Washington DC / Nairobi – From discarded fishing gear to plastic bags to cigarette butts, a growing tide of marine litter is harming oceans and beaches worldwide, says a new report. The report, the first-ever attempt to take stock of the marine litter situation in the 12 major regional seas around the world, was launched on World Oceans Day by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Ocean Conservancy. It is titled "Marine Litter: A Global Challenge".

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: “Marine litter is symptomatic of a wider malaise: namely the wasteful use and persistent poor management of natural resources. The plastic bags, bottles and other debris piling up in the oceans and seas could be dramatically reduced by improved waste reduction, waste management and recycling initiatives”.

“Some of the litter, like thin film single use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased-out rapidly everywhere - there is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere. Other waste can be cut by boosting public awareness, and proposing an array of economic incentives and smart market mechanisms that tip the balance in favor of recycling, reducing or re-use rather than dumping into the sea,” he said.

The report’s findings indicate that despite several international, regional and national efforts to reverse marine pollution, alarming quantities of rubbish thrown out to sea continue to endanger people’s safety and health, entrap wildlife, damage nautical equipment and deface coastal areas around the world.

Plastic – especially plastic bags and PET bottles – is the most pervasive type of marine litter around the world, accounting for over 80 per cent of all rubbish collected in several of the regional seas assessed. Plastic debris is accumulating in terrestrial and marine environments worldwide, slowly breaking down into tinier and tinier pieces that can be consumed by the smallest marine life at the base of the food web.

Plastics can be mistaken as food by numerous animals, including marine mammals, birds, fish and turtles. Sea turtles in particular may confuse floating plastic bags with jellyfish, one of their favorite treats. A five-year survey of fulmars found in the North Sea region found that 95 percent of these seabirds contained plastic in their stomachs.

Smoking-related activities also receive top rankings when it comes to sources of marine litter. Cigarette filters, tobacco packets and cigar tips make up 40 per cent of all marine litter in the Mediterranean, while in Ecuador smoking-related rubbish accounted for over half of the total coastal litter ‘catch’ in 2005.

Unsightly and unsafe, marine litter can cause serious economic losses through damaged boats, fishing gear, contamination of tourism and agriculture facilities. For example:

* The cost of cleaning the beaches in Bohuslän on the west coast of Sweden in just one year was at least 10 million SEK or $1,550,200.
* In the UK, Shetland fishermen had reported that 92 per cent of them had recurring problems with debris in nets, and it has been estimated that each boat could lose between $10,500 and $53,300 per year due to the presence of marine litter. The cost to the local industry could then be as high as $4,300,000.
* The municipality of Ventanillas in Peru has calculated that it would have to invest around US$400,000 a year in order to clean its coastline, while its annual budget for cleaning all public areas is only half that amount.

At the same time, flexible and economic incentives and deterrents need to be put in place to address the growing problem of marine litter.

The level of fines for ocean dumping also needs to be reviewed to make them a sufficient deterrent. For example in the US the cruise ship Regal Princess was fined US$500,000 (about €336,600 or £268,719) in 1993 for dumping 20 bags of garbage in to the sea. Fines of this level would act as a genuine deterrent to dumping of marine litter.

More information under grida.no. The report "Marine Litter: A Global Challenge" is said to be available online soon.

Quelle: UNEP / GRID

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