collect information on the problems caused by plastic debris 

 and to identify appropriate solutions. 



At the Tenth Session of Convention members in October 

 1986, the problem was again raised and a paper summarizing 

 follow-up actions on international efforts was submitted by 

 the Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization. 

 During the meeting, representatives of several nations and 

 international organizations advised that they either had 

 taken or were considering actions to address the problem by 

 gathering relevant data on the problem, undertaking related 

 public education and information efforts, and/or taking steps 

 to ratify and comply with the provisions of MARPOL Annex V. 



Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine 

 Living Resources — As noted in Chapter IV, constructive 

 action to identify and assess potential marine debris 

 problems also has been taken within the context of the 

 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living 

 Resources. In preparation for the fifth meeting of the 

 Commission and Committee of Scientific Advisors established 

 by the Convention, the Marine Mammal Commission helped draft 

 U.S. information and position papers on the problem. During 

 the meeting, held on 8-19 September 1986 in Hobart, Tasmania, 

 relevant information papers submitted by the U.S. and several 

 other countries were reviewed. Among other things, it was 

 agreed that: member countries would consider and take 

 appropriate steps to ratify and implement MARPOL Annex V; 

 steps would be taken to inform fishermen and others entering 

 the Convention Area of the problem and the proper way to 

 handle plastic trash; and, whenever feasible, potentially 

 hazardous debris that is encountered in the Convention area 

 would be collected and either returned to port or disposed of 

 in a manner which would pose no further threat to ships or 

 marine life. 



Coordination of International Research 



During 1986, the Marine Mammal Commission was invited to 

 participate in the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental 

 Oceanographic Commission's Working Group on the Global 

 Investigation of Pollution in the Marine Environment (GIPME) . 

 The Working Group acts as a mechanism for coordinating 

 international efforts to monitor marine pollution. It does 

 so in a number of ways including: development of manuals on 

 procedures for collecting, recording, and archiving marine 

 pollution data; support of training exercises in the use of 

 those procedures; and conducting inter-calibration exercises 

 designed to ensure that data collected by one country or 

 organization is statistically comparable with those collected 

 by others. 



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