Marine Debris Survey and Symposium

Note: The N.C. Marine Debris Symposium has been rescheduled to Oct. 16 and 17.

If you are working on marine debris issues along the North Carolina coast, we want to hear about it!

Please take this online survey for marine debris stakeholders in coastal North Carolina by Sept. 5, 2017. You will need about 5 to 10 minutes to complete it. Find it at tinyurl.com/marinedebrissurvey.

Your answers will help determine who is doing what, and identify potential actions and partners for this issue. In 2018, a stakeholder group will use the responses to develop a marine debris reduction strategy that will complement the 2016 North Carolina Incident Waterway Debris Response Guide.

My partners and I are looking for feedback from people who are affiliated with organizations involved in the following marine debris activities in coastal North Carolina:

• Removal and/or disposal
• Identification of problem debris areas
• Recruiting and/or managing volunteers
• Developing, or interested in pursuing, policy or laws
• Waste management
• Developing and/or implementing best management practices
• Rewarding organizations/businesses for implementing best management practices/reduction strategies
• Research and technology development​
• Outreach and education (formal and nonformal educators)
• Advocacy
• Regulatory
• Wildlife rescue and/or rehabilitation (under permit only)

The survey was developed through a partnership among the N.C. Coastal Federation, North Carolina Sea Grant, Keep Onslow Beautiful, and the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The preliminary survey results and suggestions for future steps will be discussed at the fifth annual North Carolina Marine Debris Symposium at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort on Oct. 16 and 17.

The symposium brings together state organizations, nonprofits, researchers, citizen scientists and students to collaborate on addressing the pollution that affects our state and region. Speakers will cover topics including recycling, plastic pollution, marine debris removal, research and education.

Lisa Rider, Onslow County Solid Waste & Landfill deputy director, notes that collaboration is important to the mission of the symposium. The event is designed to bring various groups together to “share resources, share data, develop best management practices and educational material,” she explains in a news release.

“The North Carolina Marine Debris Symposium was an effort to consolidate and collaborate to reach a common goal,” Rider says. “It has become a venue for multifaceted collaboration in the coastal community. It works to involve everyone, no matter their age, job or knowledge of marine debris, as a stakeholder.”