Nov. 2014. Vol. 5(2)ISSN 2287-8971

1. Asian marine debris activists trained in Korea (Korea)
2. Clean Ocean Youth Movement in the Plastic Era. The ocean needs your action! (Taiwan)
3. The 12th Marine Litter Summit at Yamagata Prefecture (23-27 July 2014) (Japan)
4. A side event for the impact of marine debris on wildlife at Convention on Biological Diversity in
Pyeongchang (Korea)
5. Marine Litter Policy Exchange and Seminar - Okinawa and Taiwan (Taiwan)
6. Northwest Pacific Regional Node of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (Japan)
7. The Human Gyre – Tsunami Driftage Creates Connections Across the Pacific (Canada)
8. Marine Litter Session was held at the annual meeting of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization(PICES) (Korea)
9. New findings on marine debris published in scientific journals by OSEAN (Korea)
10. Book review by a young reader on 'Plastic Ocean (Moore, 2011)': The Shocking Reality of Plastic

Marine Litter News_ 1

Marine Litter News_ 2

Preface

Dear Readers from around the world concerned with marine litter,
I am honored to communicate with you with this newsletter on how to reduce
marine litter and its impacts. This Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum ispublished biannually.
This volume tells you many stories about our activities. Clean Ocean Youth
Movement in the Plastic Era and the Marine Litter Policy Exchange and Seminar
was held in Taiwan. In Japan, the 12th Marine Litter Summit and the Northwest
Pacific Regional Node of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter were held. The
Tsunami driftage from Japan creats connections with Canada across the Pacific. In
Korea, Asian marine litter environmentalists were trained, a side event for the
impact of marine litter on wildlife at the meeting of Convention on Biological
Diversity, and a Marine Litter Session was held at the annual meeting of the North
Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). Also included are a news on new
findings on marine litter published in scientific journals, and a book review by ayoung reader on 'Plastic Ocean (Moore, 2011)'.
We hope this newsletter can be informative for you, and wish that someday you
can give us good news, too.
With love,
November, 2014,
Sunwook Hong (Ph. D., representative of OSEAN)

3 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
1. Asian environmentalists trained in Korea
By Yong Chang Jang, Korea Marine Litter Institute, researcher of OSEAN,
yongchngjang@hotmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2014). Asian environmentalists trained in Korea. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil
Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 4-5.

The participants of the marine debris training program

Ten environmentalists fighting against the marine debris problem

Perhaps the biggest outcome of this AMETEC marine debris

were trained in South Korea in June, 2014, at the AMETEC training

program is the development of AMETEC Protocol on beach debris

program.

survey. From 2013, the participants discussed on how to survey the

AMETEC is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

beach debris using the same method, so that comparisons between

Marine Environmental Training and Education Center. AMETEC iscountries might be possible. After developing the protocol, we

now managed by KIOST (Korea Institute of Ocean Science andsurveyed beaches in each country with the protocol in 2013 andTechnology). From 2013 for three years, AMETEC is training Asia

2014. The protocol can be downloaded from the website of OSEAN

Pacific environmentalists on the issue of marine debris. In 2014, 10(www.osean.net).

trainees came from Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Peru. Most of them areInternational Coastal Cleanup cooridnators in the region.

Marine Litter News_ 4

This year, the participants brought their samples of small sized
plastic debris from home countries using sieves provided by KIOST
in advance. They counted those and classified types by naked eyes
and then tested by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy).

Finding plastic types of samples with an FTIR spectrometer

The more important outcome was the gathering of the participants
itself. In Asia, there has been no opportunity to share the knowledge
and experience of marine debris together. The participants were all
excited to have this opportunity to learn from each other. After the
first year training, the participants are still communicating with each
other

via

email

and

a

Facebook

group

page

(https://www.facebook.com/groups/ametecmarinedebris/).
I hope such cooperation can continue throughout the Asia-PacificClassifying, counting, and weighing micro-plastic samples

Country report from each participant

region.

Group presentation on microplastic analysis

5 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
2. Clean Ocean Youth Movement in the Plastic Era:
The ocean needs your action!
By Chun Chi Wu, Marine debris specialist for The Society of Wilderness
christopher1426@gmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Wu, Chun Chi. (2014). Clean Ocean Youth Movement in the Plastic Era: The ocean needs your action! Marine
Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 6-7.

