Once a year, we like to take a moment to reflect on our Program’s mission to investigate and prevent the adverse impacts of marine debris, and to celebrate the progress that has been made with national and international partners. This past year we’ve supported and elevated marine debris efforts through coordination on local, national, and international levels. The importance of coordination was reinforced in the Save Our Seas Act of 2018, which was signed into law last October. The law reauthorizes the NOAA Marine Debris Program through 2022 and expands our work in the areas of interagency collaboration, emergency response, and international action.
Though our work is expanding, we are still focused on and committed to tackling marine debris across our ten regions in the United States. We continue to work with academia, community-based organizations, industry, tribes, and government agency partners to develop local marine debris action plans, emergency response guides, and implement projects across the country. We are dedicated to advancing these collaborative efforts together with help from our many partners.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to present our 2019 Accomplishments Report, which highlights some of our major achievements over the past year.