FEBRUARY 12, 2016--From January 25 - 29, 2015, staff from the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) met with several marine debris education, outreach, and removal grant-funded partner organizations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assess their marine debris removal efforts to date and better understand debris removal challenges that NOAA partners face in the Caribbean region.

MDP staff met with project leads from Protectores de Cuencas, Scuba Dogs Society and Coral Bay Community Council as well as U.S. Coast Guard staff, representatives from Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and other NOAA staff from the Office for Coastal Management and NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division.

MDP staff also participated in a harbor safety committee meeting on St. John, USVI where local, territory and federal participants discussed harbor/port safety concerns, emergency response protocols and efforts to assess and remove several large derelict vessels from a local bay. One of the results of the site visits and meetings, MDP staff members are assembling an informal working group of experts that have authority to address abandoned and derelict vessels in the Caribbean region. The primary function of the working group will be to prevent vessels from being abandoned and remove legacy vessels when possible.

For more information about these meetings or MDP funded projects, please contact Jason.Rolfe@noaa.gov.

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