National Waste Reporting 2013
FACTSHEET – MARINE DEBRIS
Marine debris is defined as the pollution of the marine environment by human generated
objects1. Marine debris is a significant Australian and global issue causing negative ecological,
economic and social impacts.
Composition, sources and distribution of marine debris
Marine debris may originate from activities on land or at sea. Land sourced material include
plastic bags, bottles, fibreglass, plastic pellets and insulation etc while sea sourced material
include abandoned or lost fishing gear, items lost from offshore platforms and solid and nonbiodegradable material sourced from ships.
The problems caused by marine debris are multifaceted and essentially rooted in inadequate
solid waste management practices, product designs that do not consider life-cycle impacts,
consumer choices, lack of waste management infrastructure, littering and the public’s poor
understanding of the potential consequences of their actions2.
Although shore based activities provide some guide to the composition of floating debris, the
sources, abundance and composition of marine debris in regard to Australia are generally
poorly known3. The composition of marine debris varies in regard to proximity to cities and
land based sources or maritime activities in which fisheries are a significant source of debris in
remote coast areas. It has been suggested that the majority of floating marine debris
introduced by human activities persists for only a short time in coastal waters and most likely
contaminates local beaches4.
Overall domestic sources are considered an important contributor to marine debris in Australia
with the acknowledgement that debris from major cities can reach distant locations around
Australia’s coastline. However a 2011 study of marine debris in Australian waters 5 indicated
that international impacts are significant for the Australian marine estate from the Coral Sea,
Arafura Sea, southern Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean. Australia is likely to be considered
a net exporter of marine debris to some marine regions and surrounding countries especially
from the densely populated east coast region6.
The results suggest that controlling domestic inputs into marine debris is important whether
the inputs come from offshore or coastal sources.
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International Conference on Marine Debris 1994, cited in Threatened Species Scientific Committee, Injury and fatality to
vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or entanglement in, harmful marine debris. Advice to the Minister for
Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee on a public nomination of a key threatening
process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, 2003 at
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/ktp/marine-debris.html.
The Honolulu Strategy: A Global Framework for the Prevention and Management of Marine Debris. United Nations
Environment Program, 5th International Marine Debris Conference,Honolulu, Hawaii, 20-25 March 2011.
B Denise Hardesty & C Wilcox CSIRO Understanding the types, sources and at sea distribution of marine debris in
Australian waters, Report prepared for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and
Communities, June 2011.
Hinojosa Ia, Rivadeneira MM, Thiel M (2010) Temporal and spatial distribution of floating objects in coastal waters of
central-southern Chile and Patagonian fjords.
B Denise Hardesty & C Wilcox CSIRO Understanding the types, sources and at sea distribution of marine debris in
Australian waters, Report prepared for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and
Communities, June 2011.
Ibid p 22
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Plastics
Plastics and styrofoam can be found in accumulated ‘soups’ in the oceans and not only float
on the surface but descend through the water column. In these areas, the ratio of plastic to
zooplankton is estimated to be up to 6:1 by weight7.
It is generally understood that plastics never fully degrade but rather break down through
mechanical action into microscopic plastic pieces. Plastic will also photo-degrade, breaking
down into smaller pieces due to exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation. The longevity of plastic
in the marine environment has been estimated to be hundreds to thousands of years and far
longer in deep sea and non-surface environments8.
Plastic litter is widely recognised to be a physical hazard and aesthetically distasteful, but it is
also increasingly understood to be a chemical threat. Ingested plastics may release chemicals
such as persistent organic pollutants, high levels of which may suppress the immune and
reproductive systems, and threaten species with a low reproductive rate9. Once affected, a
bioaccumulatory effect may occur whereby toxins accumulate up the food chain, potentially
impacting the whole food chain including humans as consumers of seafood10.
Effects of marine debris
The whole spectrum of marine habitats is under pressure from marine debris11. Marine debris
is known to affect more than 270 species of marine animals worldwide, from the top predators
in the food chain to plankton, but the full extent of its impact is unknown12.
Most marine species are not selective feeders and may consume marine debris, particularly
debris accumulated in the vicinity of food items. Plastic bags, rubber, balloons and
confectionery wrappers are frequently ingested by marine species, which confuse these items
with prey species. This debris usually causes a physical blockage in the digestive system,
leading to internal injuries and pain. Research indicates at least 56 species of sea birds
confuse fish eggs and crustaceans with polystyrene balls and plastic buoys, and so consume
the debris13. Adult birds feed small plastic pieces to their young having mistaken the debris for
small marine invertebrates14. Ingested debris may result in starvation, blockage of the
digestive tract, impairment of nutrition by displacement of food or false satiety, internal wounds
or ulceration and buoyancy (which inhibits the ability to dive).
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Marine debris: biodiversity impacts and potential solutions. Britta Denise Hardesty and Chris Wilcox. he Conversation 23
August 2011 http://theconversation.com/marine-debris-biodiversity-impacts-and-potential-solutions-2131. - Accessed
6 May 2013
Barnes D et al, Abstract of ‘Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments’, in Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, Vol. 364 No. 1526, 27 July 2009, pp. 1985–1998 at
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1526/1985.abstract. - Accessed 12 August 2009.
http://www.marine-litter-conference-berlin.info/userfiles/file/Message%20from%20Berlin.pdf. - Accessed 9 May 2013,
International Conference on Prevention and Management of Marine Litter in European Seas, held in Berlin Germany on
10-12 April 2013.
A review of plastic resin pellet distribution throughout Australia and mitigation methods for reducing spill-over into the
marine environment. Report compiled by L. Mallison, H. Taylor and O. O’Shea for Tangaroa Blue Foundation. April 2013.
A sea of plastic: Evaluating the impacts of marine debris on cetaceans. Sarah Baulch and Clare Perry Environmental
Investigation Agency United Kingdom, http://iwc.int/cache/downloads/anztojxkvwg0wkgk084swkcso/SC-64-E10.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2013
TeachWild national marine debris research and education program, http://teachwild.org.au/field-research - Accessed
6 May 2013
Threatened Species Scientific Committee, Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or
entanglement in, harmful marine debris. Advice to the Minister for Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species
Scientific Committee on a public nomination of a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, 2003, http://www.environment.gov.au/ biodiversity/threatened/ktp/marine-debris.html.
Australian Antarctic Division This week at Macquarie Island: 19 April 2013 Bauer Bay Marine debris cleanup - Accessed
6 May 2013 http://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/stations/macquarie-island/this-week-.
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Marine debris such as fragments of trawl netting, plastic packing straps, and twine or cords
cause death or damage to marine species by entanglement. Entanglement can lead to
infection of bodies, flippers and flukes, restricted mobility, protracted amputation of limbs and
death through drowning, strangulation, starvation or smothering15.
Each year, around 640 000 tonnes of fishing gear is lost or thrown overboard16. Ghost nets are
fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, lost accidentally, or deliberately discarded.
They travel the oceans of the world with the currents and tides. As they are unattended and
roaming they fish indiscriminately, not only catching threatened species but undersized and
protected fish as well17. Ghost fishing in the Gulf of Carpentaria has caused the deaths of
sharks, crocodiles, turtles and dugongs, and sea birds.
Preventing and managing marine debris
The overview on waste-related international obligations sets out international conventions and
regional agreements that refer to marine waste and legislation to give effect to Australia’s
obligations under the agreements.
For example, in 2003, ‘Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or
entanglement in, harmful marine debris’ was listed as a key threatening process under the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Australian Government
made a 'Threat abatement Plan for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life' in
2009 and has provided funding for on-ground activities in line with the threat abatement plan,
including the following.

