Threat abatement plan for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life

About the plan

In August 2003, 'Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or entanglement in, harmful marine debris' was listed as a key threatening process under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

The Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life aims to provide a coordinated national approach to the implementation of measures to prevent and mitigate the impacts of harmful marine debris on vertebrate marine life.

Detailed information supporting this TAP is provided in the Background Paper, which describes in more detail the key threatening process and its management via prevention, removal and mitigation.

Review status

After considering the review of the Threat abatement plan for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life, the Minister for the Environment agreed with the Threatened Species Scientific Committee’s recommendation  that a variation of the threat abatement plan should be drafted.

The Australian Government is working to revise the national marine debris plan to limit the damage that plastic and other waste products cause to Australia’s marine life. The new threat abatement plan will set directions for marine debris research and management activities.

Threat abatement plan for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life: Review 2009-2014 (PDF - 314.37 KB)
Threat abatement plan for the impacts of marine debris on vertebrate marine life: Review 2009-2014 (DOCX - 115.18 KB)

Draft plan

The Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Species is being revised. The Department has released the draft Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Species (2017) for public comment. Comments are invited until 13 April 2017.

• Draft Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Species (2017)

See also

• Key threatening process - Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or entanglement in, harmful marine debris
• Impacts of plastic debris on Australian marine wildlife - June 2009
• Research on the impact of marine debris on marine turtle survival and behaviour: North east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia - April 2009
• Pilot investigation of the origins and pathways of marine debris found in the northern Australian marine environment - July 2008
• Key threatening processes information sheet - Harmful marine debris - 2003
• Finding solutions: Derelict fishing gear and other marine debris in Northern Australia - 2003