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Derelict fishing nets are removed from a beach in Oregon (Photo: Oregon Surfrider).
The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce our FY 2022 Marine Debris Removal notice of funding opportunity. Projects awarded through the removal grant competition will create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources, with priority consideration for efforts targeting derelict fishing gear, abandoned and derelict vessels, and other medium- and large-scale debris. Projects should also foster public awareness of the effects of marine debris to further the conservation of living marine resource habitats, and contribute to the understanding of marine debris composition, distribution, and impacts. NOAA will also fund projects in the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border regions, subject to additional eligibility criteria.
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Artwork by Jeewoo S. (Grade 8, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), winner of the Annual NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest.
Congratulations to the winners of this the 2021 NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest! This year’s art contest has been unlike any other, and it was made possible by the many adaptations of our young artists and staff. We received many colorful, fun, and informative entries from around the country, and although we wish we could showcase them all, we are excited to share the winners of this year’s contest with you.
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Marine debris found on the shores of Lake Huron (Photo: Rick Houchin Photography).
The first step to solving a problem is learning more about it. NOAA’s Marine Debris Program is here to help you learn more about the problem of marine debris! To support that mission, we have created an easy-to-use platform through which to access all of our educational materials. Our new education section has organized resources to support stewards from any audience, including educators looking for lesson plans, students researching projects, families hoping to make a difference, professionals catching up on the latest science and policy, and anyone in between.
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Take out containers, plastic bottles, and other debris litter many of the beaches in American Samoa, including Faga’alu Beach (Photo: Arizona State University).
Located about 2,500 miles to the southwest of Hawai‘i, the U.S. unincorporated territory of American Samoa lies only a hundred miles and a jump across the international dateline from its cultural neighbor, the nation of Samoa. However, both islands share a fate similar to many Pacific island nations. Over the past few decades, problems with solid waste management have been exacerbated by limited space and a steadily increasing amount of imported goods and materials. Arizona State University, in collaboration with partners in American Samoa, received a grant from the NOAA Marine Debris Program to quantify the amount of microplastics and associated contaminants in American Samoa’s marine waters and marine organisms to better understand the potential risks to ecosystems and human health.
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Quagga mussels collected for microplastic contamination analysis from Milwaukee Bay, Wisconsin (Photo: NOAA).
Since 1992, the NOAA Great Lakes Mussel Watch Program (GLMWP) has collected invasive zebra and quagga mussels from sites in the Great Lakes as part of its national contaminant monitoring program. Zebra and quagga mussels store contaminants in their bodies, a quality that suggests they may be useful as water quality biomonitors. Because they are stationary filter feeders, are abundant, and are relatively resistant to chemicals, their body tissues can be tested to reveal pollution where they live. In 2018, a team of marine scientists from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, NOAA GLMWP, and Loyola University Chicago joined forces to ask whether these invasive mussels take in microplastics along with chemical pollutants, and might they be indicators of microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes?
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Vessel being removed in the Florida Keys after Hurricane Irma (Photo: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary).
The August webinar in our Salvaging Solutions to Abandoned and Derelict Vessels series is coming up! This month's Salvaging Solutions webinar will focus on the coordination needed to successfully remove abandoned and derelict vessels left during blue skies and after a disaster, along with the challenges that can arise. Join us at 3:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.
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