On average a person from Taiwan uses 2 plastics bags per day,and the country has an annual usage of 15 billion plastic beveragecups and 45 billion PET bottles. Teddy Chang, the contact person ofInternational Coastal Cleanup in Taiwan, traveled around thecoastline of Taiwan to witness the severity of the marine debris
problem. He thought people needed to change their behavior byminimizing the usage of such plastic products, influencing policymaking, and cooperating with industries. "However, the plastic will
not disappear even if it is too small to be seen by the naked-eyes,"
Jason Hu from the SOW shared his experience in the 2014

The Clean Ocean Youth Movement 2014, Taiwan

The Clean Ocean Youth Movement addressed the marine plastic

AMETEC Training Workshop, " plastics are degraded very slowly
by the sun. Such degradation creates plastic rubbish of a wide rangeof sizes, classified into macroplastic, microplastic, and nanoplastic
which seem invisible." He assumed that we are now in the Plastic
Era because the plastics we used in daily life may become the fossilsof the future. "We must review our "plastic foot-print" and takeaction to reduce our impact on the planet."pollution issue, scheduled from 23-25 August 2014 in Taiwan. Thisconference was a joint effort of the Society of Wilderness (SOW),
the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, and theSociety of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE). The SOW was calling
participants (16-25 years old students) from Taiwan and China tocome up with creative proposals to implement "reducing-plastic"
actions in their school and their daily life.
Not only the students but the SOW also invited speakers
including local and international experts on issues of marine plastic
pollution, NGO representatives, and professionals from marketing
industry to share their stories at this conference. La Benida Hui,artists from New York, shared their sailing expedition with 5Gyres
from Bermuda to Iceland, which did research into the micro-plastic
pollution in the world's oceans. This expedition affected her a lot;besides studying the plastics, the crews also learned many new
things about the boat, sailing, and seamanship etc. She encouraged
the students with a quote: "In the end we will conserve only what welove, we will only love what we know."

Marine Litter News_ 6

The Clean Ocean Youth Movement 2014, Taiwan

But how do we choose our products? Chemical names such as

After the course, the students were divided into several groups

PE, PET, PP, PMMA, nylon etc. can be confusing, and make it

and made their concrete implementation plan which aimed to raisedifficult to make a right choice even we customers have thethe public awareness to reduce the plastics. They went to theintention to. Tracey Read, the CEO and founder of the NGO, Plastic

Kenting Street to persuade shopkeepers not to automatically offer

Free Seas in Hong Kong, said, “As consumers, we can use social

plastic bags to their customers. With a hand-made poster, themedia to express our needs and desires. There are movements which

students informed the shopkeeper of the harmful effects of plastic

provide databases of plastic free products, which strengthens

bags on the environment and humans. It was apparently easier toconsumer power to engage companies and corporate in acting morework with smaller local shops than chain stores as the later usually

responsibly to the environment."

have Standard Operation Protocol for staff to follow. In just a few
hours, the students successfully put up their slogans in over 20

The author of “Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit andshops, which stated, "We do not automatically provide plastic bag!"

How You Can Too”, Beth Terry suggested the best way to tackle theLater that day, the shopkeeper said the slogans make it easier toissue of plastic waste is to start avoid using them step-by-step. For

convey the message and they were actually very proud of it. Plastic

example, we can bring our own bag for shopping and our own

bags also represented a cost to them; therefore it was also

containers for water and food, buy produce without packaging, shop

economically appealing to them to give out less of them to thefrom bulk bins, and use plastic-free personal care etc. "As long as

customers. The students realized that it is all about breaking the

we want to, we can always reduce the use of plastic utensils.""old" habit; the convenient life with plastics. Start now and it is not
as difficult as they think.

Martin Thiel, marine ecologist and environmental educator from
Chile, started working with school kids in 2007 to cultivate the little
scientists. They found that most rubbish found on Chilean beaches
came from Chile itself. This survey indirectly drove the lawmaker tomake a policy to fine littering. Data with scientific background istherefore

importantwhenconfronting

politicians

withenvironmental issues. "To tackle the marine rubbish problem, weneed to get citizens involved, make a daily habit of keeping theenvironment clean, and have fun while doing so," Martin said.

The Clean Ocean Youth Movement 2014, Taiwan

The Clean Ocean Youth Movement 2014, Taiwan

7 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
3. The 12th Marine Litter Summit at Yamagata Prefecture (23-27 July 2014)
By Sophia Choi, Master’s Candidate at Sophia University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Japansophia.wh2@gmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Choi, Sophia. (2014) The 12th Marine Litter Summit at Yamagata Prefecture (23-27 July 2014). Marine Litter
News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 8-9.

