As synthetic materials become more and more common in 

 the ocean, they pose an increasingly significant threat to 

 marine mammals, sea birds, turtles, fish, and other marine 

 organisms. Animals become entangled in loops or openings of 

 floating or submerged debris and they ingest items such as 

 plastic bags that resemble natural prey items. Animals that 

 become entangled may drown, lose their ability to catch food 

 or avoid predators, or incur wounds from the abrasive, 

 cutting action of attached debris. Ingested plastics may 

 block digestive tracts, damage stomach linings, or reduce 

 feeding drives. 



Until recently, the magnitude of these threats was 

 masked by the size of the ocean areas affected, the decep- 

 tively simple nature of the threat, the perception that 

 chance encounters between marine animals and debris would be 

 unlikely, and an absence of large numbers of marine animals 

 being found on beaches or at sea strangled, drowned, starved, 

 or choked by marine debris. It is becoming apparent, 

 however, that plastic debris may be concentrated through 

 disposal patterns and ocean currents in coastal areas where 

 marine mammals and other species are most likely to occur. 

 In addition, many species actively seek out marine debris 

 because of the associated prey species attracted by the cover 

 it provides, because it represents an object of play, or 

 because the debris itself may resemble its natural prey. 

 Thus, encounters between certain marine species and marine 

 debris may be relatively common. Evidence of those interac- 

 tions may not be readily apparent, however, because animals 

 killed or incapacitated would likely be scattered widely and 

 either be consumed by scavengers or decompose rapidly at sea. 



Activities Prior to 1986 



Beginning in the early 1970s, the Standing Committee of 

 the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission repeatedly noted its 

 concern about the increasing number of juvenile seals found 

 on the breeding islands entangled in lost and discarded 

 fishing gear. Although nations party to the Fur Seal 

 Convention — Canada, Japan, the United States, and the 

 Soviet Union — were somewhat responsive to this concern, 

 efforts to address the problem were limited primarily to 

 attempts to discourage fishermen from discarding fishing gear 

 into the ocean and enjoyed questionable success. 



By 1982, it was apparent that the rate of fur seal 

 entanglement had not diminished and that the problem was much 

 more serious than had been realized. A data analysis carried 

 out at that time by a National Marine Fisheries Service 

 scientist indicated that entanglement of fur seals was 

 possibly the primary cause of the continuing five to eight 

 percent decline in the North Pacific fur seal population. At 



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