{"id":303,"date":"2026-06-04T22:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2026-06-04T22:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:38:18","slug":"cleanups-removed-over-1-5-million-pounds-of-trash-from-alaska-beaches-last-year-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=303","title":{"rendered":"Cleanups removed over 1.5 million pounds of trash from Alaska beaches last year, report says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Alaskans collected more than 1.5 million pounds of marine debris last year in organized community cleanups involving nearly 1,700 people in total, a new report says.<\/p>\n

Read more Juneau\u2019s first tribal casino soft opens on Douglas Island amid lingering legal questions<\/a><\/p>\n

The , issued Wednesday by Ocean Conservancy, Alaska Sea Grant and the Sitka Sound Science Center, summarizes beach trash cleanups conducted in 2025 in more than two dozen coastal communities or regions. Sites ranged from the Inupiat village of Wales that is about 55 miles from Russia\u2019s mainland in the northwest to Prince of Wales Island at the southern tip of the Southeast panhandle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report gives us an opportunity to better understand the scale of the marine debris problem in Alaska and highlight the incredible efforts happening in communities across the state,\u201d Kristina Tirman, Ocean Conservancy\u2019s Arctic marine debris manager, said in a statement. \u201cOcean Conservancy is pleased to support and amplify the work of the organizations and Tribes who have been leading this work to protect Alaska\u2019s coastlines and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there is no comparable annual report that was compiled in past years, according to Ocean Conservancy, an found that over 3 million pounds of beach debris had been collected from 2006 to 2014 in various cleanups done in different communities.<\/p>\n

Fishing-related materials like pieces of netting, line and buoys dominated Alaska\u2019s collected marine debris in past years, according to a report released by Ocean Conservancy last year.<\/p>\n

That appears to be the case still.<\/p>\n

In the Pribilof Island community of St. Paul, for example, over 90% of the of marine debris collected last year consisted of fishing net and line material, according to data provided by Ocean Conservancy.<\/p>\n

Read more 5 Anchorage residents injured in moose encounters during calving season<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to supporting community cleanups, Ocean Conservancy contributed to an Alaska Marine Debris Action Plan issued last year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n

Alaska has about 66,000 miles of coastline, including islands, inlets, coves, fjords and other features, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That is more than the rest of all other states combined, and most of it is remote and difficult for people to reach. Additionally, much of the marine debris littering Alaska\u2019s shores comes from distant sources. All that makes beach cleanup much more difficult in Alaska than in other states.<\/p>\n

Those challenges were cited by Alaska lawmakers, who unanimously passed a measure, Senate Joint Resolution 20, urging additional federal funding to support marine debris removal. The non-binding resolution also calls for better federal and state coordination with coastal communities, tribes, nonprofits and other entities.<\/p>\n

The problems associated with marine debris include ingestion and entanglements by birds, fish and marine mammals and interference with fishing and recreation and hazards for mariners, said the resolution, which won final passage on May 19. The problem \u201cis particularly acute in the state because of the state\u2019s rugged shoreline, ocean currents that concentrate debris in remote locations, and ocean dependent coastal communities,\u201d the resolution says.<\/p>\n

Read more 30 years later, Big Lake remembers devastating Miller\u2019s Reach Fire<\/a><\/p>\n

The approved resolution is now headed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for his signature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sites ranged from the Inupiat village of Wales that is about 55 miles from Russia\u2019s mainland in the northwest to Prince of Wales Island at the southern tip of the Southeast panhandle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCleanups removed over 1.5 million pounds of trash from Alaska beaches last year, report says - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleanups removed over 1.5 million pounds of trash from Alaska beaches last year, report says - 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