This month, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project completed their first mission of 2024 to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (monument). This 19 day mission was focused on removing derelict fishing gear and consumer plastics from just the shorelines of Kuaihelani (Pihemanu, Midway Atoll). The team surpassed their original goal of 35,000 pounds and removed 70,080 pounds of marine debris. Learn more about the team's time on Kuaihelani!  ..read more

This June, thanks to funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Ocean Conservancy and its partners will host the first in-person meeting of the 12 current Urban Ocean cities at the Urban Ocean Summit! Urban Ocean® is a capacity-building and accelerator program to end ocean plastic pollution and build more resilient cities. Urban Ocean champions circular economy principles, builds awareness of ocean plastic pollution, assesses waste management systems, and supports cities to develop projects that address the interrelated challenges of ocean plastics and resilience. The program is jointly impl ..read more

We are pleased to announce with the BoatUS Foundation, a call for applications under the Abandoned and Derelict Vessel Removal Grant Program. With funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the BoatUS Foundation will award up to $7.5 million in grants to remove abandoned and derelict vessels across coastal and marine areas of the United States.  ..read more

Vermilion Sea Institute, and the youthful team of Aventureros, are documenting and supporting local restaurants on a transition away from single-use plastics. The team picks up their to-go orders from 20 food vendors in Bahia de los Angeles, Mexico and work together to devour the data. The Hamburger Safari is a continual, youth-driven effort to reduce barriers to a sustainable and waste-free community and offer creative, novel, and place-based methodologies to do so. Throughout this work, the Aventureros have directly engaged well over 550 people in their marine debris reduction and prevention ..read more

The NOAA Marine Debris Program and Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash Free Waters Program, on behalf of the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee, are pleased to share the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee Report on Microfiber Pollution. This report, created as a requirement of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (P.L. 116-224), provides an overview of microfiber pollution, including a proposed definition of a microfiber, an assessment of the problem, and recommendations for measuring and reducing microfiber pollution. It also outlines a plan with five goals for Federal ag ..read more

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The NOAA Marine Debris Program has all of the tools to engage partners and volunteers around the world to survey and record the amount and types of marine debris on shorelines ..read more

Happy Earth Day from the NOAA Marine Debris Program! This week, also known as Earth Week, is centered around the theme of “Planet vs. Plastic”. As the U.S. Federal government’s lead for addressing marine debris, we compiled everything you need to know about plastic and its effects on the planet. There is a lot of information out there and we are “breaking down” some facts and common myths about plastic and marine debris.  ..read more

We are pleased to announce with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a request for proposals under the Nationwide Fishing Trap Removal, Assessment, and Prevention (TRAP) Program. With funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will award up to $1,475,000 in grants to remove derelict fishing traps throughout coastal waterways of the United States while collecting data to prevent future gear loss ..read more