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NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Marine Debris Program

Fiscal Year 2016

Accomplishments Report
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Table of Contents

Letter from the Director 3

Overview 4

10 Years of the NOAA Marine Debris Program 5

Research 6

Prevention 9

Removal 15

Abandoned and Derelict Vessel InfoHub 20

Emergency Response Planning 21

Photo Credits 22
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Letter from

the Director

This year has been special for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, as 2016 marked our ten-year 

anniversary. Looking back on the last decade, I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish 

and how much we’ve grown both in size and impact. During this time, we have supported numerous 

marine debris removal, prevention, and research projects around the country, resulting in thousands 

of tons of debris removed from our shores. We have raised the visibility of the marine debris issue 

and awareness of the fact that everyone can be part of the solution. The Program has also greatly 

advanced the state of science around marine debris, and worked with partners to identify regionallyspecific challenges and ways to solve them. 

Looking past our history and focusing on 2016, we have a lot to be proud of. This past year marked 

our first under our most recent Strategic Plan. Following this ambitious guide, we have worked toward 

making our vision— an end to marine debris— a reality. We saw the launch of new resources, such 

as our web-based monitoring toolbox and our online information hub for abandoned and derelict 

vessels. We supported the removal of marine debris from coastal areas across the country. We 

implemented innovative projects to prevent marine debris, worked with thousands of students and 

teachers throughout the U.S., and even saw a Regional Emmy® Award honor one of our educational 

resources.

As we move forward, I know that the responsibility rests with us to continue to lead the efforts against 

marine debris. I am proud of the Program’s achievements to address this pervasive problem and 

although we still have a lot of work to do, I am confident in our direction for the future, learning from 

the past decade of excellent marine debris work. With that, I am pleased to present the NOAA Marine 

Debris Program’s accomplishments from 2016.

Nancy Wallace

Director, NOAA Marine Debris Program
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Vision Mission

The global ocean and its 

coasts free from the impacts 

of marine debris.

To investigate and prevent 

the adverse impacts of 

marine debris.

Overview

Marine debris is a pervasive issue that threatens our ocean and 

coastal environments. The NOAA Marine Debris Program works 

to address this problem through five main program pillars: 

Research, Prevention, Coordination, Emergency Response, 

and Removal. Some of this year’s most successful efforts under 

these five foundational areas are highlighted in this report. 

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10 Years By the Numbers

Removed over 

5,500 tons

through over 100 community-based 

marine debris removal grant projects

10 Years

of the NOAA Marine Debris Program

This year marked our ten-year anniversary. We have accomplished a lot 

in the past decade, including supporting numerous research, prevention, 

and removal projects through our competitive grants, responding to 

severe marine debris events, leading marine debris action and response 

planning, and creating powerful education and outreach materials to raise 

awareness and inspire behavior change. We are proud of all that we have 

accomplished to prevent and reduce marine debris in our global ocean.

Surveyed for marine debris at 

240 sites

through the Marine Debris

Monitoring and Assessment Project Removed 

935 tons

of debris through the annual 

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Removal Mission Funded over

30 prevention

grant projects

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Researchers from the Virginia

Institute of Marine Science 

conducted a study to determine 

what factors impact the leaching 

and sorption of contaminants 

to and from microplastics. 

The results will provide critical 

information to better understand 

how microplastics and plastic 

additives interact with the marine 

environment.

Determining Influential 

Factors to the Leaching 

and Sorption of 

Contaminants To 

Microplastic Debris

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Research into marine debris helps to build our understanding of its sources, drivers, and impacts. This 

knowledge helps inform innovative solutions, targeted prevention activities, and efforts to reduce 

and remove debris. This year saw the completion of several multi-year research projects, the release 

of numerous scientific topic papers, the continued expansion of our monitoring initiative, and the 

launch of new research projects.

Research
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Researchers from Sea Education 

Association, Inc. explored the 

impact of microplastics on 

the grazing habits of small 

crustaceans called copepods. The 

study results will provide insight 

into microplastic impacts at the 

base of aquatic food chains.

Impact of Microplastics 

on Copepod Grazing

Researchers at the University of 

California, Davis investigated the 

physical and chemical effects of 

microplastics in aquatic food chains. 

The results of the study will provide 

greater understanding of how higher 

trophic levels may be affected by 

microplastic debris consumed by 

prey.

