Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)1. Highlight of International Coastal Cleanup 2013 in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan
2. The truth of caps (Taiwan)
3. Beach survey conducted on a beach of the Thai Gulf (Thailand)
4. Field survey on Tsunami debris on the west coasts of Canada and the US (Japan)
5. Styrofoam debris issues broadcasted on Korean Television (Korea)
6. 11th Marine Litter Summit in Tokyo held in November, 2013 (Japan)
7. Korea Marine Litter Institute (KMLI) founded
8. Recent outcomes of „microplastic researches‟ in Korea

1Preface

Dear readers from all around the world
I am happy to issue this volume of Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter.
The Forum is composed of non-governmental organizations in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, andThailand. We have made efforts to solve the marine debris problem in east Asia and have been sharing
such experiences through the biannual newsletters since its establishment in 2009.
This volume is summarizing activities of each member organization in 2013. Highlights ofInternational Coastal Cleanup held in each country are introduced. JEAN in Japan conducted surveys on
debris generated from the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami and held its annual summit. GFA in Thailand conducteda scientific survey on the marine debris on a beach. The seriousness of plastic bottle caps debris in
Taiwan is explained in detail and the ICC is regarded as an important opportunity for environmental
education with a new law. In South Korea, a non-governmental marine debris institute was established,and plastic debris and styrofoam buoy issues were broadcasted through nationwide television networks.
We hope this volume of newsletter may contribute to solving the marine debris problem and to sharing
experiences on how citizens can participate.
With love,
December 2013,
Sunwook Hong (Ph.D., President of OSEAN)

Marine Litter News_ 2

ACTIVITIES
1. Highlight of International Coastal Cleanup 2013 in Korea, Taiwan, andJapan
The Summary of the 2013 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in Korea
By Sunwook Hong, Country coordinator of International Coastal
Cleanup in Korea
oceanwook@gmail.com
2013 ICC in Korea was held around the country last September
and October. In this event, 8760 people all over the country wereparticipated and they collected 107,444 litters that weighed 330
tons. They cleaned about 46 kilometers on 58 sites this year. The
participants and cleanup sites in this year were slightly declined
compared with those of last year but Korean International Coastal
Cleanup has been growing in view of long term trend. For 13 years
60,450 participants have collected 741,638 litters that weighed
2,057 tons. They have cleaned 629 sites and 420 kilometers in total.
From the result of 2013 Korean International Coastal Cleanup, we
can see that litters form daily lives and recreation comprises 54.5 %of the total. The noticeable thing from the result is that the
proportion of litters related to ocean and fisheries was dropped
down from 20~30 % during the last decade to 16.8% this year.
Instead, the ratio of litters from land and recreation has increased
and that of other regional litters was high up to 5.4 %. If the littersfrom ocean and fisheries decreased, it would be very hopeful news.
More research and survey is needed to confirm this trend and to
estimate policies related litter control.

2013 ICC sites along the coastal areas of South Korea

To understand priority items to decrease coastal litter, we picked the top items from the 2013 result. abundant item was cigarette butts
comprising 19 %, followed by plastic bags (7.3%), disposable cups and plates (paper) (5.3%), plastic beverage bottles (5.1%), foodwrappers (plastic) (4.2%), beverage cans (4.1%), styrofoam food containers (3.8%), glass beverage bottles (3.6%), plastic food containers(2.8%), and stryfoam floats (2.7%). These items comprised 58 % of the total. If we manage these items more thoroughly, we can decrease
considerable amounts of marine litters!

