tering the oceans, national and international policies need to support cheap and easy ways for ships to dispose of their garbage at ports, sea. At the global level, IMO put A plastic bottle dumped into the notes Criddle. together the International Conocean takes 450 years to degrade, The report also examines dervention for the Prevention of Polan aluminum can takes 200-500, elict fishing gear. Made of strong, lution from Ships (MARPOL) and a tin can 100, according to nonbiodegradable materials such Annex V, an agreement designed numbers cited by the Internaas nylon and metal, the lost fishto reduce dumping at sea. MARtional Maritime Organization ing nets, crab pots, and other dePOL Annex V has been ratified by (IMO), a UN agency that regulates vices continue to trap fish, 134 countries, including the U.S. the shipping industry. Yet these mammals, and other orand other manufactured ganisms in the ocean. The objects make their way result is that thousands, into the seas, where they perhaps millions, of aniadd to the piles of marine mals have been killed by debris that float, sink, or this gear over the years. wash up on beaches. AlThe committee suggests though the degradation that the U.S. National times listed may be just Oceanic and Atmospheric estimates, experts agree Administration (NOAA) that such oceanic junk develop ways to tag gear, destroys marine life and in order to identify the hurts local economies by sources of retrieved gear. restricting our use of It also recommends that beaches and marine fishermen, state officials, Turtles are among the countless animals that die after getresources. ting trapped in derelict fishing gear. and the public work coopExisting policies have eratively to develop costfailed to reduce the mass MARPOL uses a “blacklist apeffective ways to remove and of this rubbish, according to a reproach,” notes Criddle, implying dispose of lost gear and that fishport by a committee of the Nathat it prevents the disposal of ermen who aid removal efforts tional Research Council (NRC). To specific debris. It prohibits the receive financial credit from fedtackle the problem, stricter polidumping of plastics anywhere in eral or state agencies. cies should be implemented and the oceans and restricts the In the U.S., the Marine Debris more funds devoted to prevent dumping of other solid wastes, Research, Prevention, and Reducoceanic littering, encourage effisuch as lining and packaging mation Act of 2006 mandates cient retrieval of debris, and supterials, paper, rags, glass, metal, cleanup efforts and research into port long-term research on and bottles, to places outside certhe extent of the problem and its impacts, the report concludes. tain areas that MARPOL identifies impacts. But the NRC report and “With the advent of synthetics as being vulnerable to the imanother recent report, which was such as plastic coming out in the pacts of such garbage. MARPOL submitted to the U.S. Congress by 1950s, what we have is material has been ineffective in reducing an interagency committee conthat’s more durable,” says Keith the amount of garbage at sea, the vened to advise lawmakers on Criddle, a fisheries expert at the NRC committee concludes. ways to reduce the impact from University of Alaska Fairbanks and Tracing the sources of garbage is marine debris (the Interagency a member of the committee that one of the key challenges when tryMarine Debris Coordinating Comwrote the report. “And it’s going to ing to clean up marine debris, says mittee), identify the need for persist in the ocean environment Criddle. “We don’t have a good more research. “We just don’t for an extended period of time.” handle on where the material have the research right now to Awareness of the problem has comes from,” he adds. “It’s not say what the full impacts are,” grown in the past two decades. specifically labeled as ‘Hi! I was notes Sarah Morrison, program Some shipping companies have dropped out of a boat!’” A precaucoordinator for NOAA’s marine already adopted voluntary meationary, or “white-list”, approach, debris program. There is no basesures to reduce or stop the dumpwhich would prohibit disposal of line for the extent of the problem, ing of their waste into oceans. all kinds of garbage, would be and “without a baseline, we don’t The Cruise Lines International more appropriate, the committee know what difference we are Association, for example, has set writes. Along with disincentives (in making.” mandatory environmental stanthe form of very high fines) for litdards aimed at zero discharge at —RHITU CHATTERJEE OCEAN CONSERVANCY/NOAA
Toward cleaner oceans
8996 9 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / December 15, 2008
10.1021/es8028445
2008 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 10/29/2008