Effects of Microplastic 

Ingestion on Aquatic 

Food Chains
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Over 240 Sites surveyed through this initiative

This year, the “Get Started 

Toolbox” for the Marine Debris 

Monitoring and Assessment 

Project was launched. This project 

engages partner organizations 

and volunteers across the nation 

in completing shoreline marine 

debris surveys. The Toolbox serves 

as a resource to aid current and 

new project participants in their 

monitoring efforts.

Shoreline Marine 

Debris Monitoring

The NOAA Marine Debris Program 

partnered with Global Science 

& Technology, Inc., the Virginia 

Institute of Marine Science, 

Versar, Inc., and CSS-Dynamac 

to investigate the ecological 

and socio-economic impacts of 

derelict fishing gear (DFG) in the 

Chesapeake Bay. Completed in 

2016, this study compiled data 

from the past decade to determine 

mortality rates of captured species, 

damage to habitat, resulting 

economic losses, and to predict 

DFG hotspots.

Impact Assessment of 

Derelict Fishing Gear in 

the Chesapeake Bay

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Prevention

Prevention is the ultimate solution to marine debris. The NOAA Marine Debris Program supports local 

prevention projects and works with partners around the country to create innovative solutions which 

inspire people of all ages to help stop marine debris at its source.

Engaged over

44,500

K-12 students

through marine 

debris education and

outreach activities

Florida Sea Grant and a network of 

citizen scientists sampled coastal 

water samples across Florida for 

microplastics, in an effort to learn 

more about their distribution, 

quantities, and impacts. To raise 

awareness about the issue, they also 

conducted education and outreach, 

and challenged people to pledge 

to take actions to prevent plastic 

marine debris.

The Florida Microplastics 

Awareness Project More than

140 citizen scientists collected 

and analyzed water 

samples

Over

650 samples collected 

from 230 sites 

around Florida

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Hawaii Wildlife Fund developed a 

hands-on, science-based, marine 

debris curriculum for K-5th 

grade students. Students also 

tapped into their creative side 

and designed informative signs 

and artistic trash cans to create 

permanent beach cleanup stations 

which were used during family 

beach cleanup days.

School-based Marine 

Debris Education and 

Outreach in Hawaii

Reached

1,140 k-5th grade students in 

20 schools all over the 

Island of Hawaii

Derelict fishing gear is a big 

marine debris problem in the 

Pacific Northwest. To prevent the 

introduction of new derelict gear, 

the Northwest Straits Foundation 

conducted outreach with tribal, 

commercial, and recreational 

fishermen and crabbers about 

the impacts of derelict gear, how 

to prevent gear loss, and how to 

report lost fishing nets.

Preventing Derelict 

Fishing Gear in the 

Puget Sound

To date, over

260,000 people have viewed the 

project's 5 short videos

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The University of North Carolina 

Wilmington taught students about 

the impacts of marine debris inside 

of an inflatable whale classroom, 

created educational toolkits for 

teachers, and developed a mobile 

app for users to record their 

choices to not use products that 

become marine debris.

Marine Debris 

Education Inside 

an Inflatable Whale 

Classroom in North 

Carolina

Littering, and not just on the 

coasts, is a big source of marine 

debris. EarthTeam worked with six 

teams of two teachers and twelve 

interns from San Francisco Bay Area 

high schools to create “Zero Litter 

Campaigns” at their schools and 

in their communities. The teams 

led education and outreach about 

marine debris, and analyzed and 

mapped data from weekly litter 

surveys to better understand local 

littering problems.

High School Students 

Work to Reduce 

Littering in 

San Francisco 

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More than 10,000 students and 458 teachers learned about marine debris inside of the whale classroom

More than

20,000

items of litter recorded and 

removed from around the 

Bay Area 84 interns from 6 high schools participated
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Educational programs that 

improve science literacy and 

foster environmental stewardship 

are essential to ensuring future 

generations grasp the problem of 

marine debris. Nature’s Academy 

trained teachers in Manatee 

County, Florida on marine debris 

and provided hands-on field 

trips for students. The students 

applied the concepts they learned 

by developing final projects on 

marine debris.

Preventing Marine 

Debris in Florida 

Through Science 

Literacy

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The University of Hartford designed 

and piloted a college-level course 

to engage and educate students in 

the fight against marine debris. The 

curriculum introduces students 

to the issues of marine debris, 

guides them in the process of 

collecting and analyzing data, and 

then challenges them to use this 

information to design and assess 

policy alternatives and present 

these alternatives to their state 

legislators.

