Coastal Services Center

While state, federal, and local coastal resource managers have successfully worked together to remove more than 80 abandoned vessels from South Carolina’s coast, marine debris continues to be a significant problem along the state’s shoreline. Enlarging the group of collaborators working on the issue beyond the primary regulatory agencies has helped raise public awareness of the problem, led to better reporting tools, and expanded the state’s cleanup efforts.

“I think we all realized that this is a significant issue, and we all needed to do our part,” says Curtis Joyner, coastal projects manager for the Policy and Planning Division of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.

The expanded partnerships have been the result of the project, “Marine Debris and Abandoned Vessels: Identification, Reduction, and Prevention through Community-Based Education and Action,” funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, and a two-year public awareness project sponsored by the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE).

The three-year NOAA project has resulted in the development of a new monitoring training manual, an online marine debris reporting form, three area grid maps for community monitoring, and a document clearly defining regulatory jurisdictions.

The COSEE project brought all the partners to the table and culminated in a successful marine debris cleanup and prevention event.

Serious Threat

Each year, more than one million residents and 15 million visitors enjoy boating, fishing, and recreating along South Carolina’s coast. But the trash they leave behind—everything from abandoned vessels to cigarette butts on beaches—diminishes the beauty of the coast and creates hazards for animals and humans.

“Marine debris is a serious threat to South Carolina’s beaches, marshes, creeks, and rivers,” Joyner says. Abandoned vessels can create navigational hazards for boaters and threaten wildlife if pollutants such as oil and gasoline are leaked. Debris also poses a risk to animals from toxicity, entanglement, and smothering from ingestion.

Coordinating Efforts

In 2004, the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to create the Marine Debris and Abandoned Vessel Removal Task Force to coordinate efforts to manage debris removal.

The coastal program was able to leverage funding from the NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and the state to work with coastal municipalities to remove significant numbers of abandoned vessels and large debris from the state’s coastal waters.

While the effort was successful, South Carolina is experiencing an increase in abandoned vessels, likely due to the soured economy.

Public Awareness

In 2009, the coastal program used NOAA funding and partnered with the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and other organizations to enhance public awareness of the abandoned vessel problem and to recruit volunteers to assist with the identification and preliminary assessment of abandoned vessel sites.

The partners conducted three focus groups with coastal stakeholders to identify and discuss marine debris issues in three regions of the state.

Among the needs identified were to publicly clarify the jurisdictions and responsibilities of regulatory agencies, provide public education on what constitutes marine debris, and establish a clear protocol and mechanism for reporting marine debris.

The coastal program also joined the COSEE project, which brought all the collaborators to the table and expanded to include industry partners. The group worked to host a three-day event for coastal recreational boaters, anglers, and watermen to dispose of unwanted equipment. Not only did the event help prevent boating and fishing equipment from becoming debris, it also generated significant publicity on the issue.

Working with more partners to address marine debris is making a difference, Joyner says.

“We’re doing a much better job sharing information and data,” he says. “We’re all sitting in the same room talking and working towards a common goal.”

Joyner adds, “Keeping South Carolina’s waters free of marine debris and abandoned vessels will continue to be a daunting challenge. In order for our efforts to succeed, we will need to continue to work together and combine resources.”

For more information on South Carolina’s marine debris and abandoned vessel removal efforts, go to www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/vessel_removal.htm. You may also contact Curtis Joyner at (843) 953-0205 or joynercm@dhec.sc.gov.