1

ACTIVITIESCoastal cleanup like a festival: 13th ceremony held on
Dadaepo beach, Busan, Korea
By Sunwook HongInternational Coastal Cleanups in which people all over the world
pick the trashes in the coastal area or beach have been proceeding
actively around the world. In Korea, the 13th International Coastal
Cleanup Korean ceremony was held in Dadaepo Beach, Busan on
the 28th of September. The ceremony was hosted by OSEAN,
which was supported by Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries. It wasalso patronized by Korean Marine Environment and Corporation,
Busan Metropolitan City, Saha-gu Office, and Noridan. Mr. Nam
Hyung-ki who is in charge of marine environment policy of
Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries, Mr. Lee Kyung Hoon, Mayor of
Saha-gu Office in Busan, elementary and middle school students,and many citizens were attended in this ceremony. They
participated in the cleanup and enjoyed the several accompanied
performances and activities as follows: the performance ofrepercussion instrument by Noridan, many poster exhibition inwhich announced marine debris harmful to marine biota,

Snap shots of the ceremony held in Dadaepo beach, Busan,
Korea

exhibition of artworks made of marine debris, activities withmarine litter activity book, writing message to the ocean, making
fish with discarded plastic bottles, making horn with discarded
plastic pipes, participants' performance with musical instruments
made of trashes by themselves, and a finale parade with all theparticipants.
Among marine debris which were gathered on the day, cigarettebutts were 2,760, comprising 44% of all debris. 222 of plastic bags,
161 of packaging bands, 139 of plastic cups and 126 of paper cups
were also collected. Thus all of the debris from daily lives andrecreation comprised 47%. Although the beach had been cleaned
routinely, many trashed still remained on the beach, and even asmall trash could kill marine lives.

Governmental officers who are responsible for marine
environment policy in Korea are picking trash and recording
the data card.

You can save a creature by picking a trash. More important
thing is making a habit to pick a trash on your daily lives. The
ceremony was fun and meaningful event to conserve the ocean.

Young participants are making sound with DIY horns
Marine Litter News_ 4

Coastal cleanup: citizen participation and environmental
education in Taiwan

In order to promote education on marine debris issues, wedeveloped different lesson plans like DIY, storytelling, film and field
games for all ages. Through well trained volunteers, participants

By Chieh-Shen Hu Civic Education Coordinator in The Society ofWilderness, Taiwan
jason@wilderness.tw
Since 2008, The Society of Wilderness started coastal cleanupwith a simple idea in mind: 「Do something good for the earth」, andreceived different levels of information about the issue which in turnenabled them to question on their life style.

This issue cannot be solved through simple cleanup alone. We
summed up the data of trash collected during the events andanalyzed the composition and trend. We learned plastic/petroleum

joined the International Coastal Cleanup(ICC) in 2010. Now we

products was the most frequent material found (82.5%) and a rapid

regularly launch 20~25 cleanups in September and October every

increase of disposable dinnerware may be caused by popular eating

year with the support of volunteers in 11 chapters and attract overcustoms such as night market and food-to-go. The statistics used has

5000~8000 participants from about hundred different organizations.

also been an effective tool for the public and the government.
Recently we cooperated with artists, animators(*), scientists,

Due to the legislation of Environmental Education Act and theimportance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) coastal

museums and beach administration to curate two successful
educational exhibitions.

cleanup gradually has been taken seriously. More and more schools,
enterprises and people are looking for a green activity. Relatively*This animation can be seen on http://youtu.be/I1_zqTWWRVQ

simple but sweaty and meaningful activity with a high carrying
capacity but lower environmental impact, we thought coastal
cleanup would be an ideal activity for environmental education.

The most abundant item of marine debris has changed fromplastic bags to disposable dinnerware

Top 10 of our 25 cleanups in 2012

5_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIES

Educational show「Love Your Ocean Home」was held at anational museum. We decorated the marine pollution section
with a rainbow made by 6000 or more lighters collected at 2012cleanups

Result of 2013 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in Japan
By Dr. Shigeru Fujieda, Professor of Kagoshima University andboard member of JEAN
fujieda@fish.kagoshima-u.ac.jp

Another show「Ocean Passenger Leaves a Message On the North
Coast」was collaborate with the administration of a famous
beach and held at the visitor center.