Taking Marine Debris 

from the Shore to 

the State House in a 

Connecticut CollegeLevel Course

More than

2,500

students and

350

teachers learned about 

marine debris through 

hands-on activities
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Washed Ashore's “Create, Don’t 

Waste Project” expanded on their 

marine debris sculpture program 

by creating an “Integrated Arts 

Marine Debris Curriculum,” leading 

teacher training workshops, and 

by conducting an experiential 

learning program for local 

students in Bandon, Oregon.

Art-Based Marine 

Debris Curriculum and 

Teacher Workshops in 

Oregon 

Trash Talk Wins a 

Regional Emmy®

The NOAA Marine Debris Program 

and NOAA Ocean Today partnered 

in 2015 to produce the Trash Talk 

educational video series, which takes 

a deep-dive into the issue of marine 

debris, how it affects our ocean, and 

what people can do to prevent it. In 

2016, Trash Talk was honored with 

a Regional Emmy® Award from the 

National Capital Chesapeake Bay 

Chapter of The National Academy of 

Television Arts and Sciences in the 

Informational/Instructional Program/

Special category.
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Marine Debris 

Tracker App

The Marine Debris Tracker App underwent an 

upgrade in 2016 and hit a big milestone - the 

one millionth item of marine debris tracked with 

the app! The mobile application, developed 

by the NOAA Marine Debris Program and the 

Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative 

through the University of Georgia, provides an 

easy way for citizen scientists to help collect data 

on marine debris from anywhere in the world.

30 Years of the International 

Coastal Cleanup

Over the last 30 years, the International Coastal Cleanup has brought people together 

from around the globe to clean up marine debris in their local communities. This is 

no small effort, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program has been proud to partner with 

Ocean Conservancy to support this initiative for the past 10 years.

Over

1,000,000

items of marine debris 

tracked with the Marine 

Debris Tracker App!

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Removal

While prevention is essential to stopping the influx of new marine debris, removal is necessary to 

diminish the impacts of debris that’s already there. The NOAA Marine Debris Program supports 

locally-driven, community-based marine debris removal projects to mitigate the impacts of debris 

on habitats, wildlife, and coastal communities. The following are some of this year’s most successful 

removal efforts.

Removed over 

1,775 tons of debris

Removed

abandoned and 

52

derelict vessels

Removed almost 

70 Tons

of derelict fishing

gear

Working with the Alabama 

Department of Conservation and 

Natural Resources and the Bayou 

La Batre Port Authority, the City 

of Bayou La Batre removed 22 

abandoned and derelict vessels 

which were hazards to navigation 

and causing damage to the 

surrounding environment. The 

City also worked with the Dauphin 

Island Sea Lab and volunteers from 

The Nature Conservancy to restore 

and monitor the affected habitats. 

Abandoned and 

Derelict Vessels in 

Bayou La Batre, 

Alabama

Over

19,300

square feet of 

habitat 

were restored

848 local students were 

educated about the 

impacts of marine 

debris

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Industrial Debris in Rhode Island 

The shoreline of East Providence, Rhode Island is 

littered with large debris items as well as remnants 

of historic maritime activities, mills, and steel and 

petroleum industries. In the first year of this two-year 

project, Clean Bays removed three abandoned and 

derelict vessels, dozens of abandoned docks, and 

tons of tires.

Derelict Crab Traps in Louisiana

The Barataria, Terrebonne, and Pontchartrain 

basins are the most heavily crabbed areas in 

southern Louisiana and have a high rate of crab trap 

abandonment and loss. The Louisiana Department 

of Wildlife and Fisheries led a year-round removal 

program to locate and remove derelict crab traps, 

record trap conditions and bycatch, and conduct 

accumulation surveys.

Large Debris and Shoreline Restoration on 

Belle Isle, Michigan 

Marine debris is a problem for all coastal 

communities, including those in the Great Lakes. This 

year, the Alliance for the Great Lakes removed 80 tons 

of large debris from Belle Isle, a 982-acre island and 

state park in the middle of the Detroit River, and led 

student groups in stewardship days to clean up small 

debris and restore the natural coastal wetland habitat 

by planting native plants along the shoreline.

Removed

63 tons of large debris 

from an 18-mile stretch 

of shoreline

2,631 crab pots were removed 

during the closed 

crabbing season through 

2 community volunteer 

crab trap rodeos

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Abandoned and Derelict Vessels in the U.S. 

Virgin Islands

The Coral Bay Community Council removed nine 

abandoned and derelict vessels which posed a 

navigational hazard, and threatened the surrounding 

seagrass and coral habitat within Coral Bay, St. 

John. In addition, the project led a public outreach 

campaign to prevent littering and held community 

coastal cleanups.