The 12th Marine Litter Summit held in Yamagata Prefacture, Japan (23-27 July)

The Summit serves as a platform where different stakeholders

YAMAGATA PREFECTURE, JAPAN The 12th Marine Litter Summit (hereafter the Summit) was held

gather and exchange information, opinions, and form networks toin Yamagata Prefecture from 23 to 27 July 2014. Diverse

manage marine debris effectively. As it is very difficult for

stakeholders

national

governments at local and national level and different organizations

governments, non-governmental organizations, scientific experts,

and researchers from different areas to be up-to-date on eachandparticipants including

local

and

private industry, and local community groups have gathered for a
dialogue and exchange of information on marine debris (or litter)management at local, prefectural, and national level. Special guests
from non-governmental organizations in Korea and Taiwan havealso joined to share their experiences.

Marine Litter News_ 8

organizations’ activities or new changes and improvements fromprevious activities, the Summit provides opportunities for both theformer and new participants to be informed about each other's works
through presentations and discussions.

"What we need is institutionalization", said Mr. Kaneko

Furthermore, an interesting and vital note was made by a local

Hiroshi, from Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN)

organization that aging-society in Japan has an effect on marine

Partnership Office (on the first day of meeting, 25 July 2014)debris management, especially in areas where majority of theWith 12 years of history, the Summit has been hosted in different

population is old and cannot actively participate in the management

prefectures around Japan. Marine debris, in its nature, involves

activities. In such cases, organizations are required to seek programs

diverse stakeholders of society and thus requires active involvementthat can incorporate a broad-spectrum of age groups in theirand awareness of relevant stakeholders. In the context of thecommunity. Due to the complex nature of marine debris

Summit and marine debris management, stakeholders in Japan as

management, different social issues and innovative approaches needwell as its international partners have achieved a significant level ofto be considered to involve various members of the community

success. However, for a continued and even greater success, current

depending on the context and characteristics of each region.

management practices need to be systemized and institutionalized sothat areas that do not have specific activities or projects for

In sum, marine debris, both as a national and transboundary

managing marine debris can easily adopt new projects while areas

problem requires cooperation of diverse sectors of the society asthat already have adopted such projects can be further strengthened

well as regional and international collaboration for effective

and regularly monitored.

management. In fact, it is difficult to identify which sector of thesociety is not involved. At both national and transboundary levels,"To prevent marine litter is the latest stage; to preventthe public’s increased awareness and constant attention on marine

potential waste materials is the early stage", said Dr. Shigeru

debris as "Yes-in-my-backyard" problem is required for a long-term

Fujieda from Kagoshima University (on the second day ofsuccessful

management.

meeting, 26 July 2014)

management

practices

During the two days of discussion, a number of speakers,
including Dr. Fujieda, highlighted the importance of prevention of

Moreover,throughits

strengthening

current

institutionalization

andsystematization will be expected for the future management ofmarine debris.

potential debris material in the early stage. Currently, overall focus
on marine debris management has a tendency to incline towards
cleanup activities of immediately visible threats - the trash before
our eyes. Although cleaning up of the existing trash is criticallyimportant to reduce the impacts of marine debris on our nature,
more attention is required in prevention of such wastes being
generated in the first place. Moreover, organizations including
Arakawa Clean Forum and Japan Environmental Action Network
agreed that increasing public’s perception towards "Yes-in-mybackyard" (as opposite to "Not-in-my-backyard" syndrome) on
marine debris issue is crucial in establishing collective action andresponsibility to address the problem.
During short breaks of the meetings, participants were exposed tocreative art exhibition of an artist who made craft dolls by using
debris materials and also to marine debris educational films byparticipating filmmaker and organizations. The crafts were madeparticularly for children to be exposed to marine debris problem in a

Cleanup on a beach of Tobishima island, NW Japanfriendly and enjoyable way.

9 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
4. A side event for the impact of marine debris on wildlife at Convention
on Biological Diversity in Pyeongchang
By Yong Chang Jang, Korea Marine Litter Institute of OSEAN
yongchangjang@hotmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2014). A side event for the impact of marine debris on wildlife at Convention on Biological
Diversity in Pyeongchang. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 10-11.

