Marine Debris Data Set (Benthic Marine Debris along the US West Coast)

As marine debris levels continue to grow worldwide, identifying sources, composition, and distribution of debris (as well as potential effects) becomes increasingly important. We investigated the composition and abundance of man-made, benthic marine debris at 1,347 randomly selected stations along the U.S. West Coast during the 2007 - 2008 West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Surveys. Anthropogenic debris was observed in 469 tows at depths of 55 - 1,280 m. Plastic and metallic debris occurred in the greatest number of hauls, followed by fabric and glass. Mean density was 67.1 items km-2 throughout the study area, but was significantly higher south of 3600N latitude. Mean density significantly increased with depth, ranging from 30 items km-2 in shallow (55-183 m) water to 128 items km-2 in the deepest depth stratum (550-1,280 m). The higher densities at depth, as well as the types of debris, suggest a marine rather than land-based origin, although accumulation of debris from shallower or land-based sources may partially explain the observed distribution pattern. Debris densities observed along the U.S. West Coast were comparable to those seen elsewhere, and provide a valuable backdrop against which future accumulations can be compared. Excel Marine Debris Spreadsheet

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {006:48}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:20521
language {en-US}
modified 2015-07-30T13:36:33.258000-04:00
programCode {006:056}
publisher (Point of Contact)
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 9e74bdb55a54a59b152d48fa29624622257d0afd
source_schema_version 1.1
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • baseline-monitoring
  • benthic
  • ckan
  • doc-noaa-nmfs-nwfsc-northwest-fisheries-science-center
  • ecosystem
  • fishery-independent
  • fram-legacy-data-sets
  • geo
  • geoss
  • habitat
  • habitat-characteristics
  • marine-debris
  • national
  • national-marine-fisheries-service
  • noaa-u-s-department-of-commerce
  • north-america
  • northern-califoirnia-current-system
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Keller, Aimee
maintainer_email Aimee.Keller@noaa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-20T20:18:50.577700
metadata_modified 2025-11-20T20:18:50.577703
notes As marine debris levels continue to grow worldwide, identifying sources, composition, and distribution of debris (as well as potential effects) becomes increasingly important. We investigated the composition and abundance of man-made, benthic marine debris at 1,347 randomly selected stations along the U.S. West Coast during the 2007 - 2008 West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Surveys. Anthropogenic debris was observed in 469 tows at depths of 55 - 1,280 m. Plastic and metallic debris occurred in the greatest number of hauls, followed by fabric and glass. Mean density was 67.1 items km-2 throughout the study area, but was significantly higher south of 3600N latitude. Mean density significantly increased with depth, ranging from 30 items km-2 in shallow (55-183 m) water to 128 items km-2 in the deepest depth stratum (550-1,280 m). The higher densities at depth, as well as the types of debris, suggest a marine rather than land-based origin, although accumulation of debris from shallower or land-based sources may partially explain the observed distribution pattern. Debris densities observed along the U.S. West Coast were comparable to those seen elsewhere, and provide a valuable backdrop against which future accumulations can be compared. Excel Marine Debris Spreadsheet
num_resources 2
num_tags 20
title Marine Debris Data Set (Benthic Marine Debris along the US West Coast)