Table 1 Top12 items of the 2013 ICC

in Japan

1

Hard plastic pieces (over 2.5mm) 18,228 (14.9%)2

Filmy plastic pieces (over 2.5mm) 14,996 (12.3%)

3

Formed plastic pieces (over 2.5mm) 12,863 (10.5%)

In the 2013 ICC in Japan, a total of 4,661 people participated4

Cigarette butts 9,820 (8.0%)

from Hokkaido in the north to Kagoshima in the south, and 122,333

5

Plastic bottles (drink) 6,659 (5.4%)

pieces (1.4 tons) of litter was collected from 83 sites (18.9 km) of

6

Plastic bottle caps 5,079 (4.2%)

coast (49), riverbank and lakeshore (25), and underwater (9). The

7

Food wrappers and bags 5,000 (4.1%)

2

8

Plastic food containers 4,577 (3.7%)

9

Plastic short pipes (1.5cm oyster farming) 4,207 (3.4%)

Japan ICC data card was reviewed in this year, and the number of

10

Grass pieces (over 2.5mm) 3,819 (3.1%)

trash items surveyed was decreased from 64 to 45 items. Top 3

11

Cans (drink) 3,385 (2.8%)

items (total 27.7%) in the 2013 was the fragments that the size is

12

Grass bottles (drink) 3,039 (2.5%)

total area cleaned was 76,5000 m (length, 18.9km).

over 2.5mm. We express our gratitude to all of the participants.

Marine Litter News_ 6

2. The Truth of Caps
By Han-Yun, Leemavis13@e-info.org.tw

Recommended Citation:

Lee, Han-Yun (2013) The truth of caps. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol4(2): 7-8

What truth are we trying to tell?
Every year, over a trillion of bottled water is produced around theworld; which means, over a trillion caps are produced as well. As to
Taiwan, 28 billions of bottled waters are used per year. According to
EPAEY (Environmental Protection Administration ExecutiveYuan), over 95% of bottled waters are recycled; however, half ofthem are without caps. If the 14 billion caps are just left somewhereoutside, they will be probably washed to everywhere maybe in thesewers or in the river, and finally to the sea. These appallingnumbers are just telling us a truth; that is, these tiny, colorful andplastic products are causing an environmental crisis.

Bottle caps and other plastic fragments caused the death of analbatross chick (©Steven Siegel/Marine Photo Bank)
Dr. Cheng from NTOU (National Taiwan Ocean University), who
has been conducting long-term research of sea turtles, stated thatamong those dead sea turtles in Taiwan, over 30% of them are foundcaps, plastic bags and other plastic products in stomach. A famous
ecological photographer, Chris Jordan, shocked everyone by giving
his latest documentary film and a series of pictures, “Midway.” Hedescribed how those gooney birds on the Midway Island are
affected by the marine waste and how they actually died of the caps
and plastic products in their stomachs.

have been a troublesome problem worldwide. What‟s more, it isCaps are easily gained, but also ignored. We rarely notice that
this tiny thing will show up in the ocean, on the beach and justeverywhere. We rarely realize that this colorful thing will be so
attractive to the gooney birds, the sea turtles and other marine
creatures. It can just be hardly imagined that you step into a
convenient store as usual, pick a beautiful colored bottled water andbuy because it‟s so hot outside, then throw it to a trash can after

because caps are so tiny that they will be often ingested by marine

finished, and it just show up on a beach in the other side of earth.

Plastic bottles and caps washed ashore
In accordance with a report of ICC (International Coastal
Cleanup) Taiwan in 2012, the number of caps is ranked top 5 on thelist of the marine waste. There is no doubt that those dumped caps

animals who can hardly distinguish if those caps are prey.

7_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIES
Uncovering the truth that we need to know.
The “The Truth of Caps” is an exhibition of telling what really
happened to our environment by revealing the truth of the dumped
caps. During the period of exhibition, we displayed five installation
art works, and a series of pictures, films, and speech about marine
waste. The exhibition was held by TEIA (Taiwan Environmental
Information Association). However, we gathered university students
as volunteers to establish a cap workshop and create these five
installation art works. It took four months for us to finish them allfrom cleaning up the beaches, gathering and sorting out the marine
waste, organizing the caps to finally put them into pieces. Our
notions are, firstly, the convenient and industrialized living model isthe main reason why there are so many dumped bottled drinks andcaps worldwide, which also are damaging the environment.
Secondly, recycling is definitely not the perfect solution ofenvironmental protection. Therefore, we appeal to the consumers tostop buying bottled drinks and think twice before purchasing.

