Marine Debris Initiative

The Marine Debris Initiative Plan Abstract

The overarching goals of the initiative are to:

  1. Reduce the amount of marine debris on South Carolina beaches.
  2. Reduce the amount of derelict fishing gear on South Carolina beaches and in South Carolina waters.
  3. Reduce the amount of marine debris entering the South Carolina coastal zone.
  4. Reduce the number of abandoned and derelict vessels in the coastal zone.
  5. Expand available outreach and education materials, and the number of people using them.
  6. Develop and implement the ability to address post-storm debris quickly and efficiently.
  7. Increase the number of partnerships across the state to address marine debris.

The South Carolina Marine Debris Plan outlines the overarching marine debris issues that impact South Carolina, and creates four categories that all marine debris falls into:

  1. Litter
  2. Derelict fishing gear
  3. Abandoned vessels and structures
  4. Post-storm debris

It also provides a framework for activities that can be undertaken to address these four categories. The activities fall into groups of:

  1. Prevention
  2. Research, Monitoring and Source Identification
  3. Cleanup and Removal
  4. Coordination


Funding Opportunities

Funding for water quality improvements, watershed protection, and marine debris reduction is available from Federal agencies. These links provide more information about available Federal agency environmental grant programs:

Grants from the Federal Government

All federal grant opportunities:
http://www.fedgrants.gov

Resource conservation funding:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/funding/rcra.html

EPA innovation pilots:
http://www.epa.gov/oswer/iwg/announcement.htm

Catalogue of Federal funding sources for watershed protection:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/fedfund/

NOAA marine debris grant programs
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/projects_programs/crp/partners_funding/callforprojects2.html

National Science Foundation grants
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/research_edu_community.jsp

Grants from State agencies

Palmetto Pride education in the classroom grants:
http://www.palmettopride.org/education.htm

DHEC OCRM Grant Opportunities:
http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/outreach/grants.htm

Other opportunities

Boat U.S. grant opportunities
http://www.boatus.com/cleanwater/grants/