the establishment of a Southern African Network would

In light this growth, Africa is still combating diseases, poverty, poor

be more realistic.

governance and environmental degradation as its natural resources

have strong links with African countries although the relationshipis mined and harvested, mainly for export.

With this in mind thewithissue of marine pollution is not seen as a priority by African

1994.

South Africa due to Historical reasons does not

Africa has changed since the first democratic elections incountries.
There is though a stronger link between neighbouring countries
At international meetings where the issue of marine debris isthrough the Southern African Development Community (SADEC).

addressed it is clear that Africa and other developing countries is not

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African

represented.

continent and consists of South Africa, Namibia, Angola,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania andth

For instance, at the 5 Marine Debris Conference in 2012 where

Madagascar and borders the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

the Honolulu Commitment was formulated, 440 delegates were
present of which only 5 was from Africa.

Southern Africa has 28 212 km of coastline and with the islandsin the Indian, Atlantic and Southern Atlantic Oceans, the sub area

Many examples can be given but another that the author was
involved was the International Whaling Commission workshop in

can play an important role in reducing the amount of manmade
material finding its way to the sea.

2013 to look into the impact of marine debris on cetacea.
lSouth Africa was the only country present from Africa.

As withMarine Debris research and mitigating actions inSouthAfrica.

all international conferences, deliberations was done in a developed

Limited research is being funded on the issue of marine debris in

economy context and it took firm negotiations to let the team realiseSouth Africa as there is a larger focus on the question of chemicalthat recommendations made is unachievable in Africa with its

pollution in South African Waters by government entities.

economic and development back log.
The plastics industry in South Africa via Plastics SA is runninglFirst African Summit on Marine Debris.

various projects to address the issue of marine debris.

The most

In 2013 South Africa, with the support of UNEP and the South

important work being done is to increase recycling of the material

African Government hosted the first African Summit on the issue ofand establishing new products to be made from the recyclate. Only

Marine Litter News_ 16

by increasing the amount of material produced with a longer life

1.

The plastic item found the most on most beaches, especiallyfrom recycled source and by adding value to material for collection

urban environments is micro plastics (28%).

Not much can bewould the material hopefully be less discarded.

done about this issue due to the size of the material.

The

plastics industry used to be a great source of the material due to
From 19 years of coastal cleanup data, Plastics SA is addressing
the issue of the material predominantly recorded.

improper management of the pellets and granulated material

Most of theseand the plastics industry has placed measures in place to reduce

projects are dedicated to the material with the highest count on thethe amount of this material finding its way into thecoastline and to address the reasons for them finding their way into

environment.

the environment.

research in the Northern Hemisphere has shown a global

Independent research in South Africa as well as

decrease in the material.
On a general survey of South African Beaches you would usuallyfind the following material as shown in the chart.

Unfortunately the larger plastic

material in the sea is breaking up and this is fuelling the microThis obviously

debris pool.

has regional differences.

Another action that was started in 2013 is to

sweep heavily polluted beaches in winter conditions when thesand load on the beaches is reduced.

Item number three on

the list is micro expanded polystyrene material and via the
Polystyrene Packaging Council there is various efforts torecycle the material or use contaminated (fast food containers)
material in cement blocks.

This increase of recycling islinked to item number nine of take away containers (3%) thatthe fast food industry depends on.

There has been a slow

movement away from the main stream fast food outlets but
many still depend on it as a container for take away food.
2.

At number two is, Bottle caps (13%) from mainly soft drink
bottles and is the macro material primarily recorded andcollected in coastal cleanups. This material is linked to the
4th item on the list – that of plastics bottles (12%), mainly
bottles made from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET).

3.

Design of the caps have lead to an increase of recycling so that
only one polymer is used in its making and the breaking andattachment of “safety rings” have led to less of this material
finding its way into the environment with a decrease inentanglement from this source.

With the start of the various

polymer groups to increase recycling of the various polymers
has led to an increase of the recycling of this material. While
PETCO has increased the recycling of PET, POLYCO is
Figure 1. Chart showing the top ten items found on a typicalSouth African Beach.

focusing on the increase of recycling of Polypropylene (PP).
4.

Item number five is packaging material from the confectionary
industry (11%).

There is steady increase of smaller pieces offood wrappers and crisp packets in the environment andhopefully with our partners we can raise the issue of not

17_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)

LETTER FROM AFRICA
5.

littering in South Africa.

None of this material is a real entanglement material and we started

Number six on the list (8%) is an area of concern (plastics

in 2012 with the placement of fishing line retrieval bins on the

sticks and straws) as there is no recycling program for straws

South African Coastline, especially at popular fishing areas.

and plastics sticks from ear buds and to lesser degree, lollipops.