One of the artworks made of bottle caps through the 4-monthprogramThrough these works, we would like to express the ideas that thistiny round thing can dosuch harm to the animals,
the environment and ofcourse,ourselves.

shouldn‟t

Weunderestimate

their power, but really takeit serious. Also, recycling is
not the only antidote for
reducing the amount ofwaste. Stop buying andStartchanging.

The

consumers have the rights
to choose. So, let‟s make abetter choice.
University students collecting bottle caps

Marine Litter News_ 8

A plastic drinking bottle suspended in
the exhibition, ‘The Truth of Caps’3. Beach survey conducted on a beach of the Thai Gulf
By Ms. Kanyarat Kosavisutte, Secretary of Green Fins Association
footprint_architec@yahoo.com

Recommended Citation:

Kosavisutte, Kanyarat (2013) Beach survey conducted on a beach of the Thai Gulf. Marine Litter News from
East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 4(2): 9-10

During the AMETEC (APEC Marine Environmental Training

She will take the full responsibility going forward. Her fellows

and Education Center, www.ametec.org) training workshop held inand students used to join the ICC events I organized in 2009 andJuly 11~21, 2013, all the participants were recommended to survey

2010. This year, they successfully did their beach cleanup where

each country‟s beach by using the protocol tested at the workshop.

150 students and 5 faculties joined and will continue their ICC

Upon returning to Phuket, I have shared my experience with mycleanup yearly as well.

colleagues at the DMCR (Department of Marine and Coastal
Resources).
DMCR organized a workshop for volunteers to conduct thesurvey in the Andaman coast and the Thai Gulf so that we can havethe data for Thailand. Ms. Boonjongrak, a professor of the
DepartmentofEnvironment,

Rajamangala

UniversityofTechnology Srivijaya in Trang joined this activity.

Guiding the methodology of survey at the beachOn the 16th November 2013, we conducted the first survey at thebeach of the Thai Gulf. Firstly I briefed the data filling method tothe first year students who volunteered to collect data.

The location of survey site in the Thai Gulf

9_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIESWe finished the two rolls of quadrates and six transacts on the

The amount of the trash was not as much as we expected. It

vegetation and strand line quickly because most of the trash werewould have been much more if we conducted earlier in October. The

blown over the vegetation line. While we were waiting for the low

debris we collected was not various so we were certain about thetide to work on the last quadrate roll, I noticed beach erosion. I

data filling except some cases. A plastic cup container and pieces ofopened my smart phone and google map to locate the position. It

cookie containers were not matched to the categories of thewas clear to me why we have this erosion. It's because we are so

protocol.

close to the estuary.
This is surely an exercise to start with and it would be reallyworth if we have more experiences. Most of the volunteers areaware of the problem and responsible for their trash so that it will
not end up in the sea.

University students participating the survey

Forty participants of the survey

Soft plastic containers
we foundMarine Litter News_ 10

4. Field survey on Tsunami debris on the west coasts of Canada and the US
By Mr. Hiroshi Kaneko, Representative Director of JEAN
cleanup@jean.jp

Recommended Citation:

Kaneko, Hiroshi (2013) Field survey on Tsunami debris on the west coasts of Canada and the US, Marine Litter
News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 4(2): 11-12

Large amounts of marine debris was brought about by 2011

Mr. Pete Clarkson, a park ranger of the Pacific Rim National Park

Tohoku tsunami in Japan (Mori et al., 2011). JEAN has beenin Ucluelet city, guided us around the island. He said that he foundconducting surveys on tsunami driftage since 2012 with the support

wooden housing pillars, which appeared to be a part of Japaneseof the Japanese Ministry of Environment. For this year‟s survey, webuildings. These housing pillars found on the coast are currently

visited the west coast areas of Canada and the United States inbeing stored at a storage area on Vancouver Island. According toSeptember to investigate the current status of tsunami driftage.

