How multiagency partnerships can successfully address large-scale pollution problems: a Hawaii case study.

Mar Pollut Bull

National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu Laboratory, 2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI 96822-2396, USA.

Published: June 2003

Oceanic circulation patterns deposit significant amounts of marine pollution, including derelict fishing gear from North Pacific Ocean fisheries, in the Hawaiian Archipelago [Mar. Pollut. Bull. 42(12) (2001) 1301]. Management responsibility for these islands and their associated natural resources is shared by several government authorities. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private industry also have interests in the archipelago. Since the marine debris problem in this region is too large for any single agency to manage, a multiagency marine debris working group (group) was established in 1998 to improve marine debris mitigation in Hawaii. To date, 16 federal, state, and local agencies, working with industry and NGOs, have removed 195 tons of derelict fishing gear from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This review details the evolution of the partnership, notes its challenges and rewards, and advocates its continued use as an effective resource management tool.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00256-4DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

marine debris
12
derelict fishing
8
fishing gear
8
multiagency partnerships
4
partnerships address
4
address large-scale
4
large-scale pollution
4
pollution problems
4
problems hawaii
4
hawaii case
4

Similar Publications

With the global population surpassing 8 billion, waste production has skyrocketed, leading to increased pollution that adversely affects both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Public littering, a significant contributor to this pollution, poses severe threats to marine life due to plastic debris, which can inflict substantial ecological harm. Additionally, this pollution jeopardizes human health through contaminated food and water sources.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A Comprehensive Modeling of Microplastic Emission from Wastewater Treatment Plants to the Sea via Rivers in China.

Environ Sci Technol

January 2025

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Technology for Complex Trans-Media Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are significant sources of microplastic (MP) emissions. In order to quantify the potential MP emission from WWTPs, a database of more than 10,000 WWTPs in China with an estimated MP emission rate was built. The MP riverine retention after emission was also estimated based on Stokes' law for both fragments and fibers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Concentrations of microplastics are both temporally and spatially variable in streamflow. Yet, an overwhelming number of published field studies do not target a range of flow conditions and fail to adequately capture particle transport within the full flow field. Since microplastic flux models rely on the representativeness of available data, current predictions of riverine exports contain substantial error.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fallout Cs signals as chrono-markers in Chinese lake sediment cores.

Sci Total Environ

February 2025

School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China. Electronic address:

This study comprehensively investigated the Cs signal in 294 sediment core samples from 132 lakes including reservoir and Gobi catchment in China. First, three Cs chrono-markers were observed: the 1963 peak corresponding to the maximum deposition of radioactive debris from global fallout, and two local sub-peaks corresponding to the time of the nuclear tests at Chinese Lop Nor site with a maximum in 1976, and to the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Second, the spatial distribution of sedimentation rates based on the 1963 Cs chrono-marker in Chinese lake sediment cores was studied.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biofilm development as a factor driving the degradation of plasticised marine microplastics.

J Hazard Mater

December 2024

College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; AIMS@JCU, Division of Research and Innovation, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.

Biodegradation of microplastics facilitated by natural marine biofouling is a promising approach for ocean bioremediation. However, implementation requires a comprehensive understanding of how interactions between the marine microbiome and dominant microplastic debris types (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!