A side Event for the impact of marine debris on wildlife was held

Dr. Kisup Lee gave a speech about the impact of recreationalat the Convention on Biological Diversity in Pyeongchang on thefishing debris on the Black-faced Spoonbills. Dr. Sun Wook Hong

10th of October, 2014. This was hosted by the secretariat ofgave a presentation on the citizen activities for the survey of adverse

Convention on biological Diversity, Korean Maritime Institute,effects of marine debris. Mr. Nicholas Bax (CISRO/Australia), Ms.

OSEAN, and Waterbird Network Korea. About 40 people were

Jacqueline Alder (UNEP), Ms. Jessica Sanders (FAO), and Ms.

present at this side event and showed much interest in the impact ofDaniela Diz (WWF), who are working at international organizations

marine debris on wildlife.

and professionals in this field, discussed the matter.

Presenters (Dr. Kisup Lee and Dr. Sunwook Hong), other panelists (Mr. Nicholas Bax (CISRO/Australia), Ms. Jacqueline Alder (UNEP),
Ms. Jessica Sanders (FAO), Ms. Daniela Diz (WWF)), and chairmen (Dr. Daeseok Kang) (from left to right),

Marine Litter News_ 10

OSEAN will continue to collect the cases of adverse effects ofmarine debris, and ask the Korean government and internationalorganizations to establish policies to protect wildlife against marine
debris, as well as clean up the breeding sites of black-faced
spoonbills.
We, OSEAN, would like to ask you to pay attention to the issue.

Side event was held in a big temporary tent. About 40 people were
present.

Much attention was drawn by the artwork of Prof. Jung A Kim madewith marine debris

Works by Jung A Kim drew much attention from many people

Pre-workshop discussion was had by co-hosts

11 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
5. Marine Litter Policy Exchange and Seminar - Okinawa and Taiwan
By MsYú Syuán Wun , reporter of TEIA
325jui@e-info.org.tw

Recommended Citation:

Wun, Yú Syuán. (2014). Marine Litter Policy Exchange and Seminar - Okinawa and Taiwan. Marine Litter
News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(2): 12-14.

In 2009, Japan passed the Regulation of Marine Litter
Management to investigate the situation and provides solutions,
including litter transportation and environment education such as
garbage reduction. Based on the regulation, Okinawa Prefecture
government organized this activity and invited Taiwan, located in
Kuroshio area, to participate. Taiwan NGOs and the New Taipei
City government were invited to join the seminar from 18~21
October in Ishigaki Island. In addition to the government
representatives, there were total 18 NGOs from both Taiwan andJapan to attend, including Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation,
Tainan Community University, the Society of Wildness, National
MuseumofMarineScience&Technology,

andTaiwanEnvironmental Info Center.
During the opening ceremony of 18th, Japan and Taiwan officials
exchanged policies on marine litter issues. Hidefumi Toma, Director
General of Department of Environmental Affairs of Okinawa
Prefecture mentioned that marine litter came from both local andforeign countries. It brought negative impacts on environment andtourism. Okinawa and Taiwan have similar geographic conditions
and short travel distance. This exchange experience could help toprovide better policies. Chiu Ming-chung, Secretary General of the
New Taipei City Environment Bureau mentioned the issues of thepollution remediation of Tamsui River and constructed wetlands.
Chen Yen-ling, head of Environmental Sanitation Management
Section from New Taipei City introduced the achievements ofcoastline voluntary managements, local beach cleanups, andenvironment education.
On the 19th, Taiwan and Okinawa participants attended thecleanup along the Yoshihara coastline, located in the northern
Ishigaki. The activity was organized by the local institution named
Love Love Network. It was a small, voluntary cleanup before.

Marine Litter News_ 12

Joint cleanup of Taiwan-Okinawa at the beach of Ishigaki Island,
Okinawa Prefecture (Southwesternmost location of Japan)

However, from 2009, it became a big annual cleanup, providing a

On the 20th, during the seminar, Japan expressed great interest on

relaxing and delightful education activity. 2014 is the sixth annual

Taiwan’s policy “reducing from the sources,” such as discountactivity and the participants increased from 200 people to 650 thisfor bringing one’s own drink containers, PET and glass bottles

year. The host organization invited people to clean the beach, sort

recycling systems, paid shopping bags, etc. Those policies increaseout the collected items, and make art work with the litter.
Accompanied by a music concert, local volunteers also preparedlunch for participants, and many of them brought their own
tableware to enjoy the food. Rika Kasahara, director of the hostorganization, said that they hoped this activity could also make thefirst-time participants feel enjoyable. She also emphasized that thestaffs were all volunteers. So the motivation wouldn’t be
influenced by money or authority.

people’s awareness to reduce uses of disposable items. Jason Hu,
representative of the Society of Wildness said the numbers of PET
bottles collected on Taiwan’s beaches were much fewer than thosein Japan. It could be the money incentive to make this difference.
New Taipei City government cooperated with shops and markets tooffer multi-purposed bags to realize the goal of reduce, reuse andrecycle.
Japan’s Regulation of Marine Litter Management provides
guidelines and budget for related research and management. With
the policy and pleasant cleanup activities, the government and local
environment organizations can both contribute to tackle the litter
issues.

