United Kingdom, called for adding the North Sea to the list of 

 Special Areas under regulation 5 of Annex V. The other 

 amendment, put forward by the United States, proposed deleting 

 language that provided an exception in the Annex to the plastics 

 disposal prohibition. The exception allowed at-sea discharge of 

 net fragments generated during the repair of nets by fishermen. 



During the 28th session, both amendments were adopted 

 unanimously. Unless objected to by one-third or more of the 

 parties, the amendments will be deemed to be accepted on 17 

 August 1990 and will enter into force on 18 February 1991. 

 Special Area designation for the North Sea will establish more 

 stringent discharge limitations for garbage in that area and the 

 deletion of the exception for the discharge of net fragments will 

 improve protection of marine life which might otherwise become 

 entangled in such wastes. 



Consideration of the Gulf of Mexico as a Special Area under 

 Annex V — As noted above, when the U.S. Senate gave its advice 

 and consent on Annex V, it did so with an understanding that the 

 U.S. Government would take every reasonable effort to seek an 

 amendment to the Annex designating the Gulf of Mexico as a 

 Special Area. The effect of that designation is indicated by the 

 discharge limitations under the new U.S. regulations developed to 

 implement Annex V provisions (see table on page 125) . 



As of 1986, a thorough review of available information on 

 marine debris problems in the Gulf of Mexico and certain other 

 areas of concern to the United States had not been conducted. 

 Therefore, the Marine Mammal Commission and the National Ocean 

 Pollution Program Office in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration cooperated to support a study to help address this 

 need. The result was a study of published and unpublished 

 information on the sources, amounts, types, distribution, and 

 effects of persistent debris in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the 

 Wider Caribbean Area and the west coast of Baja California, 

 Mexico. The report was completed in 1988 (see Heneman 1988 in 

 Appendix B) and provided to the Coast Guard to, among other 

 things, help with efforts to pursue designation of the Gulf of 

 Mexico as a Special Area. 



To help further considerations on designating the Gulf of 

 Mexico as a Special Area, the Commission also wrote to the U.S. 

 Ambassador to Mexico on 21 June 1989. In its letter, the 

 Commission referenced the serious litter problem on beaches along 

 the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, particularly in Texas, and the 

 Senate's understanding on the matter in its Resolution giving 

 advice and consent on Annex V. The letter requested the 

 Ambassador's help in persuading Mexico, which was not a party to 

 MARPOL, to accede to the Convention and to Annex V so that the 

 Gulf can be so designated. 



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