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“An implementation strategy for the California Ocean Protection Council resolution to reduce and prevent ocean litter” named California Progress Report’s site of the day

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 31, 2008 at 6:22 am

From the California Progress Report:

California’s Ocean Protection Council (OPC) staff today released “An Implementation Strategy for the California Ocean Protection Council Resolution to Reduce and Prevent Ocean Litter”. This is a 23 page “final draft,” open for comments, that contains the strategy to reduce and eliminate ocean litter by banning plastic bags and containers statewide. Recommendations also call for plastic manufacturers to recover and dispose of their products and for product user fees to be assessed.

If you read this report, you will find out how serious the problems our ocean has from litter, how it affects fish and marine mammals, and why it is so important that California take bold action.

Action will not come without strong opposition from the plastics industry. This report sets the stage for action that will have far reaching benefit for ocean health—but only once it has been adopted by the OPC. Most of the recommendations will require legislation to be enacted.

The implementation strategy identifies three primary approaches that California should take to eliminate marine debris. California should: (1) establish a “take-back” program for many types of product packaging that would require plastic packaging manufacturers to take these products back and dispose of them properly; (2) institute a statewide prohibition on single-use plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers; and (3) impose fees on other packaging.

OPC staff is seeking comments on the draft in writing by August 21. Staff will incorporate changes to the draft based on comments received. The OPC is also soliciting public comment during its meeting September 11 at 9 a.m. in Half Moon Bay.

Just take a look at how the report begins in describing the current situation off California’s coast and you will recognize what is at stake:

“Ocean litter – also commonly referred to as “marine debris” – is a persistent and growing problem worldwide. The general composition of ocean litter is 60-80% plastics, although it has reached 90-95% in some areas. Plastic debris in an area north of Hawaii known as the Northwest Pacific Gyre has increased 5-fold in the last 10 years. Similarly, off Japan’s coast, researchers found that floating particles of plastic debris increased 10-fold in 10 years from the 1970s through 1980s, and then 10-fold again every 2-3 years in the 1990s. In the Southern Ocean, the amount of plastic debris increased 100 times during the early 1990s. These are just a few examples of an expanding body of research that demonstrate that, despite the MARPOL international treaty prohibition on dumping plastics at sea, debris in the oceans is increasing at an alarming rate. This is due to the fact that 80% of the debris comes from land-based sources, particularly trash and plastic litter in urban runoff, and the generation of trash and waste is increasing.”

Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.

Read the final draft of the report by clicking here.

July 31, 2008 · Filed Under Other Oceans & Beaches Stories

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