Washington Marine Debris Action Plan

Plastic pollution in the marine environment is an increasing concern. Microplastics (0.3-5 mm in size) are of most concern because they cannot be easily spotted, last the longest, and are easily ingested by marine organisms and make their way through the food chain…As beaches erode,…microplastics are transported into Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. It remains an open question of how many and how much of these microplastic particles are exported from the beaches into the ocean.

The above is an excerpt from my senior thesis research paper, “Concentration of Microplastics in Beach Sediments Surrounding Seattle, Washington in the Puget Sound Estuary”. As a University of Washington School of Oceanography major, I was required to choose a topic to research for my thesis project (a graduation requirement) and I chose microplastics. Now, before you think I’m weird for wanting to study what is essentially garbage for 10 months, let me give you some background information.

My second quarter at UW, I took a class titled “Introduction to Environmental Studies”. Every student in the class had to choose an organization to work with for 8 out of the 10 weeks of the quarter and do a service learning project. I chose to work with Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a citizen science program through the University of Washington that studies seabird casualties and marine debris on the west coast of North America. My project with COASST was to survey beaches in the Puget Sound region for marine debris, document what I found on a form, and photograph each piece individually alongside a ruler for size. (Fun fact: I was doing this in January, February, and March, so the weather was not always pleasant.) The 8 weeks went by, I turned in my paper which detailed what I did for my project, and didn’t think much about it after that. I really did enjoy going to the beach every week, seeing what I could find in terms of litter, and photographing the debris. It was fun! However, I didn’t anything would come from the experience.

Fast forward almost four years and I was faced with a decision to make. What was I going to choose to study for my senior thesis? I didn’t want to do a biology, chemistry, geology, or physics project, so that left me with plastics. I was actually really excited because topics such as marine debris, ocean plastics, and plastic pollution had become such a hot topic. I don’t think I realized how much I personally cared about the issue until I chose it for my thesis. If you would like to learn more about my research, you can find my paper here: Concentration of Microplastics in Beach Sediments
Surrounding Seattle, Washington in the Puget Sound Estuary by Frances Eshom-Arzadon.

Workshop 2: Support team ladies (from Environmental Protection Agency and the NOAA Marine Debris Program)

Because of my research, I was invited to participate in the planning process of the Washington Marine Debris Action Plan (WA MDAP). For some context, there are several other states that have already begun implementing a marine debris plan: Oregon, California, Hawaii, and a few others. The first workshop was held in December 2017 in Ocean Shores, WA, during which I collaborated with scientists, nonprofit organizations, and other active members of the marine debris community to draft an action plan to decrease marine debris in WA State. We spent roughly two days working in breakout groups coming up with strategies and potential actions to support our four goals:

PREVENTION: Prevent the generation of marine debris through coordinated actions that include community engagement, policy changes, best management practices, and incentive programs.

REMOVAL: Locate, identify, remove, and recycle or dispose of land- and ocean- based marine debris from Washington’s shorelines and waters.

RESEARCH: Conduct coordinated, high-quality research to inform actions that reduce the adverse impacts of marine debris.

COORDINATION: Conduct coordinated, high-quality research to inform actions that reduce the adverse impacts of marine debris.

I was initially placed in the research group because of my thesis research, but asked to be switched to the prevention group for the second workshop since my passions align more with outreach and education.

The second workshop was held in May 2018 in Lacey, WA with many of the same participants from the first workshop and additional stakeholders. I volunteered to be on the support team, so I helped with some day-before preparations and took notes for my group during our breakout sessions. The purpose of the second workshop was to review actions we had come up with in December, make any necessary edits, and add more actions. Organizations then volunteered to take ownership of the action and implement it.

After each workshop, the facilitators compiled a draft and sent it to all participants for review. I proofread the document and provided suggestions for improvement, then sent it back to the facilitators. They made all the final edits and published the document on the NOAA Marine Debris Program website earlier this month. The Plan is now available to the public, and you can download the it in PDF format to review and share with whomever you like.

Click here to download the Washington Marine Debris Action Plan.

The Action Planning process isn’t completely over, however. Participants agreed to three terms:

1. A newsletter will be sent out every six months with information provided by the involved organizations.
2. Every two years, participants will meet to update the Plan.
3. After six years, the Plan will be evaluated and modified as needed.

I, personally, am very proud of the document and am excited to share it with all of you! I am also excited to see the actions implemented and to hopefully see improvements in our environment and state in the years to come.