MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
ber 1992. The Fiscal Year 1993 program plan 
proposes support in the amount of $638,000 for 14 
projects in the areas of public education and aware- 
ness, research and monitoring, mitigation, and pro- 
gram management. 
Significant causes of marine debris are the cumu- 
lative disposal practices of individual fishermen, ship 
operators, commercial seamen, beach-goers, and other 
users of the marine environment. To engender broad 
support from these groups, education and awareness 
programs are needed to explain problems created by 
debris, appropriate ways of disposing of garbage, and 
applicable legal requirements. The largest share of 
program funds has therefore been devoted to public 
education and awareness tasks. For 1993 program 
plans call for continued support for the regional 
marine debris information offices and development of 
a marine debris outreach campaign for the Gulf of 
Mexico and the wider Caribbean area. 
Research and monitoring activities are needed to 
evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation efforts and to 
identify potential problems. As part of the 1993 
program, support is to be provided for continuing 
surveys to monitor entangling debris on certain Alaska 
beaches; continuing marine debris surveys by the 
National Park Service at selected national seashores; 
developing a database on marine debris at sea by 
placing observers aboard domestic fishing vessels in 
the North Pacific; studying the effects of marine 
debris on juvenile sea turtles in the North Atlantic; 
and convening a workshop to examine statistical 
means of interpreting marine debris data sets to 
identify trends in the types and amounts of debris. 
Mitigation tasks in the 1993 program will provide 
support for continuing national beach clean-up cam- 
paigns; disentangling Hawaiian monk seals and 
removing hazardous debris from monk seal haulout 
beaches; a study by the Marine Board of the National 
Research Council to identify steps to better implement 
U.S. commitments to regulate the disposal of garbage 
from ships under international law; and developing 
guidelines for marina operators on measures they 
should take to prevent marine debris pollution. 
152 
An additional task will be to support planning for 
the third international conference on marine debris, to 
be held in 1994 (see below). 
On 18 December 1992 the Commission, in consul- 
tation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 
wrote to the Service noting that the proposed plan 
reflects the results of the June 1992 program planning 
meeting and recommending that the Service proceed 
with implementing the proposed work. 
Third International Conference 
on Marine Debris 
In 1984 at the recommendation of the Marine 
Mammal Commission and with initial funding by the 
Commission, the National Marine Fisheries Service 
convened the Workshop on the Fate and Impact of 
Marine Debris in Honolulu, Hawaii. That workshop 
was the first attempt to thoroughly examine marine 
debris problems, and its findings prompted responsive 
actions by many governmental and non-governmental 
groups. 
On April 2-7 1989 the Service convened the 
Second International Conference on Marine Debris, 
also at the recommendation of the Commission. The 
second conference afforded a chance to review and 
summarize progress made since the first meeting and 
to identify future directions for needed research and 
management activities. Its results (see Appendix C, 
Shomura and Godfrey 1990) have been used to direct 
the Marine Entanglement Research Program as well as 
to identify needed actions by other domestic and 
international programs. 
During 1992 the Service began planning for the 
Third International Conference on Marine Debris. To 
help plan the conference, the Service constituted a 
steering committee that met in Silver Spring, Mary- 
land, on 9 July 1992. A representative of the Com- 
mission serves on the committee. During its July 
meeting the committee offered advice on the confer- 
ence objectives, structure, planning schedule, venue, 
date, and other meeting details. 
