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Good Morning Mr. Tauzin, and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Betsy Schrader. 

 I am the Director of the Marine Debris Information Office at the Center for Marine Conservation. 

 The Center for Marine Conservation is a national non-profit organization of 110,000 members 

 committed to maintaining the health and diversity of marine life through policy-oriented research, 

 public education, citizen involvement, and responsible advocacy. 



The Center for Marine Conservation (CMC) appreciates this opportunity to present testimony 

 on the problem of cruise ship pollution and the U.S. Coast Guard's enforcement of pollution 

 prevention laws. Our testimony will cover four areas: 



• The Center's knowledge of cruise industry compliance with MARPOL V. 



• The importance of involving citizens in reporting violations. 



• Recommendations for strengthening enforcement efforts. 



• The environmental impact of cruise industry operations on the Caribbean Basin. 



The Center has been working on marine debris issues since 1985, documenting the harmful 

 effects of plastic debris and campaigning through our beach cleanups and other advocacy for changes 

 in U.S. law to prohibit the disposal of plastics at sea. Since the enactment of the Marine Plastic 

 Pollution Research and Control Act (MPPRCA) in 1987, CMC has continued to play a role in many 

 aspects of the implementation of MPPRCA, including education, citizen involvement, participation 

 in national forums, and a Senate hearing last fall. Our unique perspective as a non-governmental 

 organization has allowed us to bridge a gap by working with both governmental agencies and 

 citizens. 



I. CRUISE LINE COMPLIANCE WITH MARPOL ANNEX V 



A. Beach Cleanup Data 



Although the MPPRCA has been in effect for almost five years, our annual beach cleanup 

 report which analyzes the types and sources of debris found during this event, indicates that there 

 has not been a significant decline in the amount of plastic items washing onto our beaches. Last 

 September during a three-hour period, over 134,000 volunteers in the United States picked up over 

 2.8 million pounds of trash and catalogued many of the items found. Although it is unlikely to 

 determine the origin of most beach debris, there are certain items embossed with a company name 

 and logo which can be traced back to its source. Although the data analysis for the September 1992 

 beach cleanup is not yet complete, preliminary results show that volunteers in the U.S. found items 

 embossed with the names of at least IS different cruise lines. These items include plastic cups, 

 shampoo and lotion bottles, shoe shine kits, gambling chips, pens, and balloons. 



Cruise line companies often argue that the cruise line debris found on our beaches is 

 insignificant in number. However, a large volume of galley wastes such as vegetable sacks, egg 

 cartons, and meat trays as well as other operational wastes wash ashore with no identifying marks 

 and therefore cannot be traced back to a specific vessel. It is our contention that the labeled items 

 found during cleanups, such as shampoo bottles and plastic cups, are only a small fraction of the 

 total waste that may be attributable to cruise lines. 



B. Eye-witness Reports 



Cruise line companies are adamant that they do not illegally dispose of vessel-generated trash. 

 In fact, most say that company policy strictly forbids illegal overboard disposal and contend that if 

 any plastic has found its way into the water, it must have been thrown overboard by an unknowing 

 crew member or passenger. 



As a non-profit marine conservation organization, many citizens contact CMC when they 

 witness potential dangers to the marine environment. In the past several years we have received an 

 increasing number of complaints from cruise line passengers and crew who witnessed illegal 

 overboard garbage disposal on vessels on which they were vacationing or working. The reports 

 received have described all manner of trash items including toxic chemicals, plastics, deck furniture, 

 old mattresses, paint cans and gas canisters. Witnesses who see such incidents, express their outrage 

 that cruise ships are blatantly disregarding not only the laws regulating such dumping, but the welfare 

 of the very seas which support a cruise line's livelihood. 



Some of the most telling accounts come from staff aboard vessels. Several have reported that 

 as they became familiar with the inner operations of the ship, they found that overboard disposal of 



