the authority necessary to implement requirements of Annex V 

 by amending the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. The bill 

 was then sent to the President, who signed it into law on 29 

 December 1987. With final action on the implementing legisla- 

 tion completed, the President transmitted the instrument of 

 ratification to the Secretary of the International Maritime 

 Organization on 30 December 1987 and the United States thereby 

 became the 31st nation to ratify MARPOL Annex V. The inter- 

 national implications of this are discussed below. 



In order to carry out the requirements of the new domestic 

 implementing legislation for Annex V, the Coast Guard will be 

 preparing regulations under its authority during 1988. At 

 the end of 1987, the Commission looked forward to assisting 

 the Coast Guard with this effort. 



International Activities 



Plastic debris enters the world's oceans from ships and 

 coastlines of all coastal nations. Many of the most harmful 

 plastic materials may drift on ocean currents hundreds or 

 thousands of miles from their points of origin. Therefore, 

 successful resolution of the marine debris problem requires 

 cooperative action at the international level. To facilitate 

 responsive international actions, the Commission, in cooperation 

 with other agencies and organizations, undertook the following 

 actions in 1987. 



North Pacific Rim Fishermen's Conference 



Lost and discarded fishing gear is among the types of 

 marine debris that pose the greatest risk of entangling marine 

 mammals and other marine life. As noted above, problems may 

 be particularly significant in the North Pacific Ocean and 

 Bering Sea because of the extensive commercial fisheries in 

 those waters. As concern about the effects of fishing debris 

 in these areas has increased, regional fishing industry organi- 

 zations have responded with constructive actions to help address 

 the problem. One particularly noteworthy effort was the 

 North Pacific Rim Fishermen's Conference on Marine Debris on 

 13-16 October 1987 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The Conference 

 was sponsored by a consortium of fishing industry organizations 

 from Canada, Japan, the Republic of China, the Republic of 

 Korea, and the United States. 



The purpose of the Conference was to review information 

 on the nature of the problems, legal requirements, responsive 

 actions taken by fishing organizations, and possible technical 

 solutions to the problem. The meeting was well attended by 

 representatives of more than 20 commercial fishing organizations 

 from the five North Pacific fishing nations, the scientific 



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