NH Marine Debris to Energy Project
A New Hampshire-based project to study marine debris at sea and on the shore, incorporating waste-to-energy and recycling as part of cleanup efforts.
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Marine Debris-to-Energy Project Launches
The star attraction at a ceremony held at the Yankee Fishermen's Cooperative in Seabrook April 18 was a dumpster. But this dumpster had a special assignment--collecting marine debris, abandoned fishing gear and other items that can harm the marine ecosystem.
When it's full, the dumpster will be hauled to a waste-to-energy plant, where the debris will be burned to make electricity.
The ceremony launched The NH Marine Debris-to-Energy Project. Funded by a grant from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the project aims to:
- Better characterize the sources and distribution patterns of ocean-based debris, especially "derelict fishing gear" (DFG)--nets, lines, pots, and other fishing equipment that has been lost, abandoned, or discarded in the marine environment. DFG is an extremely dangerous form of marine debris.
- Develop protocols for undertaking a unique underwater cleanup program to identify and remove DFG and other debris.
- Continue to investigate the sources of land-based debris.
- Mitigate the problem through education and outreach.
On hand at the Seabrook kick-off ceremony were the project's primary investigators: Ken La Valley, commercial fisheries specialist with UNH Cooperative Extension Sea Grant, and Jenna Jambeck, a UNH research assistant professor of civil/environmental engineering, as well as representatives from partner organizations: Jen Kennedy, director of the nonprofit Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, and Alan Davis, district manager for Waste Management.
In his remarks, La Valley noted that getting the help of local fishermen 'wasn't a tough sell."
New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter congratulated the project coordinators and Waste Management for joining forces, noting it showed a maturation of the environmental movement by demonstrating, "we can find the answers by working together."
Click here for a slide show of the event. Click here to view Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter's remarks. To download a copy of our fact sheet click here.
Main project activities
- Researchers will make an initial assessment of the volume of underwater marine debris using sonar for the first time for this purpose in New Hampshire.
- Commercial and recreational fishermen will become actively involved in removing DFG at sea and collecting it in the Waste Management dumpster at the Yankee Fisherman's Co-op.
- Fishermen will have access to bins where they can discard their fishing line for recycling.
- Anyone collecting marine debris will be able to report it online via an easy Web interface.
- Cleanups along the New Hampshire coastline will expand, involving more volunteers and creating more aesthetically-pleasing, healthier and safer beaches.
- Members of the public, schools, and scientific researchers will have access to interactive marine-debris data and GIS maps.
- Teachers and their students across the world will have access to marine-debris data to use in their lessons, and local schools will be able to work directly with project investigators and partners in viewing data, participating in cleanups and contributing to the database.
- Project staff and others around the world can use the data and protocols developed in this project to target further pollution-prevention and outreach efforts.
- The quantities of debris in the ocean and on the shore, potentially harmful to wildlife, people, vessels, and the economy, will diminish.
Project timeline
- Spring 2008 Develop and launch Web-based system (developed at UNH Cooperative Extension) for reporting of marine debris, install the dumpster at the cooperative, and install monofilament recycling bins at several fishing locations along the coast from Durham to Seabrook.
Summer 2008 Conduct underwater mapping, start collecting data from fishermen and cleanup volunteers through the project's Web site.
Fall 2008 Publish a best-management-practices manual, hold a public workshop about the project, and offer training for best practices for dealing with marine debris..
Throughout the project, organizers plan to conduct shoreline cleanups and conduct informational sessions for fishermen, the public, and schools in the area.
More information
Marine Debris to Energy is a project that takes a holistic approach to marine debris by tracking and cleaning up marine debris on the shore, underwater, and on the ocean. A large component of this project involves collecting derelict fishing gear at a collection bin and at monofilament recycling bins along the coast and converting it into energy via a waste-to-energy plant in New Hampshire. The project will also provide a collection point for data from beach cleanup volunteers, commercial and recreational fishermen, and other users of the coastline to report marine debris. Users of the site will be able to generate reports and maps to learn more about marine debris along the New Hampshire coast and in the Gulf of Maine.
- New Whale Watch Maps available!
Two new Whale Watch Debris maps have been added to the site!
Map of Beaches involved in the MD Project are posted
Project staff attend workshop
Over 300 ghost traps identified
| The top 5 types of debris found on local beaches for 2009 are: |
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| Since Beach cleanups began along the northern NE coast there have been: |
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This study is funded by NH Sea Grant and through a grant from the NOAA Marine Debris Program.
Site design and hosting by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.