Fishing line used to be under the top ten materials but due to a

The presence of plastic sticks from ear buds is particularly

decrease in fishing activities in South Africa due to increased

visible on certain beaches as it enters the environment due toprotection of the fishing resources and a decrease in fishing stocks

the overburdened infrastructure (sewerage plants) not able towhich led to less anglers and fishers.

capture them. We have approached one of the biggest ear bud
manufacturers in South Africa requesting them to put a

Another item, although not being an entanglement hazard, wasmessage on packaging and holding a media drive asking

the presence of light sticks used in the Large Pelagic Industry (Tuna,

consumers not to throw the material down toilets. So far they

Swordfish and Shark) found in increasing numbers on the coast.

have not been cooperative and are some of the aquariums think

As the fish resources became more difficult to target due to itsof starting a program similar to the “Beat the Bead” program

scarcity, the technology to catch the animals also increased and thethat stopped the usage of micro beads in the soap industry.

light sticks serves as an added attraction to the bait for the target

This is one of the problems regarding material such as this. Iffish.

someone else can be blamed for its presence in thecollecting the material from the harbours where the vessels

environment, the industry is not very willing to assist.

discharged their catch for recycling.

The

The industry is not very big in South Africa and we started

An added bonus was that the“Beat the Bead” was in a way easier as the manufacturers could

vessels started bringing back their monofilament line for recycling

not blame anyone except themselves for allowing the material

which was of better quality than the material retrieved from the fishthat could not be trapped to enter the environment.

line bins.

This isalso a case for the material to be made from bio plastics.
6.

7.

Glass pieces (5%) on South African beaches are the only non

The industry has also taken the bold step to support research inplastic item and its presence on the Top Five list is only due tothe presence of plastics in some species of fish starting with inshore

the increased focus on micro debris.

The recycling of glass isshark species by an independent research team.

very well managed in South Africa.

Many of these pieces are

as with plastic pellets found on the coast from earlier periods

Plastics SA has also formed a Scientific and Technical Advisorywhen there was not such a focus on proper stewardship of the

Panel to ensure that the plastics industry does give meaning to its

material through good waste management and recycling.

commitment done at the 5th Marine Debris Conference with theSince the implementation of a levy for consumers on the usage

other Plastics Industry partners internationally.

of plastic bags there has been a decline in its presence (4% atpresent) but in non coastal areas there has been a slow increase

Plastics SA and its partners will be hosting the 2nd Africanin its visibility as consumers became familiar to the paying ofMarine Debris Summit in Cape Town from the 4th to the 6th ofthe levy.

June 2015.

POLYCO is supporting the increase of collection of

the material for recycling.
8.

At number 10 (3%) is the global problem of cigarette filters.

If anyone would like to have more information on the conference

Although a plastic, it is not being recycled and we are trying toplease contact the convener,

increase the awareness of proper disposal of the material withJohn Kieser at john.kieser@plasticssa.co.za

our partners.

Marine Litter News_ 18

NOTICESAVE THE DATES!

● July 1 ~ 7, 2014 (Geoje, South Korea)● September 25~26, 2014 (Boryeong, South Korea)

AMETEC Training Workshop on Marine Debris II: Microdebris

1. NOWPAP Marine litter workshop and beach cleanup▷ For more information, please contact Dr. Sang Hee

Lee, sangjin.lee@nowpap.org
Mr. Ho Jeong Choi, hjchoi@koem.or.kr

Hong, shhong@kiost.ac,
loveseakorea@empas.com

Dr.

Yong

Chang

Jang,

▷ For more information, please contact Dr. Sang Jin

2. Ceremony of ICC 2014
● July 7, 2014 (Busan, South Korea)
International Symposium on Source, Fate and Effects ofMicroplastics in the Marine Environment▷ For more information, please contact Dr. Won Joon
Shim, wjshim@kiost.ac▷ For more information, please contact Dr. Jongmyoung
Lee, loveseakorea@empas.com● October 23, 2014 (Yeosu, South Korea)● July 24~26, 2014 (Sakata, Japan)- A session : Marine debris in the Ocean: Sources,
transport, fate and effects of macro- and micro-plastics(PICES 2014 Annual Meeting)The 12th Marine Litter Summit▷ For more information, please contact Dr. Won Joon

▷ For more information, please contact Ms. Yoshiko

Shim, wjshim@kiost.ac

Ohkura, y_ohkura@jean.jp● August 23~25, 2014 (Pingtung, Taiwan)
2014 Clean Ocean Youth Movement● June 4~6, 2015 (Cape Town, South Africa)
The 2nd African Marine Debris Summit▷ For more information, please contact Mr. John Kieser,
john.kieser@plasticssa.co.za▷ For more information, please contact Ms. Chun-Chi
Wu, cwu@wilderness.org.tw

19_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)Guidelines for Authors
Dear authors of ‘Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter,’Thank you for preparing your valuable manuscript for our journal. We welcome articles regarding researches, education, policies, andany other activities on marine litter issues from the globe. To make your article more easily understandable to readers around theworld, please pay attention to the following guidelines.
1. Composition of Articles(1) Title-Please make it concise and understandable.
-Including the name of the relevant country is recommended.
(2) Name of the author-The author should be natural persons even when writing articles representing organizations.
-Name of organization, author’s position, and email address should be included(3) Figure, Map, or Table-Figures, maps, or tables are recommended to be included in articles.
-Especially maps showing the geographical context of the article is strongly recommended.
-Each figure, map, and table should have captions explaining the figures, maps, and tables.
(4) References-Referencing other texts for explaining the situation is recommended.
-All the lists of documents referenced needs to be included.
2. Submission, Acceptance, and Edition-Anybody from around the world can submit the articles via email(loveseakorea@empas.com).
-As the journal is published at the end of May and November, draft articles need to be submitted by the end of April and October.
-All the articles which have basic quality will be accepted.
-The editor may ask some revision of the draft to make the article more easily understandable to readers.
3. Publication fee-There is no publication fee to be paid by authors to us or by us to authors.