One highly successful program has been the northern Australian ghost net program which
has been supported over a number of years through various Australian Government
initiatives. The program is an alliance of over 30 Indigenous communities and ranger
groups from coastal northern Australia. Further funding for ghostnets removal has recently
been provided for two years over 2013-14 to 2014-15. Over its life, the program has
directly supported Indigenous communities to remove over 12,000 nets and the recovery
of marine turtles trapped in the nets. GhostNets Australia collects data to help determine
the movement, abundance and distribution of nets. Less than 10 per cent of the recovered
nets have been attributed to Australian fisheries18.

The Government is working with the Indonesian Ministry for Marine Affairs and Fisheries
and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on a project to reduce the
incidence of derelict fishing gear in the Arafura Sea.

Prevention of marine debris at its sources, both land and sea based, is addressed primarily
through state and territory legislation governing waste management, pollution, environment
protection and litter. In both New South Wales and Victoria, marine debris has been listed
as a threatening process under species conservation acts.
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Threatened Species Scientific Committee, Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or
entanglement in, harmful marine debris. Advice to the Minister for Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species
Scientific Committee on a public nomination of a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, 2003, http://www.environment.gov.au/ biodiversity/threatened/ktp/marine-debris.html.
Sea turtles caught up in ghostnets’ random harvest. Britta Denise Hardesty and Chris Wilcox. ECOS magazine online
http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC13023, published 11 February 2013
http://www.ghostnets.com.au/ accessed 6 May 2013
GhostNets Australia http://www.ghostnets.com.au/ accessed 7 May 2013
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Other activities
Several government agencies and non-government organisations collect data on the nature
and distribution of marine debris, and marine wildlife interactions with marine debris. Notably,
in the 2010–11 financial year, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation and Earthwatch Australia secured $1 million per annum over three years from
Shell Australian Ltd for ‘TeachWild’, a multi-faceted research and education project to
investigate the:

Sources, distribution, and fate of marine debris (including through oceanographic
modelling of ocean currents and wind patterns).

Ingestion and entanglement of debris, and its effect on marine wildlife populations19.
Data collected during the TeachWild study will contribute to a national marine debris database,
coarse distribution maps for marine debris, and exposure and impact information, at both the
individual and population level, for several marine vertebrate species.
The Tangaroa Blue Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation funded through Caring for our
Country to coordinate the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, an on-ground network of
volunteers, communities, organisations and agencies around the country monitoring the
impacts of marine debris. The Australian Marine Debris Initiative includes beach clean-up
events, monitoring programs, presentations, workshops and educational material, a database
of marine debris and cyberTracker training and data collection20.
The Plastics and Chemicals Industry Association’s Sustainability Leadership Framework for
Industry21 has been promoted by federal, state and local government bodies22 to assist
industry to transform their practices in moving towards a ‘zero waste’ goal. This includes the
reduction of pellet waste and accidental discharges from sites which contribute to marine
debris. This successful program assists companies to embed sustainability practices into their
business, promoting activities which improve business performance and reduce waste.
For more information on marine debris visit:
http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-pollution/marine-debris.
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http://teachwild.org.au/ accessed 9 May 2013
http://www.tangaroablue.org/ accessed 13 May 2013
PACIA Sustainability Leadership Framework for Industry, http://www.pacia.org.au/programs/framework. - Accessed
11 June 2013
PACIA Partnerships
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