A proposal on organizing a topic session “Marine debris in the Pacific Ocean: sources, transport, fate and effects of macro- and micro-plastics” has been approved by PICES Science Board for the next year PICES Annual Meeting to be held on 17-26 October 2014 in Yeosu, Korea. NOWPAP together with the Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP) will be co-sponsoring the session which is designed to address growing threat of marine litter through presenting the status and trends associated with plastic debris pollution as well as its environmental consequences and possible management actions.
Implementation of NOWPAP contributes to the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) in the Northwest Pacific region.