MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Guard submitted a paper on behalf of the United 

 States urging that guidelines be developed to provide 

 nations advice on steps to implement Annex V. The 

 paper, drafted by the Marine Mammal Commission, 

 reviewed information on the effects of ship-generated 

 garbage, the importance of Annex V in addressing the 

 issue, and the types of advice that would be appropri- 

 ate to include in guidelines addressing Annex V 

 provisions. The paper was well received and the 

 Committee agreed to develop the guidelines. For this 

 purpose, the U.S. delegation offered to draft guide- 

 lines for consideration at the next Committee meeting. 



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 

 tration, with assistance from the Marine Mammal 

 Commission and others, took the lead in drafting the 

 guidelines. Upon completion, the Coast Guard 

 submitted them for consideration at the 25th Session. 

 They were circulated for review by the Conmiittee 

 and, at the 26th Session in September 1988, the 

 guidelines were adopted with modifications. Substan- 

 tive sections of the guidelines address advice on 

 training, education, and information; provisioning 

 ships to minimize the amount of garbage generated; 

 procedures for handling, processing, and storing 

 garbage aboard ships; shipboard equipment for 

 processing garbage; port reception facilities for 

 garbage returned to port; and ensuring compliance. 



Because of the difficulty in enforcing restrictions 

 against at-sea disposal of garbage (due in part to the 

 large ocean area to be patrolled and limited numbers 

 of enforcement officers), effective implementation of 

 Annex V must rely primarily on voluntary compliance 

 by all seafarers. This, in turn, requires that all ship 

 crews and passengers (1) understand why the new 

 restrictions are needed and what is requirol of them, 

 and (2) have access to port reception facilities so that 

 it is easy for them to comply. Therefore, to imple- 

 ment Annex V effectively, it is critically important for 

 nations to move quickly to ensure that adequate and 

 convenient port reception facilities are available. 



When the guidelines for Annex V were written, 

 however, little information was available on how to 

 develop port reception facilities for garbage. The 

 section on this subject was therefore brief. Late in the 

 1980s, however, much new information was being 

 developed, particularly through projects supported by 



the Marine Entanglement Research Program. This 

 new information was reviewed at the Second Interna- 

 tional Conference on Marine Debris— a conference 

 first recommended by the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion—held in April 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

 During the meeting, a Conference Working Group on 

 Policy and Law recommended that the Marine Envi- 

 ronment Protection Committee review its guidelines 

 for Annex V with a view towards improving advice 

 on how best to develop port reception facilities. 



The Commission reviewed the workshop results 

 and concluded that this recommendation was particu- 

 larly important and merited prompt attention. It 

 therefore drafted a paper for submission to the Marine 

 Environment Protection Committee reviewing new 

 advice. Sections of the draft paper assessed adminis- 

 trative arrangements and procedures for setting up and 

 operating port reception facilities, the types and costs 

 of equipment for receiving and handling ship-generat- 

 ed garbage in port; space requirements and siting 

 considerations for port reception equipment and 

 storage; recovery of operating costs, educating port 

 users on the availability and use of garbage reception 

 facilities; and projecting the amounts and types of 

 garbage likely to be returned to port. The draft paper 

 concluded with a request that the Committee review 

 and, as possible, expand the port reception facility 

 section of its guidelines. 



The Commission provided the draft paper to the 

 Coast Guard and recommended that it be submitted to 

 the Marine Environment Protection Committee. The 

 Coast Guard agreed with the points and thrust of the 

 paper and, with some modifications, it was submitted 

 to the Committee for consideration at its 30th Session 

 in November 1990. During the 30th session, the 

 Committee agreed to consider revising the guidelines 

 at a future session, based on an analysis of available 

 port reception facility information. For this purpose, 

 the U.S. delegation offered to receive and analyze 

 relevant information from Committee members. 



The Marine Entanglement Research Program 

 assumed lead responsibility for carrying out the 

 delegation's commitment to review and analyze the 

 new information. Little information was submitted by 

 Committee members and the Program therefore 

 contracted for a report that relied on the considerable 



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