Thank you for your cooperation,
Sunwook Hong, the editor.

Marine Litter News_ 20

What is East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter?
East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter is a network
established in 2009, made of NGO groups dedicated toprotection of marine environment from marine litter in east
Asia countries.
Network member groups are:Japan: Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN)
South Korea: Our Sea of East Asia Network (OSEAN)
Thailand: Green Fins Association (GFA)
Taiwan: Taiwan Ocean Cleanup Alliance (TOCA)an ‘East Asian Civil Forum on Marine Litter’ through which

To the readers,

relevant NGOs and organizations in the East Asia could shareotherexperiences and information and work together on the marine

environmentally, geographically, historically, or culturally

debris problems. OSEAN and JEAN have reached a consensus

through shared regional seas. The East Asian region is one of theto launch the forum and publish biannual newsletters. So wemost dynamic economic centers with some of the busiest

have launched the East Asian Civil Forum on Marine Litter andshipping lanes in the world. With the spread of mass production

we are delivering marine debris news from member countries via

and consumption over the last decades came the huge increase ine-mail to people who are concerned with this problem on local,

solid waste generation. There are, however, not enough waste

national, and regional levels. In late 2012 now, we have four

treatment facilities and management measures, which makes themembers above. We hope that the forum could provide a venue

region vulnerable to marine debris pollution.

for all of us to share our vision, experiences, and creative

East

Asian

countries

areconnected

to

each

actions.
Entering the seas in large amounts, floating debris has becomea source of concerns and conflicts among some neighboring

This is the first effort to link the East Asian people beyond

countries. This transboundary environmental problem requires

geographical and language barriers to a common goal ofconcerted efforts of all the relevant stakeholders beyond sectoral

protecting our seas from marine debris pollution. NGOs andand political boundaries. In this regard, OSEAN (Our Sea oforganizations that have interests and passion to make our seas

East Asia Network) and JEAN (Japan Environmental Action

clean and healthy are more than welcome to join us. For more

Network), the marine debris NGOs in Korea and Japan, haveinformation, you can contact us at loveseakorea@empas.com.

shared a vision in which people in the East Asia could act

Please let us know if you have any problem in receiving thetogether as one community in protecting our precious marine

newsletter. These articles are also available online at

ecosystems. We believe that NGOs in the East Asian countries

http://cafe.naver.com/osean.

have an important role in sharing experiences and acting
together to address the marine debris issue in the region from theSecretariat,

bottom up.

Sunwook Hong (OSEAN) andKojima Azusa (JEAN)

The city governments of Shimonoseki and Nagato, and JEAN
co-organized‘2009

MarineLitterSummit-Shimonoseki•Nagato Meeting’ on October 16-18, 2009, in
Shimonoseki, Japan. OSEAN suggested in the meeting to start
21_ May 2014. Vol. 5(1)Recommended Citation for the whole volume:
Hong, Sunwook. (2014). Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Our Sea of East Asia Network,
Vol. 5(1): 22pp, Tongyeong, South Korea.

Contacts
Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN)
202, Mansion SOPHIA,
3-4-12, Minami-Cho, Kokubunji-Shi, Tokyo, Japan
URL http://www.jean.jp

E-mail Cleanup@jean.jp

TEL +81-42-322-0712

FAX¡¡+81-42-324-8252

Our Sea of East Asia Network (OSEAN)
717, Leadersvill,
1570-8, Jukrim, Gwangdo, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam, 650-826, South Korea
URL http://cafe.naver.com/osean
TEL +82-55-649-5224

E-mail oseannews@naver.com

FAX +82-303-0001-4478

Green Fins Association (GFA)
154/1 Phang Nag. Rd. Tombol, Thailand
URL http://www.greenfins-thailand.org E-mail footprint_arkitec@yahoo.com
TEL +66-81-691-7309

Fax +66-76-391-127

Taiwan Ocean Cleanup Alliance (TOCA)
97057, No.87, Fuyang Rd., Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan
URL http:// www.icctaiwan.org.tw E-mail kuroshio@seed.net.tw
TEL +886-3-857-8148

FAX +886-3-857-8948

Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litteris published two times a year by civil groups in east asia countries.

Editor:Sunwook Hong, Ph. D.
President of OSEAN
Postal Address: 717, Leadersvill, 1570-8, Jukrim, Gwangdo, Tongyeong, Gyeongmam, 650-826, South Korea
E-mail: loveseakorea@empas.com
Marine Litter News_ 22