Four decades of Hawaiian monk seal entanglement data reveal the benefits of plastic debris removal

Details

• Journal Title:
  Science
• Personal Author:
  Baker, Jason D. ; Johanos, Thea C. ; Ronco, Hope ; Becker, Brenda L. ; Morioka, James ; O’Brien, Kevin ; Donohue, Mary J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; Sea Grant ; PIFSC (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear causes harm to marine species and ecosystems. To mitigate the destruction wrought by this ocean plastic debris, various cleanup programs have been established, though to our knowledge the benefits of such efforts to marine species and ecosystems have not yet been empirically demonstrated. We examined more than 40 years of Hawaiian monk seal marine debris entanglement records before and after large-scale marine debris removal efforts were initiated in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, demonstrating a substantial reduction in entanglement rates where debris removal effort was most concentrated. Large-scale and sustained removal of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear meaningfully benefits marine ecosystems and has the potential to be transformational in restoration efforts.
• Source:
  Science, 385(6716), 1491-1495
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado2834
• ISSN:
  0036-8075 ; 1095-9203
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:347ef430dc11a15f0517cdd45a3497859d8260222fe1bac3352364e96e0fe0218f3fad3804581fbfd5981668c2204e867bfe912782a3d2134ec418f0fffa1ec5
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/71885/noaa_71885_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.90 MB ]