| "It's not uncommon to go clean a third of a mile of beach in New Hampshire and pick up 200 pounds of debris." | |
| Jen Kennedy, Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation |
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Tons of marine debris—everything from fishing nets to trash dumped overboard—can be found in coastal waters and is washed up on shorelines around the country. Not only can this debris be fatal to wildlife, but it can hinder commercial fishermen and drive tourists from beaches. It is also cumbersome to collect, and disposal is challenging.
Coastal resource managers in New Hampshire have not only developed a program to remove and help keep marine debris out of the ocean, but they have solved the disposal dilemma as well by turning the debris into an energy source.
"So much gear has already been recycled since the program started in April of last year," says Ken La Valley, assistant extension professor of biological sciences for New Hampshire Sea Grant and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. "This is a big deal for New Hampshire because we're such a small state."
The Marine Debris to Energy Project involves collecting derelict or damaged fishing gear and converting it into energy via a waste-to-energy plant in Massachusetts.
The program is also helping to better characterize the sources and location of marine debris using a Web-based geographic information system (GIS), and is working to alleviate the problem through education and outreach.
Massachusetts is doing a similar campaign called "Fishing for Energy," and other marine debris recycling programs are happening on the West Coast and in the Hawaiian Islands.
Lost or Abandoned
Marine debris, which includes nets, lines, crab and shrimp traps and pots, and other recreational or commercial fishing equipment that has been lost or abandoned in the marine environment, is a global problem that severely impacts marine ecosystems and poses significant economic and safety issues.
"A lot of people aren't aware that marine debris is a problem," notes Jen Kennedy, director of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation. "It's not uncommon to go clean a third of a mile of beach in New Hampshire and pick up 200 pounds of debris."
Modern nets and fishing line are made of synthetic materials that have been in use since the 1940s and take decades—even hundreds of years—to break down, making landfill disposal unwise, notes Jenna Jambeck, research assistant professor for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire.
Scientists estimate that debris ingestion, entanglement, or both affects 43 percent of all marine mammal species worldwide. In 2007, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies confirmed 30 cases of entangled whales in Northeast U.S. and Canadian waters.
Potential Snare
Debris can also clog vessel intake valves or snare propellers, potentially stranding recreational and commercial fishermen, endangering boat crews and passengers with vessel capsizings, and entangling divers and swimmers.
It's also a "real economic problem for commercial fishermen," says La Valley. "What happens when you get a $10,000 net hung up on a derelict fishing pot?"
Coastal communities dependent on tourism can experience negative economic impacts if marine debris washes up on beaches. "We are so dependent on tourism," says Kennedy. "Our beaches need to be clean and healthy for the people to visit, and for the marine life that depends on them."
Coming Together
In 2005, Jambeck teamed up with Kennedy to analyze the type and location of debris being collected in the nonprofit's volunteer beach-cleaning efforts.
"What we found," Jambeck says, "is that of the 14 beaches being monitored, 4 had greater than 50 percent of debris coming from ocean-based sources."
"New Hampshire," Kennedy adds, "had a higher percentage of fishing gear on its beaches than a number of other states, including Florida."
La Valley, who had been hearing fishermen complaining about the impacts marine debris was having, joined the collaborative effort and brought the fishing community to the table.
The team received a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Marine Debris Program to conduct the project.
Waste to Energy
The project centers on a special dumpster that Waste Management of New Hampshire agreed to place at the centralized Yankee Fishermen's Cooperative in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Here recreational and commercial fishermen can trash their own damaged gear or the derelict gear that they find.
The debris is then taken by Waste Management to a Wheelabrator waste-to-energy plant in North Andover, Massachusetts, where it's burned to generate electricity, says Jambeck. What cannot be turned into energy, such as certain metals, is separated out and recycled or disposed of.
The partnership also placed five bins for monofilament fishing line in strategic places along the state's coastline for collection and recycling.
La Valley says that about 4 tons of marine debris has been collected so far.
When and Where
A unique feature of the New Hampshire project, says La Valley, is the ongoing effort to document where marine debris is located and using the information for education and outreach.
A website with a GIS mapping database has been created so that beach cleanup volunteers, commercial and recreational fishermen, and others can document where they find marine debris. Soon, users of the site—including educators and local decision makers—will be able to generate reports and maps detailing what types of debris have been found.
Multibeam sonar is also being used to document derelict gear under the ocean surface. The next step, La Valley says, will be to address the removal of the nearly 300 derelict lobster traps that have been documented, which will take legislative action.
"It's currently illegal to move someone else's lobster pots, even if they're derelict," he explains.
"These types of projects have value beyond getting rid of fishing gear and cleaning up the beach," La Valley says. "They provide the opportunity for building partnerships between the different stakeholders."
He adds, "The seeds of those relationships grow into other projects and other relationships. It's more valuable than the stated goals of the project."
To learn more about the New Hampshire Marine Debris to Energy Project, go to http://cecf1.unh.edu/debris/. You may also contact Jen Kennedy at (603) 431-0260, or jen@blueoceansociety.org; Jenna Jambeck at (603) 862-4023, or Jenna.Jambeck@unh.edu; or Ken La Valley at (603) 862-4343, or ken.lavalley@unh.edu.