Mr. Clarkson, fishing equipments and sports balls have been foundFollowing is a report of the survey trips findings.

on the shores of Vancouver Island from the previous year, but thearrival of housing pillars only began in this spring. “When I saw

In Canada, we first visited the Vancouver Aquarium (thethese pillars, I was reminded of the scale of the disaster and was

Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre) which hosts the Great

once again saddened by the tragedy”, he commented. There are talks

Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. The Vancouver Aquarium is operated

about building a tsunami memorial monument in the town ofby an environmental non-governmental organization and is a center

Ucluelet using these pillars.

for marine research, conservation and marine animal rehabilitation.
It also offers educational programs.

For the latter half of our survey trip, we visited the northern coastof Washington State, which is on the northwestern coast of the US.

We discovered that in British Columbia, tsunami driftage is found

Here, we visited various organizations related to marine debris.

on many islands including Vancouver Island. We visited Wouwer
Island, one of many uninhabited islands off Vancouver Island. We

The first organization that we visited was Washington

took the ferry from Vancouver city to the Vancouver Island, took a

CoastSaver, an NGO engaged in cleaning up the Washington‟s

car from the harbor to the Ucluelet city for 6 hours, and again took a

Pacific Coast. In 2013, CoastSaver began to expand the ICC events

motored gum boat from Ucluelet city to Wouwer Island for 20

to the northern coastal areas of Washington State. Before 2013, ICC

minutes. Upon arrival, large amount of driftwood with plastic

was limited to the southern coastal areas. The reason is because

garbage was found on the shores. Other drifted items such as

most northern coastal areas are either part of the national park or the

styrofoam floats used for aquaculture and parts of building

Indian reservation that restricts access. There was also an issue of

insulation made of polyurethane foams were found.

lack of funding. Mr. Jon Schdmit who heads the organization
informed us that residents from the indigenous peoples‟ reservation
participated in the clean-up with the local residents.

11_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIESSecondly, we met some people conducting the beach surveys

Thirdly, we met Mr. Ken Campbell, who is the regional

once a month. This is carried out as a part of NOAA (National

representative of Surfrider Foundation of Northern Washington. He

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)‟s marine debris program.

told us about the kayak expedition. He and his crew of the Ikkatsu

Most of the participants are retired residents. They work

Project, which he also leads, took around the northern coast ofpassionately under the NOAA regional coordinators who survey the

Washington to check on the status of marine debris.

beaches for marine birds and marine debris including tsunami
driftage.

In conclusion, using the findings from the survey trip, JEAN
plans to host a photo panel exhibition regarding the tsunami driftage
issue for the public next year. We will also be sharing our report on
the general marine debris problem as well.

Survey trip on Wouwer island

Marine Litter News_ 12

Discussions at city of Ucluelet, Vancouver island

5. Styrofoam debris issues broadcasted on Korean Television
By Dr. Yong Chang Jang, researcher at Korea Marine Litter Institute, OSEAN
yongchangjang@hotmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Jang, Yong Chang. (2013) Styrofoam debris issues broadcasted on Television. Marine Litter News from East
Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 4(2): 13-14

It is documented in scientific journals that styrofoam buoys foraquaculture is making serious problems in Korean sea (Lee et al.,2013). But, the styrofoam marine debris problem is not well known
to the public. By the influence from media, Korean people seems toknow more about the pacific garbage patches than Korea's own
problem of styrofoam buoy debris.

In 2013, fortunately, styrofoam debris issues were made into
television documentary film. Education Broadcasting System (EBS,
www.ebs.co.kr) made a series of documentary film, 'Plastic Human
Being' and broadcasted them on their program of 'The only one
Earth' in October 2013. Taegu Broadcasting Company (TBC,
www.tbc.co.kr) made a documentary film, 'The White Demon' andbroadcasted on October 31, 2013.

Dr. Sunwook Hong, representative of OSEAN, emphasized thatstyrofoam buoy is the number one problem in Korea on theinterview for the EBS documentary film on Plastic Marine
Debris.

The EBS documentary, „Plastic Human Being‟ focused on the
problem of plastic. But, while interviewing for the program, Dr.
Sunwook Hong, the representative of OSEAN, emphasized that thebiggest amount of beached debris comes from styrofoam buoys.

