Human activity has led to an increase in debris such as non-biodegradable plastic. Many of the floating marine debris are plastic products and in no case will they decrease but will only increase with time.We carry out simulation on the movement and accumulation of floating marine debris with current speed at sea surface, derived from satellite data. As a result, we demonstrated that floating debris tend to gather in a specific zonal area in the mid-latitudes within less than a year.
Selected Papers No.8

Minamitorishima is some 1,900 km southeast of Tokyo. Its brilliant emerald green sea is beautiful beyond comparison. However, in contract with its beauty, it is too horrible to look at the sea of debris washed ashore. Last year, a beach clean-up campaign was launched where JCG, Japan Meteorological Agency and SDF personnel who were stationed in the island got involved. The recovered amount of debris was an eye-opener, reaffirming the significance of environmental protection.

Marine debris on the South Korean coast has reached 140,000 tons per year(surveyed in 2002) and the loss on fishery production that arises from this marine debris has run to 33 billion yen. Since the collection and disposal of marine debris cost large sums of money and huge amounts of energy, the problem seemed hard to solve, however, the South Korean government put the "South Korea's System for Purchase of Marine Debris" in execution as a pilot project for fishermen from 2003. This project is working towards awareness-raising among fishermen as well as a reduction on cleanup cost.