The program partnered with the California Ocean Protection Council to develop the California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy in 2018. The purpose of this two day virtual workshop was to bring together the Ocean Litter Strategy community to discuss the Strategy’s six goal areas, to highlight partner success stories, and to collect community feedback on successes and challenges in implementing the strategy. The workshop was a collaborative planning effort led by the program's California Regional Coordinator Christy Kehoe, California Sea Grant Extension Fellow Tanya Torres, as well as the NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies Fellow and Marine Debris Program summer intern Elena Aguilar, along with the Ocean Protection Council and California Sea Grant. 

Nancy Wallace, program director, provided opening remarks and International Affairs Specialist Steve Morrison shared insights on recent international negotiations at the United Nations Environment Assembly. Christy and Tanya presented on the progress made in implementing the California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy, as well as updates on the work of the Marine Debris Program. Additional speakers included the Ocean Protection Council, Surfrider Foundation, Tijuana National Estuarine Research Reserve/Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Association, California Product Stewardship Council, California Sea Grant, and the California Coastal Commission. 

The Ocean Litter Strategy community will meet again in August and November, and feedback from this workshop will be used to help set future strategic planning priorities. 

For more information, please contact Christy.Kehoe@noaa.gov and Tanya.Torres@noaa.gov.