Why It Matters: The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is the name given to Earth’s largest ocean plastic accumulation zone, the eastern half of which swirls around off the coast of California, held permanently in place by the Pacific Ocean currents known as the North Pacific Tropical Gyre. This Eastern Garbage Patch covers an area twice the size of Texas and is estimated to contain nearly two trillion pieces of plastic with a total weight of around 100,000 tons. The Garbage Patch poses significant environmental hazards which directly impacts sea life and, in turn, pose health hazards for humans and animals who feed on sea life, and thus negatively affects those who fish for their livelihood and for sport. Left unaddressed, the cost of cleaning up the Great Garbage Patch will also increase through time.
Highlights:
- Earlier this year, California Outdoor Sporting Caucus member Assemblywoman Diane Dixon introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 182 (ACR 182), whose Orange County district contains world famous beaches including Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach, which are all deeply impacted by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
- ACR 182 would initiate mitigation efforts on California’s rivers which empty into the Pacific Ocean. Most of the plastics which end up in the ocean come from rivers, and ACR 182 seeks to capture the plastics before they reach the ocean.
- The California Outdoor Sporting Caucus’ Advisory Council enthusiastically supports ACR 182, and at the request of the professional members of the offshore fishing community and industry, the Advisory Council has urged Sporting Caucus members in the California Senate to support the bill.
- Senate Caucus Co-Chair Senator Brian Jones has agreed to advance ACR 182 in the Senate following the current recess.
The California Outdoor Sporting Caucus is seeking to pass Assembly Resolution ACR 182 next month, named “The Great Garbage Patch Bill,” prior to the close of the 2023-2024 legislative session. The goal of ACR 182 is to promote and encourage the capture the plastic waste in California’s rivers before those rivers empty into the Pacific Ocean, to avoid adding to the already catastrophic levels of plastic currently swirling around in the Great Garbage Patch offshore. As most of the plastic in the ocean comes from rivers, this move represents the most impactful preventative mitigation effort possible.
Once the plastics reach the Pacific Ocean, they begin to breakdown into microplastics that are frequently consumed by marine life. That marine life is then consumed by other marine life and birds, and sometimes even land mammals. Overtime, this bioaccumulation of microplastics and the toxic chemicals they leach can enter the human food supply through seafood supplies. Thus, there is a growing concern regarding the potential long term impact on commercial and recreational fisheries. Preventing this problem will help ensure people can fish in the Pacific for generations to come.
Members of the Caucus Advisory Council met with Senate Caucus Co-Chair Senator Brian Jones, urging him to support the legislation in the Senate. Senator Jones agreed that this was important legislation that would not only help the environment but also wildlife conservation efforts and would protect the interests of sportsmen not only in California but all along America’s western shores. It is expected that Senator Jones will bring ACR 182 over to the Senate in August, following the legislative recess, where it is also expected to pass.
The Caucus, working with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and the Caucus Advisory Council, are vital stakeholders in this effort. “The threat to our fisheries off the coast of California is real as the poisons from plastics are negatively impacting the health and sustainability of this precious resource,” said Advisory Council Vice Chair Rick Travis. “We are proving that sportsmen and women are the true wildlife conservationists, and we are leading the way in providing solutions to environmental issues that impact future generations.”