Leon Yun-chih, from National Museum of Marine Science &Technology, mentioned a certain amount of litter is from fisheryboats in addition to household garbage, littering tourists, driftingfrom other countries. Besides ICC monitoring system, marine litter
education should expand to business sectors and other organizations
for a cleaner ocean.
Chou Chao-jui and Jason Hu, from Taiwan Environmental Info
Association and the Society of Wilderness pointed out questions
Tai

Ya-ting,

coordinatorvolunteerfromCommunity

TainanUniversity,commented that sorting out thelitter

without

havingcomplicated counting process
gave people more time to clean
the beach. Volunteers had more
senses of achievements because
the beach litter was greatly
reduced.

Interesting

activity

design made the cleanup reallyenjoyable. (Photos: Activities tomake cleanup enjoyable)

such as weather a cleanup activity would arouse volunteers ’care
for the ocean. The analysis and design of monitoring system should
be rethought. More importantly, Taiwan could endeavor to educate,research, develop policies for marine litter. Multiple methods should
be carried out to solve the problems.
Lai Wei-jen, from Kuroshio Ocean Education mentioned that thisexchange gave Taiwan NGOs great opportunity to understand Japanfor future cooperation.
Representatives from Okinawa will visit Taiwan in January 2015
to participate local cleanup and policy discussion seminar. Taiwan
and Okinawa work cooperatively to exchange information, bringsolutions to marine litter, educate the locals or even research andseek solutions together, for a better, cleaner Kuroshio.

13 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES

Seminar to exchange the knowledge and experiences on marine litter management

Marine Litter News_ 14

6. Northwest Pacific Regional Node of the GPML
By Takafumi Yoshida, Northwest Pacific Action Plan,
Special Monitoring and Coastal Environment Assessment Regional Activity Centre (NOWPAP CEARAC), Senior Researcher
yoshida@npec.or.jp
Recommended Citation:

Yoshida, Takafumi. (2014). Northwest Pacific Regional Node of the GPML. Marine Litter News from East Asia
Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(2): 15.

The Northwest Pacific Regional Node of the Global Partnershipon Marine Litter (GPML) was established with the support of the
Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine
Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) in 2014.
The GPA aims to prevent degradation of the marine environment
from land-based activities by encouraging efforts of States topreserve and protect the marine environment. Marine litter is one
priority issue in GPA and the GPML was launched in June 2012, at
the Rio+20 Conference.
Objectives of GPML are as follows: a) to reduce the impacts ofmarine litter worldwide on economies, ecosystems, animal welfare
and human health, b) to enhance international cooperation andcoordination through the promotion and implementation of the
Honolulu Strategy – a global framework for the prevention andmanagement of marine debris, as well as the Honolulu Commitment–amulti-stakeholder

pledge,c)topromoteknowledge

management, information sharing and monitoring progress on theimplementation of the Honolulu Strategy, d) to promote resource
efficiency and economic development through waste prevention andby recovering valuable material and/or energy from waste, e) toincrease awareness on sources, fate and impacts of marine litter, f)
to assess emerging issue related to the fate and potential influence ofmarine litter, including (micro) plastics uptake in the food web andassociated transfer of pollutants and impacts on the conservation andwelfare of marine fauna.
To achieve the above objectives, GPML expects to strengthen andcoordinate global and regional networks/nodes to tackle marine
litter problems.
In the Northwest Pacific region, many non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs), such as JEAN and OSEAN, have
implemented activities to resolve marine litter problems. Northwest
Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) is the international cooperation

http://www.npec.or.jp/NWPacific_node

framework among China, Japan, Korea and Russia, and its
member states initiated various actions on marine litter together withleading NGOs in a collaborative manner. In order to develop a
network for efficiently sharing information among stakeholders andpromoting actions to prevent marine litter input, the GPML
Northwest

