Marine Litter Law and Legal Definition
Marine litter is an umbrella term used to refer to any man made object present in the marine and coastal environment. It includes all objects that do not naturally occur in the marine and coastal environment but are nevertheless found there. Marine litter is also known as marine debris.
Laws both on federal and state levels exist to prohibit marine littering. For example, the Mississippi Marine Litter Act makes it unlawful for any person or vessel to discharge any type of plastics, including synthetic ropes, fishing nets, garbage bags and other garbage, including paper products, glass, metal, dunnage, lining and packing materials into the marine waters of this state.
Marine litter currently poses a serious and growing threat to the marine and coastal environment. Most marine litter consists of material that degrades slowly, if at all, so a continuous input of large quantities of these items results in a gradual build-up in the marine and coastal environment.
The Regional Seas Programme has been developing and implementing a number of activities on the management of marine litter.
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- Antarctic Marine Living Resource Convention Act of 1984
- Antarctic Marine Living Resources
- Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
- Fleet Marine Force [FMF]
- Headquarters Marine Corp [HQMC] [Military Law]
- Individual Directly Involved In a Serious Marine Incident
- Investigating Officer [Marine Casualties and Investigations]
- Litter
- Marine and Coastal Waters
- Marine Aviation