Remote Debris Around Shuyak Island, 

Alaska

Shuyak Island is a remote island in Alaska which is 

rich in biodiversity and provides habitat for many 

important species. In 2016, the Island Trails Network 

worked with a trained crew and a community of 

skilled volunteers to remove approximately 20 tons 

of marine debris from approximately 45 miles of 

shoreline on the island.

Large Derelict Fishing Gear in Ocean City, 

Maryland

Derelict fishing gear litters our nation’s coastal 

waterways, impacting navigation, habitats, and 

wildlife, including commercially-important fish 

species. BoatU.S. Foundation worked to address 

the damaging impacts of derelict fishing gear by 

removing two large derelict nets in Ocean City, 

Maryland. 

Combined, the 

removed nets 

weighed over

10 tons

40 volunteers from around 

the world participated 

and used sea kayaks 

to access the island's 

beaches

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Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

Removal Mission

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are encompassed by the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National 

Monument, currently the largest marine protected area in the world, and are home to more than 7,000 marine 

species. Due to currents and trade winds in the North Pacific, large amounts of marine debris accumulate 

on the reefs and beaches of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, presenting potentially lethal threats to the 

wildlife that calls this area home. When the NOAA Marine Debris Program was established in 2006, it joined 

an ongoing NOAA effort to remove debris from this area. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s 

removal mission:

2016 Northwestern Hawaiian 

Islands Removal Highlights

32 day

mission

Team of

10

NOAA 

scientists

1,200 lb

net removed from 

Pearl and Hermes Atoll, 

Southeast Island

2,600

buoys

1,843 derelict fishing nets 

or net fragments
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5 Islands/Atolls 

surveyed

540

cigarette 

lighters

485 toothbrushes and 

other personal care 

products

4,457

bottle caps

8,562

hard plastic 

fragments

1,468 beverage bottles

570

shoes and 

flip flops

Home to 

1.3 million

Laysan Albatross
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Abandoned and 

Derelict Vessel InfoHub

Thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs) litter ports, coastlines, and estuaries all over 

the country, threatening our waterways by obstructing navigational channels, causing harm to the 

environment, and diminishing commercial and recreational activities. This year, we launched the ADV 

InfoHub, an online tool serving as a central source of information regarding ADVs and the policies 

surrounding their removal in each coastal state.

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Emergency Response 

Planning

Marine debris ends up on our coasts and in the ocean every day as a result of littering and poor 

waste management, but natural and man-made disasters have the potential to make this everyday 

problem worse. In 2016, the NOAA Marine Debris Program worked with local, state, tribal, and federal 

partners around the country to improve preparedness for natural and man-made disasters through 

the development of marine debris response plans. These plans aim to outline existing structures to 

facilitate coordinated, well-managed, and immediate responses to acute waterway debris incidents. 

Completed 2 new

marine debris

response plans in

Florida & 

North Carolina

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Photo Credits

1. NOAA (Cover)

2. NOAA (Page 3, top)

3. NOAA (Page 4)

4. NOAA (Page 5, top)

5. NOAA (Page 5, top)

6. NOAA (Page 6)

7. Will Parson, courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay Program (Page 7, top)

8. NOAA (Page 7, bottom)

9. NOAA (Page 8, top)

10. Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Page 8, bottom)

11. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Page 9, top)

12. Florida Sea Grant (Page 9, bottom)

13. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Page 10, top)

14. Northwest Straits Foundation (Page 10, bottom)

15. University of North Carolina Wilmington MarineQuest (Page 11, top)

16. EarthTeam (Page 11, bottom)

17. Nature's Academy (Page 12)

18. NOAA (Page 13, top)

19. NOAA (Page 13, bottom)

20. Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative, University of Georgia (Page 14, top)

21. NOAA (Page 14, bottom)

22. NOAA (Page 15, bottom)

23. NOAA (Page 16, top)

24. Louisiana Sea Grant (Page 16, middle)

25. Alliance for the Great Lakes (Page 16, bottom)

26. Sean Richardson, Coral Bay Community Council (Page 17, top)

27. Island Trails Network (Page 17, middle)

28. BoatU.S. (Page 17, bottom)

29. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 18, top left)

30. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 18, middle)

31. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 18, bottom)

32. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 19, top left)

33. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 19, middle)

34. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 19, bottom left)

35. NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (Page 19, bottom right)

36. NOAA (Page 20)

37. NOAA (Page 21)
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NOAA Marine Debris Program

Office of Response and Restoration

National Ocean Service

October 2016

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/