Pacific

Regional

Node(http://www.npec.or.jp/

NWPacific_node/) was established in 2014, co-hosted by NOWPAP
Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) and Northwest Pacific
Environmental Cooperation Center (NPEC).
This regional node aims to enhance awareness of marine litter
prevention actions at national, local and grass-root levels and tostrengthen information exchange on best practices and measures forprevention of marine litter input among the NOWPAP member
states and stakeholders.
What is marine litter? What kinds of marine litter are found onbeaches? What are the sources of marine litter? What impact does
marine litter have? These are the most basic questions that have to
be answered for the general public to better understand marine litter
problems. With illustrations and pictures, this regional node website
provides a lot of information on marine litter problems in a visitorfriendly manner.
15 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)ACTIVITIES
7. The Human Gyre – Tsunami Driftage Creates Connections Across the
Pacific
By Kate Le Souef, Tsunami debris cleanup coordinator for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre
Kate.LeSouef@vanaqua.org
Recommended Citation:

Kate Le Souef. (2014). The Human Gyre - Tsunami Driftage Creates Connections Across the Pacific. Marine
Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 5(2): 16-17.

“Marine debris usually travels with currents from Japan to North

The tragedy of the 2011 tsunami had brought representatives from

America. However, through our networks and partnerships we arearound-the-world together to see and hear about the effects of the

now able to bring both people and debris in the other direction.”tsunami firsthand. Nearly four years after the tsunami, many

This was the main message Dr. Shigeru Fujieda, from Kagoshimaresidents continue to feel the effects as they rebuild homes andUniversity, delivered in his closing remarks at a public symposium

grieve for lost loved ones.

on tsunami debris in Japan.

We travelled along the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the Pacificcoast attending workshops, public symposiums and visiting some of

It was my first time in Japan and I was there as a guest of thethe hardest hit shorelines. Quickly, we became a close-knit groupJapanese Environmental Action Network witnessing the effects ofsharing our stories on how we are each working to clean up tsunami

tsunami debris.

and marine debris from our respective shorelines.

The ocean connects us all, even from halfway around the world

Marine Litter News_ 16

Working together to reduce marine debris from preventable sources

Japanese driftage items are the result of a tragic natural disasterand this source of marine debris is not preventable. However,regular marine debris from land based activities, fishing and
The fishing buoy in the tree shows the height of the wave from the 2011
tsunamishipping is completely preventable when appropriate measures are

Perhaps you’ve heard about theJapanese motorbike and boats thatagreement to work together across the ocean to reduce marine

washed ashore in North America? North Pacific gyres carried debris

debris. One outcome of the 2011 tsunami will be cleaner shorelines

from Japan across the ocean to theshores of British Columbia andand increased awareness of marine debris.

taken. Meeting the survivors of the tsunami confirmed our collective

the United States. Despite the media attention to these events, items
related to the tsunami are a fraction of the marine debris that enters

We encourage you to play a role and join the fight for yourthe ocean every day. Litter from land based activities, fishing andshoreline. Sign up for our Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup —shipping dominates the material we find on Pacific beaches.

registration opens February 2015.

(Kate Le Souef, tsunami debris cleanup coordinator for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, travelled to Japan to learn more about the
impact of tsunami debris. This trip was generously provided by the Japanese Environmental Action Network. The Great Canadian Shoreline
Cleanup, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited, is a joint conservation initiative of the Vancouver Aquarium and World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF). Learn more at www.shorelinecleanup.ca.)

17 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)RESEARCHES
8. Marine Litter Session was held at the annual meeting of the North
Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES)
By Yong Chang Jang, Korea Marine Debris Institute of OSEAN
yongchangjang@hotmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2014). Marine Litter Session was held at the annual meeting of the North Pacific Marine
Science Organization (PICES). Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 18-19.

Marine Litter Session was held at the annual meeting of the North

The North Pacific Marine Science Organization, also known as

Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) 2014, in Yeosu

PICES, was established in 1992. As of 2014, there are five

EXPO Marine Park, Korea on the 23rd of October, 2014. Dr.

members: the U.S.A, Canada, Japan, Russia and Korea. Marine

Sunwook Hong gave a presentation about NGO activities based ondebris was dealt with as an important issue at the event. PICES hasinternational cooperation to solve marine debris problem in Asia as

an annual workshop for sharing scientific research results, and thisan invited speaker. In addition, Dr. Yong chang Jang and Dr.

year it was held in Yeosu, Korea. Additional information about the

Suyeon Hong participated in the poster sessions.

organization and this year’s workshop can be obtained from thefollowing website, https://www.pices.int/meetings/annual/PICES2014/2014-background.aspx.

