Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047:reg:7:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 7 (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 14604–17675

7

Plastic debris increases the susceptibility of reef-building corals to disease, with subsequent habitat implications for marine wildlife. The likelihood of disease increased from 4 per cent to 89 per cent when corals were in contact with plastic (Lamb et al., 2018). Structurally complex corals were eight times more likely to be affected by plastic, suggesting that microhabitats for reef-associated organisms and valuable fisheries may be disproportionately affected.
As an example of the extent of plastic pollution and the concern this issue generates, the first coordinated joint survey of floating macroplastics in remote seas around east and west Antarctica in 2007–2008 found that the seabeds immediately surrounding continental Antarctica are probably the last environments on the planet yet to be reached by plastics (Barnes et al. 2010). However, with pieces of plastic floating into the surface of the Amundsen Sea, this seems likely to change. Australian scientists are planning to investigate the impact of microplastics on the Southern Ocean food web in Antarctica during the life of this plan.

           2.    Objectives and actions

This plan provides national guidance on action to prevent and mitigate the impacts of harmful marine debris on vertebrate marine life through five major objectives:
           1. Contribute to long-term prevention of the incidence of marine debris
           2. Understand the scale of impacts from marine plastic and microplastic on key species, ecological communities and locations
           3. Remove existing marine debris
           4. Monitor the quantities, origins, types and hazardous chemical contaminants of marine debris, and assess the effectiveness of management arrangements for reducing marine debris
           5. Increase public understanding of the causes and impacts of harmful marine debris, including microplastic and hazardous chemical contaminants, to bring about behaviour change.
The criteria for success remain consistent with those in the previous TAP and with national indicators for estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems:
           •   a general decline in the presence and extent of harmful marine debris in Australia's marine environment
           •   a general decline in the number of marine vertebrates dying and being injured from ingestion of and/or entanglement in harmful marine debris.
Context and specific actions for each objective are outlined below.

Objective 1: Contribute to long-term prevention of marine debris
Globally, the loss of plastic to the environment is increasing at an exponential rate. The World Economic Forum estimates that 95 per cent of plastic packaging material value (or over $80 trillion annually) is lost to the economy after a short first use (World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey & Company, 2016).
It is widely cited that 80 per cent of marine debris originates from land (rather than ship- or marine-based sources), but this figure is not well substantiated (Jambeck et al., 2015). During 2010, 275 million