Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047:reg:9:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L01047
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 9 (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 22448–25417

9

Land-based sources of marine debris

Marine debris comes from many different land-based sources. Kroon et al. (2015) identify that chronic exposure to plastic pollution is likely near sewage, stormwater, aquaculture and industrial discharges. A study of plastic waste on coastal beaches in the greater Sydney region in New South Wales found high correlation between plastic debris and both the frequency of storm-water drains and local population sizes. This suggests that storm-water drains may be responsible for delivering plastic waste to coastal ecosystems, with the amount of plastic debris proportional to the size of the surrounding population (Duckett and Repaci, 2015).
Pre-production resin plastic pellets (or nurdles) are produced and shipped around the world in significant volumes. These pellets can be lost to the environment in many ways, but spills around factories and transport over land are major factors. Pellets spilled on land may eventually find their way into drainage systems and out to sea, contributing to marine microplastic debris levels. The non-government organisation Tangaroa Blue has introduced Operation Clean Sweep to Victoria (funded through the Victorian Government's Litter Hotspots Program) with the aim of ensuring that resin pellets are contained, reclaimed and/or disposed of properly, and with a goal of zero pellet loss.
Plastics along Australia's east coast mostly come from domestic uses (Reisser et al., 2013). A study on hotspots of coastal debris across Australia found relatively high loads in Western Australia due to prevailing onshore transport from wind and wave action, along with potential transport from currents in the Indian Ocean (Hardesty et al., 2016). On the east coast of the mainland, the debris loads increase from Queensland south to New South Wales, and further increase on the Victorian coastline, likely due to transport of materials southward along the coast in the East Australian Current. Debris from Brisbane appears to be exported southward, and transported onshore by wind and waves. This plume is steadily joined by additional debris from sources down the populated eastern coast, with deposition along the way, leading to the highest levels on the Victorian coastline. Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory have relatively low debris loads compared with the other states.

Marine-based sources of debris

Marine sources of debris include commercial shipping, offshore installations such as oil rigs (Reisser et al., 2013), and recreational and commercial fishing.
Chronic exposure to marine debris on the Great Barrier Reef was found to be most likely in areas frequented by ships, primarily in ports and marinas, at anchorage areas, at moorings and to a lesser extent along shipping lanes (Kroon et al., 2015). This situation is likely to be reflected in such facilities around the Australian coastline.
Coastal clean-ups in Australia show that recreational fishing