The TBC documentary, "The White Demon" focused on the
problems of styrofoam. By interviewing various experts from
Korea, Japan, and the US, this documentary well summarized the
problem of styrofoam debris and the alternative materials.
Ecovative, a company which makes plastic from mushroom, wasfirstly introduced to Korea by this program. According to thisdocumentary, the buoys made of mushroom can sustain for about six
months in the marine environment. If this product can endure
longer, perhaps it can replace the styrofoam buoys. I hope theresearch on fungi plastic (Bayer and McIntyre, 2011; Schiffman,

The TBC documentary film, ‘The White Demon’ focused on
the problems of styrofoam debris.

2013) will further progress.

13_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIES
These television programs may have great influence on the public<References>awareness of the styrofoam debris problem. I and members of
OSEAN appreciates the television companies for making andbroadcating these programs.

Bayer, E., and G. McIntyre. (2011). "Method for producing
rapidly renewable chitinous material using fungal fruiting bodies
and product made thereby." U.S. Patent No. 8,001,719. 23 Aug.
2011.

Lee, J., Hong, S., Song, Y. K., Hong, S. H., Jang, Y. C., Jang,
M., ... & Shim, W. J. (2013). Relationships among the abundancesof plastic debris in different size classes on beaches in South Korea.
Marine pollution bulletin.

Schiffman, R. (2013). Packing materials grown from mushrooms.
New Scientist, 218(2921), 29.

Buoys made from mushroom by Ecovative Design company was
introduced by the TBC documentary film, "White Demon" on
the problem of styrofoam debris.

Marine Litter News_ 14

6. 11th Marine Litter Summit in Tokyo held in November, 2013
By Mr. Hiroshi, Kaneko, Representative Director of JEAN
cleanup@jean.jp
Recommended Citation:

Kaneko, Hiroshi (2013) 11th Marine Litter Summit in Tokyo held in November, 2013. Marine Litter News from
East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol. 4(2): 15

Our 11th Marine Litter Summit was held in Tokyo on November

The 12th Marine Litter Summit is scheduled to be held in Sakata

20 and 21, 2013. Three themes were focused; the first was on thecity of Yamagata prefecture in July, 2014. JEAN will sharetsunami driftage survey findings from the North American coasts,

measures to tackle the domestic marine litter issues and inand second was on international cooperation to tackle the issues ofparticular, we will address the river litter issue and discuss how tomarine debris and third, on the Japanese marine litter law.

decrease the amount of waste that ends up in the rivers which makes
its way to the ocean. As guest speakers, we plan to invite members

We had a special guest speaker from Ocean Conservancy, Mr.

from OSEAN to address the river waste management in Korea.

Nicholas Mallos who is in charge of tsunami debris and actively
works on the issue by surveying the beaches all over the US. In thepast, he has participated in the local survey trips with JEAN in thestate of Oregon and Hawaii.

12th Marine Litter Summit held in Tokyo, November 2013

Mr. Mallos (Ocean Conservancy, U.S.) giving a presentation

15_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

ACTIVITIES
7. Korea Marine Litter Institute (KMLI) founded
By Sunwook Hong, President of OSEAN
oceanook@gmail.com
Recommended Citation:

Hong, Sunwook (2013) Korea Marine Litter Institute (KMLI) founded. Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil
Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 4(2): 16

A research organization, Korea Marine Litter Institute (KMLI)

On the basis of various experiences as an NGO, the experts ofdedicated to the research of marine litter problem and solution in the

KMLI would play an important role to activate communication andEast Asian region was established by Our Sea of East Asia Network

sharing among civil societies, researchers, and decision makers on(OSEAN) in August, 2013. Three activists of OSEAN got Ph.D

the marine litter issue. Since 2009, OSEAN has implemented manydegrees in Administration and Ecological Engineering this year: A

research projects such as establishment of national marine litter

Study on the Rationality of the Decision-making of the Marine

management plan, the distribution and source of foreign litter drifted

Debris Policy by Dr. Yong Chang Jang (Gyeongnam University);

ashore, development of educational materials for elementary school

Assessment of marine debris pollution and emergy evaluation of its

teachers and fishermen, the microplastic distribution on beaches andmanagement measures in Korea by Dr. Sunwook Hong (Pukyong

relationship among different size groups, improvement in recycling

National University, PNU); Relationship among size groups ofof derelict Styrofoam buoys, and economic impact of land-based

plastic beach debris as a tool to assess microplastic pollution inlitter, etc after its establishment. KMLI is going to undertake the