Litter Session at North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), 2014

Marine Litter News_ 18

Marine debris was the 8th topic of the 2014 PICES workshop,
and the abstract of the session is as follows.

This is a very small amount when we consider that world plastic
production was 280million tons in 2010. Therefore, Marcus Eriksen-Marine debris in the Ocean: Sources, transport, fate and effects
of macro- and micro-plastics

said that the surface layer in the gyres is not the final destination forthe marine debris. Actually, he suggested that the marine debris

Co-Conveners: Won Joon Shim (Korea), Peter S. Ross (Canada),

accumulate in the bottom of the ocean. Francois Galgani also

Olga Lukyanova (Russia), Sangjin Lee (NOWPAP), Peter Kershaw

showed a similar phenomenon through his video. The video showed(GESAMP), Jesus Manuel Gago Piñeiro (Spain / ICES)

that there were many plastic bottles found 1km below the surface at

Invited Speakers: Marcus Eriksen (5 Gyres Institute, USA),Francois

Galgani(InstitutFran¸caisdeRecherche

the bottom of the ocean.

pourl’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), France), Sunwook Hong (Our

2. Litter in the Mediterranean Sea within the European Marine

Sea of East Asia Network (OSEAN), Korea), Hideshige Takada

Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD): Indicators for descriptor 10,(Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan), Co-

GES and monitoring

sponsored by the Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine
Pollution (GESAMP), International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea (ICES) and the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP)

Francois Galgani, Ifremer, Immeuble Agostini, ZI Furiani, Bastia,
Corsica.
E-mail: francois.galgani@ifremer.fr
European Committee legislate Marine Strategy Framework

Following are the areas presented and discussed in the session.

Directive in 2008. By this law, the European Committee should
achieve a good environmental status. Dr. Galgani explained the

1. Patterns of microplastic distribution in the global ocean andinland environments
Marcus Eriksen, 5 Gyres Institute, CA, USA.
E-mail: marcus@5gyres.org

qualitative descriptors of a Good Environmental Status in the fieldof marine debris and reported survey results of marine debris from
the Mediterranean Sea.
I raised the question regarding the descriptors of the marine

5Gyres is a private institute in the U.S.A. The institute conducteddebris. At present there are 4 descriptors for marine debris, but all ofa research for surveying the distribution of microplastics in gyres

them can only show stock of marine debris. They can't reflect inflow

around the world. Gyres in the ocean are where the current is weakof marine debris. If we determine the success of the policy of theand the floating debris accumulate while they are floating away inmarine debris, we have to set the descriptors and conduct thethe ocean. The researches results which compared the density of thesurveys with considering the flow. Answering my question, he said

microplastics in the ocean around the world are very interesting.

that because the descriptors are the goal for estimating the good

They estimate that the microplastics floating around the gyres areenvironmental status, we can use the term of stock to decide thebarely 5 thousand billion in number and 269 thousand tons instatus of environment. They also survey the river to know the inflow

weight.

of the litter from it in order to calculate influx overall.

19 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)RESEARCHES
9. New findings on marine debris published in scientific journals by
OSEAN
By Yong Chang Jang, Korea Marine Debris Institute of OSEAN
yongchangjang@hotmail.com

Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2014). New findings on marine debris published in scientific journals by OSEAN. Marine
Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 20.

Our Sea of East Asia Network, Inc. (OSEAN) is making efforts toJang, Y. C., Lee, J., Hong, S., Lee, J. S., Shim, W. J., & Song, Y.

share its experiences on marine debris with many people concerned,

K. (2014). Sources of plastic marine debris on beaches of Korea:

including scientists all around the world. In 2014, several papers

More from the ocean than the land. Ocean Science Journal, 49(2),with new findings on marine debris were published on scientific151-162.

journals. Some of the lists are here.
Jang, Y. C., Hong, S., Lee, J., Lee, M. J., & Shim, W. J. (2014).
Hong, S., Lee, J., Kang, D., Choi, H. W., & Ko, S. H. (2014).

Estimation of lost tourism revenue in Geoje Island from the 2011

Quantities, composition, and sources of beach debris in Korea frommarine debris pollution event in South Korea. Marine Pollution

the results of nationwide monitoring. Marine Pollution Bulletin,

Bulletin, 81(1), 49-54.

84(1), 27-34.
Jang, Y. C., Lee, J., Hong, S., Lee, M. J., and Lee, J. S. (2014).
Hong, S. Y., Lee, C. W., Hong, S. Lee, J., and Jang, Y. C..

