entitled the "Driftnet Impact Monitoring, Assessment, and 

 Control Act of 1986." Among other things, this bill proposed 

 establishing a net bounty system whereby persons who retrieve 

 and return to port lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing nets 

 from marine waters would be reimbursed from the Fishery 

 Vessel and Gear Damage Compensation Fund. 



In related actions in the House of Representatives, the 

 House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Sub- 

 committee on Coast Guard and Navigation, held a hearing on 

 the problem of plastic pollution in the marine environment. 

 Its purpose was to review information on the effects of 

 marine debris and to receive comments on further actions that 

 should be taken. The hearing, held on 12 August 1986, was 

 convened by Congressman Gerry E. Studds, Chairman of the 

 Subcommittee. Representatives of the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Coast 

 Guard participated on a panel of involved Federal agencies. 



The Commission's testimony identified four general 

 categories of actions that should be taken: actions to 

 prevent or reduce the disposal of plastics at sea; alterna- 

 tive methods for handling and disposing of plastic wastes 

 produced on board ship; actions to clean up particularly 

 important areas affected by marine debris; and research to 

 assess and monitor the extent of marine debris problems and 

 the effectiveness of mitigating measures. Among the specific 

 measures identified by the Commission were: 



ratifying and implementing MARPOL Annex V and 



encouraging other nations to do likewise; 



continuing and expanding efforts to inform the public 



and relevant industries of the problem and the need to 



avoid disposal of plastic wastes into the marine 



environment; 



clarifying and strengthening laws and associated 



enforcement programs to restrict at-sea disposal; 



developing new ways and perhaps requirements for 



handling and storing plastic wastes on board ship 



( e.cf. , through devices for incinerating, compacting, 



and/or grinding ship-generated garbage) ; 



developing cost-effective and efficient systems and 



services for receiving and disposing of ship-generated 



garbage returned to port; 



investigating possibilities for recycling used nets; 



developing plastic materials which degrade in the 



marine environment; 



encouraging beach clean-up campaigns to promote public 



awareness and involvement and to reduce potentially 



harmful debris in areas where marine mammals, turtles, 



and sea birds are likely to be; and 



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