by Heidi Taylor
Tangaroa Blue


More than 10 years ago the last international gathering was held to address marine debris, so it was well overdue for the international community to get together again and address one of the fastest growing issues affecting our ocean environment – marine debris.

So with very little twisting of my arm required and surfboards and sunscreen packed, we landed in Honolulu, Hawaii for the 5th International Marine Debris Conference held from March 20-25, 2011 and co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

440 delegates representing 38 countries – experts, scientists, government officials and NGOs meeting to discuss and find solutions to one of the most prevalent and growing problems affecting two thirds of the earth – our oceans!

Attendees participated in workshops, field trips, technical and policy sessions, poster presentations and panel discussions. We enjoyed a movie night with 11 short films on marine debris created by children, researchers, advocates and educators. Keynote speakers included Jean-Michel Cousteau, Senator Daniel Inouye and ocean rower Roz Savage. Kalani Souza, a native Hawaiian cultural speaker also played an important role in the event, highlighting the important connection between people and the sea, both historically and spiritually.

Conference participants refined and endorsed by acclamation the Honolulu Commitment, which outlines 12 actions to reduce marine debris. Participants and a group of rapporteurs also worked to revise the Honolulu Strategy, a global framework strategy to prevent, reduce, and manage marine debris. This strategy will be finalised in the coming months and be available for download at www.oceancare.org.au.

And the week was topped off with a beach clean up at Kahuku Beach on Oahu’s North Shore where 100 volunteers were joined by Jack Johnson to remove over 1.6 tonnes of debris in just 2 hours!

So what came out of the conference?

For me the week was spent rushing from one session to the next, attending networking meetings, dinners, breakfasts and any other opportunity there was to talk to people from around the world, comparing notes, projects, successes and failures and presenting information on Tangaroa Blue Ocean Care Society and our Australian Marine Debris Project.

It’s hard to cover the whole conference, but here is a summary of what I took away from the week.

- This is truly an international issue, and looking at the ocean modelling of all the debris that washed into the ocean from Japan during the recent tsunami and where it will end up; bouncing off the US mainland and landing in Hawaii in 3-4 years time; what ends up on your beach may have come from thousands of kilometres away;

- Plastics are the most common item making up marine debris – but unfortunately big business and the plastics industry, both who were sponsors of the conference, refuse to take post-consumer responsibility of their products, highlighting the lack of real solutions to stopping the use of plastic and research on real alternatives to plastic.

- The enormous amount of plastic Nurdles (pellets) the raw form of plastic entering our waterways through stormwater drains, spillage and lack of handling regulations is truly phenomenal! With single beaches averaging over a million pellets, from the surface up to 2m of depth, this type of debris is plastic in the raw form before it even gets to the product stage;

- There is a huge amount of research that has been done and this has truly shown the extent of the problem; I’d like to see this research turning to focus on how to stop the debris washing into our oceans. We have enough research to show there is a problem, now we have to trace it to the source and make manufacturers and consumers responsible for disposing of these items in a sustainable way;

Daniella Russo from the Plastic Pollution Coalition summed up the issue: “The conference offered a sobering view of what lies ahead: an industry that refuses to see themselves as a contributor to this major problem; international policy-makers who are careful not to offend any stakeholder; and an ocean drowning in plastic for which nobody feels responsible. A true tragedy of the commons.”

Yet, there is a solution to the issue and this was a clear message from the conference - sources of marine debris are extremely varied and therefore there is no one solution – every person, every government, every business, every industry and every community has to play a proactive role in stopping the flow of rubbish into our oceans. Humans put it there, this is an issue we can solve.

Please consider supporting us and this important work by making a donation to Tangaroa Blue Ocean Care Society. Visit www.oceancare.org.au for more information – Thank you for your support!