Designing and assessment of policy alternatives of marine debris:(2014). Evaluation of Beach Pollution by Aquaculture Styrofoam

focusing on measures to increase recycle ratio of styrofoam buoys.

Buoys in Tongyeong, Korea. Journal of the Korean Society for

The Korean Journal of Local Government Studies, 18(1): 75-97. (InMarine Environment and Energy, 17(2): 104-115. (In Korean with

Korean with English Abstract).

English abstract).
Lee, J., Hong, S., Jang, Y. C., Lee, M. J., Kang, D., and Shim, W.
Jang, Y. C., Lee, J., Hong, S., Mok, J. Y., Kim, K.S., Lee, Y.J.,
Choi, H.W., Kang, H., Lee, S., 2014. (2014). Estimation of theannual flow and stock of marine debris in South Korea for
management purposes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 86(1), 505-511.

Marine Litter News_ 20

J. (2015). Finding solutions for the styrofoam buoy debris problem
through participatory workshops. Marine Policy, 51, 182-189.

BOOK REVIEW - Plastic Ocean
10. The Shocking Reality of Plastic Pollution in the Ocean
A great book by Captain Charles Moore, Plastic Ocean (2011) was reviewed by a young reader. The book was translated into Korean
in 2013.
By Young Jun Andrew Kim , 10th Grade Student at Seoul International School
andrewkim0408@gmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Kim, Young Jun Andrew. (2014) The Shocking Reality of Plastic Pollution in the Ocean. Marine Litter News
from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 5(2): 21.

In addition, plastic takes decades to break up into smaller pieces,and even for the ones that do disintegrate, it disintegrates into
toxins.
Capt. Moore also discusses in his book millions of micro-plastic
bits that could harm entire food chains. Plastic, while out in theocean, breaks down into what is called micro-plastics.

Due to its

resemblance to zooplankton or animals and eggs, fish sometimes
consume these tiny bits of plastic by mistaking it for food, and thetoxins in plastic go up the food chain, eventually to be consumed bythose at the top of the food pyramid, including us humans. The factthat around 13,000 to 15,000 pieces of plastic are dumped into theocean around the globe everyday does not help alleviate the severe
reality. In the end, the plastic that we carelessly dump into theoceans come back to harm us by causing health issues because of
the plastic elements in our food.
There is no doubt that the accumulation of plastic waste in theocean is a serious issue. There are over 100,000 marine creatures
found dead every year from being entangled in plastic. Captain
Bits of plastic would be thelast thing that anyone would
expect or want to see insidetheir seafood. Yet in the near
future, it may become normal
for people to be finding bits and pieces of plastic inside their fish,
unless action is taken to stop plastic pollution that is threatening the
Earth’s oceans. In the book Plastic Ocean by Captain Charles
Moore, Mr. Moore reveals the shocking truth of how vast quantitiesof plastic are now polluting the Earth’s oceans, with devastating
effects on both the ecosystem and food chains. Captain Moore’sbook describes the research voyages from onboard the marine
research vessel Alguita to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, one outof five major garbage patches floating out in the ocean, in whichplastic waste of all sorts has accumulated to form what some are

Moore and others have made invaluable contributions to ocean
conservation efforts in regards to plastic pollution, and describes in
Plastic Ocean the urgency of solving the issue. Beyond identifying
the problem, Mr. Moore also offers various potential solutions totackle the situation, such as chemical recycling, in which plastic
polymer is changed back into its monomers. He also supports theuse of marine-biodegradable plastic, which aquatic bacteria canbreak down easier.
Living in a world with a population nearing eight billion withdwindling natural resources, it is paramount for there to be increased
awareness of the detrimental effects of human-driven environmental
damage. I learned after reading Plastic Ocean, how important it
would be for us to do everything in order to stop polluting ouroceans. After all, as Captain Moore points out, "only we humans
make waste that nature can’t digest.

calling a "floating island" of plastic or a "mountain of trash".
21 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)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_ 22

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) and Kojima 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
23 _Nov.2014.Vol.5(2)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(2): 24pp, 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,
23-96, Jukrim 4ro, 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, 23-96, Jukrim 4ro, Gwangdo, Tongyeong, Gyeongmam, 650-826, South Korea
E-mail: loveseakorea@empas.com※ We truly thank Ms. Jessie Blackledge and Mr. Kneath Heard for English proofreading of this newsletter.
Marine Litter News_ 24