Korea by Dr. Jongmyoung Lee (PNU).

researches. OSEAN will conduct the nonprofit activities such as
International Coastal Cleanup, survey on impact of marine litter on
wildlife through citizen science, education and public relations, andinternational cooperation.

Marine Litter News_ 16

RESEARCH
8. Recent outcomes of ‘microplastic researches’ in Korea
By Dr. Jongmyoung Lee, Chief science officer of Marine Litter Research Institute, OSEAN
sachfem@nate.com
Recommended Citation:

Lee, Jongmyoung (2013) Recent outcomes of „microplastic researches‟ in Korea. Marine Litter News from East
Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Vol 4(2): 17-18

Microplastic is an emerging marine environmental pollution
issue. It can transfer chemical pollutants from marine environment
to biota and, consequently, pose threat on health of wild life andhuman. Researches on distribution and effects of microplastic havebeen conducted by Korea Institute of Ocean Science andTechnology (KIOST) with the project “A study on microplastic
pollution in the coastal environments” since 2012. Our Sea of East
Asia Network (OSEAN) is committing to beach plastic surveys inthis project. Here, I introduce main contents of two recent
publications on the survey results.

Relationships among the abundances of plastic debris indifferent

sizeclassesonbeaches

in

South

Korea

(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.08.013)

Microplstic survey requires much more efforts and resources thanlarge plastic debris survey. In this study, correlations among micro(1–5 mm), meso- (5–25 mm), and macro- (>25 mm) plastic debris
on beaches were tested on the beaches near the Nakdong River
Estuary, SE Korea. Average number of microplastics was over ten

Figure 1. Abundance and composition of plastic debris onbeaches by size category: (a) large microplastics (1–5 mm), (b)mesoplastics (5–25 mm), and (c) macroplastics (>25 mm).
JW=Jinwoo, GY=Guyeong, HN=Heungman, DP=Deokpo,
WH=Wahyeon, and MS=Myeongsa (6 beaches of Geoje Island,
SE Korea)

thousands per square meter while mesoplastics was about 200 andmacroplastics was only one. Most of the microplastics were
fragments of Styrofoam buoys from adjacent oyster culture
facilities. The abundance of microplastics was strongly correlatedwith the abundance of mesoplastics, but not with macroplastics. So
they concluded that mesoplastic surveys could be used to identify

Microplastic surveys have been usually conducted on a strandlineof beaches. Thus information about cross-sectional distribution ofsmall plastic debris on beaches is rare. In this study, small plastic
debris on the high-strand and the cross-sectional lines wasmonitored in Heungnam beach, South Korea. The mean abundancesof small plastics were about a thousand particles per square meter at

microplastic hot spots.

the high strandline and about 500 at the cross-section perpendicular
Cross-sectional distribution of small plastic debris on
Heungnam beach, South Korea
Research0019-9)highlights(http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12601-013-

to the shoreline. They found out that the cross-sectional distributionof small plastics showed marked patchiness. The abundance ofsmall plastic debris was relatively high compared to other regions.
Fragmented expanded polystyrene spherules from aquaculture
buoys were predominant on this beach.

17_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)

RESEARCH

Figure 2. Cross-sectional distributions of (a) styrofoam, (b) fragments, (c) pellets, (d) intact forms, and (e) total (sum of styrofoam,
fragment, pellet, and intact forms) on the beach. S = size. The shaded area indicates the approximate high strandline

Marine Litter News_ 18

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
19_ Dec. 2013. Vol. 4(2)Recommended Citation for the whole volume:

Hong, Sunwook. (2013). Marine Litter News from East Asia Civil Forum on Marine Litter, Our Sea of East
Asia Network, Vol. 4(2): 1-18, 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,
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_ 20