What is Marine Debris?

Marine debris is defined as any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, ... Skiptocontent YouarehereHome›DiscoverMarineDebris›WhatisMarineDebris? WhatisMarineDebris?   Ouroceansarefilledwithitemsthatdonotbelongthere.Hugeamountsofplastics,metals,rubber,paper,textiles,derelictfishinggear,derelictvessels,andotherlostordiscardeditemsenterthemarineenvironmenteveryday.Thismakesmarinedebrisoneofthemostwidespreadpollutionproblemsfacingtheworld'soceanandwaterways. Marinedebrisisdefinedasanypersistentsolidmaterialthatismanufacturedorprocessedanddirectlyorindirectly,intentionallyorunintentionally,disposedoforabandonedintothemarineenvironmentortheGreatLakes.Anythinghuman-madeandsolidcanbecomemarinedebrisoncelostorlitteredintheseaquaticenvironments.Ourtrashhasbeenfoundineverycornerofourocean,fromthemostremoteshorelines,toiceintheArctic,andeventhedeepestpartsoftheseafloor. Someofthemostcommonandharmfultypesofmarinedebrisincludeplastic,suchascigarettebutts,plasticbags,andfoodwrappers,andderelictfishinggear.Marinedebriscanalsorangegreatlyinsizefromthesmallestplasticpieces,calledmicroplastics,thatcanbetoosmalltobeseenwiththehumaneye,tohugeabandonedandderelictvessels,constructiondebris,andhouseholdappliancesthatcandamagesensitivehabitats.Althoughsomeoftheseitemsmayeventuallybreakdown,othersaremadetolastalongtime.Oncetheyareintheenvironment,theseitemsmayneverfullygoaway.  It'smostimportanttorememberthatmarinedebrisispreventable.Thisglobalproblemiscausedbypeople,andwecanalsobethesolution.TheNOAAMarineDebrisProgramfundsprojectsacrosstheUnitedStatesandterritoriesthatremovemarinedebrisfromshorelines,researchtheissuetobetterunderstandtheproblem,andpreventitfromenteringtheoceaninthefirstplace.  Youcanmakeadifferencetoo!Learnhowyoucanhelptakeonmarinedebris,nomatterwhereyouare HowmuchmarinedebrisisintheoceanandGreatLakes?     Marinedebrisisalargeandglobalproblem,anditcanbeverydifficulttosayhowmuchenterstheoceanandGreatLakes.Oncemarinedebrisisintheocean,itcanbechallengingtounderstandwhereitcamefrom,whereitgoes,orhowmuchisthere.  AstudybyBorrelleetal.estimatedthatin2016,asmuchas23millionmetrictonsofplasticwasteenteredaquaticecosystemsfromlandaroundtheworld.Thisnumbermayfeelhuge,butit’snotthewholepicture.Itdoesn’tincludemarinedebrisitemsnotmadeofplastic,orocean-basedmarinedebris,suchaslostfishinggearandvessels. Ifyouthinkaboutanoverflowingsink,thefirststepbeforecleaningupthewateristoturnthefaucetoff.Bypreventingplasticmarinedebris,wecanturnthefaucetoffandkeepthisproblemfromgrowing.TheNOAAMarineDebrisProgramsupportsprojectsthatpreventmarinedebrisfromeverenteringouroceanandwaterwaysthroughoutreachandeducationeffortsthatraiseawarenessoftheissueandchangebehaviorsrelatedtocommonmarinedebrisitems.  Thereisnota‘one-sizefitsall’solutiontotheproblem,andcleaningupmarinedebrisisalsoimportant.TheNOAAMarineDebrisProgramalsosupportscommunity-basedmarinedebrisremovalprojectsacrosstheUnitedStates.Fromlocalshorelinecleanupstovesselremovals,theseprojectsbenefitcoastalhabitats,waterways,andwildlife.Since2006,theNOAAMarineDebrisProgramhassupportedover160marinedebrisremovalprojectsandremovedmorethan22,500metrictonsofmarinedebrisfromourcoastsandocean. Marinedebrisiseveryone’sproblem,andyoucanbepartofthesolution.LearnhowyoucanhelptakeonplasticmarinedebrisonourHowtoHelppage. TypesofMarineDebris Wanttoknowmoreaboutmarinedebris?Learnmoreabouttheissueandsomeofthedebriswecommonlyfind.   Plastic Learnwhatplasticis,whyit’saproblem,andmore. Microplastics Learnmoreaboutthesetinypiecesofplasticthatcanbefoundthroughouttheocean. DerelictFishingGear Learnaboutfishingnets,pots,traps,andothergearthatbecomemarinedebris. AbandonedandDerelictVessels Learnaboutabandonedandderelictvesselsandwhytheyareaproblem. Resources:Links MarineDebrisFactSheetLearnmorewithTrashTalkvideos!AnAnalysisofMarineDebrisintheU.S. OnOurRadar ProjectClearinghouse GarbagePatches DerelictVesselInfoHub Education FundingOpportunities DiscoverMarineDebris HowtoHelp Revised:Sep05,202212:38am|Sitemap|ContactUs|Disclaimer|PrivacyPolicy|WebsiteSatisfactionSurvey|InformationQuality|FOIA|WebsiteAccessibility WebSiteOwner:OR&R'sMarineDebrisDivision|OfficeofResponseandRestoration|NOAA'sOceanService|NOAA|USDepartmentofCommerce|USA.gov