International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego

In March 2018 the OSPAR Secretariat attended the Sixth International Marine Debris Conference (6IMDC) in San Diego, USA. The Conference had representation from over 50 countries, and included 74 technical sessions with a total of 400 oral presentations and 170 poster presentations. It followed seven years after the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference and the creation of the global framework to prevent and manage marine debris (the Honolulu Strategy).

OSPAR hosted a technical session on Preventing and Reducing Marine Litter in the North-East Atlantic, which was chaired by Stefanie Werner (Co-Convenor of OSPAR's Marine Litter Group) and John Mouat (OSPAR Deputy Secretary). The session focussed on the various activities being undertaken to prevent and manage the occurrence and impacts of marine litter in the North-East Atlantic from the various sea and land based sources through the work of the OSPAR Commission.

^{Co-convenor of OSPAR's marine litter group (Stefanie Werner, Germany) with world-renowned oceanographer and marine litter campaigner, Captain Charles Moore}