The Second International Conference on Marine Debris 



As noted above and in previous Annual Reports, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service convened a Workshop on the Fate and 

 Impact of Marine Debris in November 1984. The initial 

 recommendation, planning, and seed money for the Workshop was 

 provided by the Marine Mammal Commission. The Workshop results 

 prompted Congress to appropriate funds to the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (see above) and encouraged other agencies and 

 organizations in the United States and elsewhere to take steps to 

 address the problem of marine debris. 



In view of the many efforts undertaken in the wake of the 

 workshop, the Marine Mammal Commission recommended to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service late in 1986 that it begin 

 planning a second international conference on marine debris to 

 review and summarize progress and to identify and direct future 

 efforts. The Service agreed and, in March 1988, it convened a 

 Steering Group, which included a representative of the 

 Commission, to organize the conference. 



To assist the Steering Group, the Commission recommended 

 terms of reference for the conference, an agenda, and key 

 participants. The Commission also provided partial support which 

 included, among other things, funds for a professional rapporteur 

 for the Conference and for report preparation. 



The Second International Conference on Marine Debris was 

 held on 2-7 April 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sponsors, in 

 addition to the Marine Mammal Commission and the National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, included: the Canada Department 

 of Fisheries and Oceans; the Council for Solid Waste Solutions; 

 the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; the National 

 Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute (USA) ; the 

 Pacific Rim Fishing Industries; Sea Grant Colleges, University of 

 Hawaii; the State University of New York at Stony Brook Marine 

 Sciences Research Center's Waste Management Institute; the 

 University of Hawaii, School of Ocean and Earth Science and 

 Technology; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service; the Minerals Management Service; and the U.S. 

 Navy. 



The Workshop was organized into technical sessions and 

 working group sessions on each of seven broad areas. During the 

 technical sessions, scientists, resource managers, industry 

 representatives, and others presented formal papers on recent 

 research and management activities. In the working group 

 sessions, experts evaluated the status of information and 

 activities related to their particular topic and recommended 

 areas needing further work. The seven topics included: 

 assessments of the types and amounts of marine debris; 

 entanglement of marine life and ghost fishing; ingestion of 



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