Plastics in the Ocean: More Than a Litter Problem

摘要

Even though concern about marine pollution in general has been expressed since the 70's, the issue of plastic debris in the marine environment is a relatively new concern, and sources of hard data are meager. No central data collection source exists to document what types of plastic are out there, where it comes from, what it does, or who controls it. Our review took us to lake beaches and seashores, to fishery supply houses and boat dealers, to uncompiled records of lost fishing gear and bags of beach litter. The picture, while anecdotal and incomplete, is of a growing problem that has yet to be tackled by natural resource managers at either the national or local level.