The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL) is an international agreement that recognizes
that vessels present a significant and controllable source of pollution
into the marine environment (Centre for Marine Conservation
1994; Derraik 2002). In 1973, Canada joined other nations
in drafting the Convention (and is signatory to it), which prohibits
disposal at sea of persistent pollutants; it restricts any deliberate
disposal at sea of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft,
platforms, or other man-made structures at sea (Pearce 1992).
Annex V of the MARPOL Convention, called the London Convention,
specifically prohibits the disposal of plastics and garbage from
ships (Centre fot Marine Conservation 1994).Transport Canada
reports that if MARPOL restrictions were not in place, up to 35
percent of pollution in the world’s marine environment would be
the direct result of marine transport (Transport Canada 2010).
Derraik 2002 reported that the legislation is widely ignored and
ships are still estimated to discard 6.5 million tons per year of plastics
The compliance of individuals is partly a question of economics
and logistics; in order to discourage waste disposal in the marine
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18 http://coinatlantic.ca/index.php/state-of-the-scotian-shelf
5.3 Provincial and
Community-led Initiatives
In Nova Scotia, the Clean Nova Scotia Foundation
has been partnering with the public,
governments, and businesses to advocate for
a clean marine and coastal environment in the
province for over 20 years (The Clean Nova
Scotia Foundation 2009). In cooperation with
various agencies including the Small Craft Harbours
Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada,
the Foundation has launched an outreach and
monitoring program aimed at eliminating the
disposal of wastes at sea by the commercial
fishing sector and encouraging proper waste
receptacles on shore at fishing harbours. This
program, called Ship-to-Shore, is a pilot program
administered through 21 fishing harbours
throughout Nova Scotia.
The Clean Nova Scotia Foundation also
administers a provincial shoreline clean up
project titled ‘The Great Nova Scotia PickMe-Up’,
which aims to beautify Nova Scotia’s
beaches as well as to identify and characterize
the source of marine waste in the province.
Similar initiatives are undertaken on a
nation-wide scale, including the World Wildlife
Foundation-sponsored ‘Great Canadian
Shoreline Cleanup’ and Pitch-In Canadasponsored
beach clean ups.
Efforts are also being made by the Nova
Scotia government to reduce the amount
of land-based waste generated per capita
throughout the province. With a target of
300 kg per person, Nova Scotia will have to
cut waste generated by 50% (Nova Scotia
Environment 2010). To achieve this, the
Nova Scotia Department of Environment is
developing new programs to promote environmental
stewardship and implementing
waste regulations.
environment, ships need to have access to adequate
and affordable waste reception facilities
at ports (National Academy of Sciences 2008).