The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) honored the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration with a 2023 Marine Environment Protection Award, which recognizes individual or organizational efforts to preserve the marine environment. OR&R was selected for an award in the “federal, state or local environmental agency” category. OR&R’s award nomination highlighted two specific achievements: (1) leadership in coastal resilience while responding to the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian to Florida communities in September 2022 and, (2) leading a “whole-of-government” response team, culminating in the safe and successful recovery of the fishing vessel Aleutian Isle, while minimizing impact to the environment, culturally sensitive areas, and other protected resources. 

The NOAA Marine Debris Program released the 2023-2028 Puerto Rico Strategic Plan to Reduce Aquatic Debris, a framework document to reduce the ecological, health and safety, and economic impacts of aquatic and marine debris in Puerto Rico. This document, available in Spanish and English, emphasizes the importance of addressing the issue of aquatic debris through proactive approaches. It is the result of a collaborative effort between the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the U.S. EPA Region 2 and U.S. EPA Trash Free Waters Program, along with partners across Puerto Rico, including federal, territorial, and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, industry, and academia.The Strategic Plan has four goals, with 12 objectives. With the vision of reducing debris in aquatic environments in Puerto Rico, this plan will help to guide the implementation of key actions by these various partners and will enhance cross sectoral coordination, public awareness, and behavior change while addressing environmental justice issues.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program staff participated in a Microplastic and Marine Debris Workshop, hosted by the Seattle Aquarium, which brought together microplastics and marine debris community members from government, academic, nonprofit, and industry organizations based in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The goals of the workshop were to network, share current activities, and brainstorm a path forward for future research, cleanup efforts, and prevention in the region. Specific topics ranged from updates on regional policy movements, to methods development for detection and characterization of nanoplastics, to preliminary results of research on tire-wear particles. NOAA Marine Debris Program staff presented a poster at the workshop on NOAA’s Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, focused on recent updates to the Monitoring Toolbox and program design.