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ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 87 and in more places. Another approach would be to promote the retrieval of debris observed while on the water; this has been done in the Gulf of Mexico through the offering of rewards in fishing tournaments. Education is a critical tool, due to the poor intelligence and minimal control capabilities in this sector. Information about Annex V and compliance strategies can be distributed through existing channels, such as boating safety courses and the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service (described in Chapter 6), and new activities, such as volunteer efforts by boating groups. International channels, such as racing associations, could be employed as well. Instructors can exploit group dynamics (i.e., peer pressure and the desire of individuals to conform with group behavior). In addition, it might be useful to train Coast Guard and customs officials and state marine police in techniques for persuading boaters to comply. Selected regulatory and enforcement interventions might be effective. For example, boat racers must comply with racing rules, which could be amended to mandate Annex V compliance and disqualify violators. Such a measure would affect only a small segment of the boating community, however. To reach more boaters, state boating and marine officials might be authorized to assess flues for Annex V violations. Peer reporting could be a useful supplementary tool; the Coast Guard plans to publicize the telephone number for reporting violations to the National Response Center (1-800-424-8802). Economic interventions include several that might promote recyclingâ offering boaters credits on marina fees for return of recyclables, holding deposits for return of garbage to shore, and charging extra for return of unsorted garbage. While such schemes might be complicated to implement, recycling merits promotion because it reduces amounts of garbage (which may be discharged overboard, legally or otherwise) and has become a standard component of integrated land-based waste management (see Chapter 5). Other options include imposing surcharges on disposable items sold at marina stores, and increasing and publicizing fines for Annex V violations. Commercial Fisheries and Their Fleet Ports Intelligence The federal government has scrutinized the practices of U.S. commercial fisheries for decades, but the focus has been on ensuring the strength of biological stocks rather than reviewing garbage disposal practices. Some information is available on numbers of vessels and their general operations while at sea, but reports of garbage management practices are largely anecdotal (see sidebar). Until recently, neither vessels nor operators were regulated directly by the Coast Guard, and the fishing community argued strenuously against government oversight of vessel conditions and operations. It is only since 1989 that the Coast Guard has had congressional authority to oversee the safety of fishing vessel
ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 88 TABLE 4-1 Applying the Hazard Evolution and Intervention Model to Recreational Boats and Their Marinas and Waterfront Facilities Hazard Evolution Model Behavior that On-board Generation of Encourages Generating Garbage Garbage Intervention Model Modify Behavior that Reduce Garbage Encourages Generating Generation during Garbage Voyage Technological Create products that Develop food and require little or no fishing equipment that packaging. permit use of bulk items. Organizational and Choose bulk liquids and Remove equipment and Operational beverages. Choose food replacement parts from with few byproducts. packaging and dispose Prepare foods ashore. of the wrapping ashore. Choose recyclable, Cut back on purchases compactible, and of items that can be reusable containers. discarded. Encourage Repackage condiments sale of items with in small reusable minimal packaging at containers. convenience stores near marinas. Educational (Target Instill respect for clean Select bulk and Population/Content) environment. Make repackage in reusable boaters aware of containers. Use alternative ways to ''retensiles''âcloth satisfy their needs. napkins, cotton dish Address behavior towels, sponges, change in ecotourism reusable cutlery, mugs, presentations. and drinking glasses. Avoid disposable eating materials. Buy resealable packages to hold food waste that may spoil. Buy recyclable, compactible, packaging.
ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 89 Hazard Evolution Breakdown in Discharge of Exposure to Model Compliance Garbage into Sea Discharged Garbage Intervention Model Prevent Block Discharge Block Exposure Breakdown in of Garbage into to Discharged Compliance Sea Garbage Technological Build garbage Develop and storage areas install into new boats. appropriate on- board garbage handling equipment. Organizational and Include Annex V Return all Retrieve debris Operational information in materials for observed while boating license shoreside on the water. and registration disposal. Provide Hold beach packets. waste cleanups. management at marinas to encourage boaters to return their garbage. Educational Serve meals in (Target Population/ individual Content) reusable lunch kits that also can hold garbage. Encourage volunteer groups to implement Annex V educational programs. Distribute Annex V information through boating safety courses, registration Sea Grant agents, and international channels. Train officials how to persuade boaters to comply.
ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 90 Hazard Evolution Model Behavior that On-board Generation of Encourages Generating Garbage Garbage Intervention Model Modify Behavior that Reduce Garbage Encourages Generating Generation during Voyage Garbage Government and Require recycling in Private Regulation and municipal laws and Enforcement permits for marinas. Economic (Market Encourage boaters to Encourage marina Forces) buy items that can be recycling programs with reused, recycled, or incentives (e.g., offer compacted; buy in bulk; credits on marina fees). and avoid foamed Marine stores and plastic and other chandleries could stock disposables. Impose reusable products. surcharge on Encourage equipment disposables sold at manufacturers to recycle marina stores. or offer credit for returned (used) equipment. construction and operation (National Research Council, 1991), so the agency has had little time to become familiar with the diverse operations of fishing fleets. Fisheries employ a wide variety of gear and methods and therefore produce assorted wastes. But the vast majority of fishing vessels take short trips, so most should be able to refrain from discharging any garbage at sea. Exceptions to this rule include the vessels in some fleets that eviscerate or process the catch and discard the processing waste at sea. On some vessels, the combined fishing/ processing waste can far outweigh the garbage generated by the crew.
ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 91 Hazard Evolution Breakdown in Discharge of Exposure to Model Compliance Garbage into Sea Discharged Garbage Intervention Prevent Block Discharge Block Exposure Model Breakdown in of Garbage into to Discharged Compliance Sea Garbage Government and Establish citizen Amend racing Private patrols to and association Regulation and monitor Annex rules to mandate Enforcement V compliance compliance with and report Annex V and violations. disqualify Publicize the toll- violators. Require free telephone waste number for management reporting plans in event violations to the permits and Coast Guard. licenses. Extend authority to levy fines to state boating and marine authorities. Economic Increase and Greatly increase Promote (Market Forces) publicize fines for Annex compliance as a rewards for V violations. Post means of reporting cleanup costs and reducing boat violations. pass them on to maintenance Publicize fines marina tenants. costs (by keeping levied against Hold deposits for water clean). violators. Make return of garbage Offer rewards for boaters aware of to shore. Charge recovered debris. costs of damage extra for unsorted to boats by debris. garbage returned to shore. Despite the shortage of official intelligence, informal communications networks proliferate in this sector. Commercial fisheries typically require that a catch be landed at a fishing port rather than a general-purpose waterfront. A sense of community can develop among fishermen working out of local ports, and vessel operators using the same facility usually become well acquainted. This community often is extended, because fishing can be a family business. In addition, the harbor master or other individual acting as a port authority often is
ELEMENTS OF AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 92 FISHERIES GARBAGE DISPOSAL PRACTICES Commercial fisheries have employed various strategies to comply with Annex V, some by installing shipboard trash compactors or incinerators, others by retaining garbage on board until they reach port. The biggest problem is handling of garbage in port. In some remote ports, there is no landfill space for vessel garbage, and waste hauling from fishing piers is generally irregular across the nation. Disposal of nets is a major problem, in that there is no national infrastructure for recycling them. However, a regional infrastructure has been established in the Pacific Northwest; fishermen in Alaska and Washington are recycling about 680.4 metric tons (150,000 pounds) annually of nylon gill-net webbing, which is marketed to Taiwan and Hong Kong for use in bicycle seats, electronics and appliance parts, kitchen utensils, and other items (F.I.S.H. Habitat Education Program, 1994). Most fishing vessels operating in the coastal ocean, Great Lakes, and other inland waters have little extra storage space, so discharge of garbage ashore depends on the availability of adequate reception facilities. Because many of these vessels are operated from remote ports in Alaska, Maine, and Southern Louisiana, and along inland waterways, vessel-generated garbage frequently accumulates on shore. Fishing gear is retrieved each day to extract the catch, or, if large numbers of traps are used, at the end of the season. Inevitably, some gear is lost. An unusual case among coastal fisheries is the menhaden fleet operating from Maine to Texas. These large ships have extra storage space, in part because crew accommodations are provided aboard carrier vessels. Garbage is stored on board for disposal in port, where the vessel owners maintain sophisticated facilities not only for processing the catch but also for handling garbage. Some haul their own garbage, while others contract for waste disposal. Among the near-coastal fisheries, the shrimp fleet is alleged by the National Park Service to be a major contributor to the debris in the Gulf of Mexico. Empty food containers and other wrapping from ship suppliers frequently are found on beaches during routine cleanups. Shrimp vessel operations also may contribute pieces of netting and cordage discarded during repairs to damaged shrimp trawls. Vessels in the Alaskan Pacific groundfish fishery can be very large (up to 300 feet long) and may sail for weeks at a time, and fish-processing ships must carry all packaging materials as well as substantial stores of food and spare parts. As a result, these vessels must manage considerable amounts of garbage. On some ships, waste materials are burned using "burn barrel" technology (Chang, 1990). familiar with the operations of boat owners. Thus, there are many informal sources and conduits of information among fishermen. A potential official intelligence-gathering capability may be found in the complicated NMFS regulatory regime, which establishes fishing seasons and catch allocations designed to permit the maximum allowable harvest of the standing stock, now solely reserved for U.S.-based fisheries. The legal framework for fisheries management within the 200-nautical-mile-wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-265), was developed in the mid-1970s to control access to U.S. fishing stocks,
