Poster abstracts and manuscripts from the Third International ...

esearch standards in order to identify and address the sources
of marine debris.
26
In 1991, PITCH-IN CANADA, supported by Environment Canada, the
plastics industry and the British Columbia Ministry of
Environment, Lands and Parks, successfully conducted preliminary
research at 51 sites on the West Coast of Canada to test the
applicability of an international research model, as designed by
Mr. Trevor Dixon of the United Kingdom.
In 1992/93 PITCH-IN CANADA, with support from Environment Canada,
extended their preliminary research to Atlantic Canada in order
to ensure that, once implemented, the proposed international
research model would be applicable to conditions in Atlantic
Canada. As a result of this initial research, the international
methodology was modified to meet Canadian conditions.
In 1994 PITCH-IN CANADA has been contracted by Environment Canada
to develop a Volunteer Training Manual as well as data software
to enable implementation of Canada's National Marine Debris
Surveillance Program. This Program is currently scheduled to be
introduced, to both Coasts of Canada, in 1995 in a cooperative
effort between Environment Canada, PITCH-IN CANADA and an
extensive network of volunteers.
Wace, Nigel
Ocean Litter Stranded on Australian Coasts
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Australia receives flotsam and jetsam from large areas of the
Southern Hemisphere oceans, with poleward-flowing currents along
both west and east coasts delivering drift from the tropical
Pacific, and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current feeding marine
litter from Atlantic and Indian Oceans to the south coast of the
continent. Half the Australian coastline consists of sandy
beaches, much of it with an arid hinterland. Geomorphic,
ecological and socio-economic factors make the continental
coastline suitable for monitoring ocean litter in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Attempts to establish annual baselines for the quantities and
types of marine debris arriving on some remote southern
Australian beaches are described. Yields from beach cleanups
(e.g., "Adopt-a-Beach,', "Clean-up Australia,,), although socially
and environmentally useful, are of little use in ocean monitoring
because land-based litter is mixed with marine debris on popular
beaches. Australian beach litter of marine origin consists of.
some 60% plastic and 30% glass (by weight), with 7-15 kg and up
to 400 items per kilometer of litter stranded per year, but the
rate of litter burial, dispersal and destruction on beaches is