The Commonwealth of Virginia has a marine debris reduction plan in place, the first of its kind on the East Coast.
In 2012, the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program began scoping out a framework. In less than two years, they developed a Marine Debris Reduction Plan to reduce the amount of marine debris from land-based and water-based sources in Virginia.
The writing team worked with representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, academia, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders to determine feasible and realistic short and long term actions to reduce and prevent marine debris.
The plan is centered around five main goals: leadership, prevention, interception, innovation, and removal and clean up. In the near-term, the state plans to focus on specific actions to jump start the initiative, including establishing a Virginia marine debris advisory committee, implementing a balloon litter reduction campaign, analyzing existing litter policies, and identifying sources of revenue to sustain marine debris and litter prevention programs.
source: NOAA Fisheries
Published: January 24, 2015 | Updated: February 1, 2018