Marine Debris has been an issue affecting the coastline in the East Arnhem region for many years. This year however, there seems to be an unusually large amount of rubbish washing up on our beaches.

You may have seen from previous articles in the Arafura Times, or with your own observations in the Dhimurru recreation areas, that nets have a devastating impact on the marine life and in particular turtles. However other items of rubbish also have impacts. Plastic bags can be mistaken for jelly fish which when eaten by turtles can cause starvation, asphyxiation and ultimately a slow and painful death.

To help reduce the impact of ghost nets and other marine debris, Dhimurru are hosting the NT Project Officer for the Carpentaria Ghost Nets Program, Jane Dermer. Her role is to facilitate and assist coastal Ranger groups on the NT side of the Gulf to start removing the marine debris from the beaches. This is a three year program involving community groups right around the Gulf.

Dhimurru's Turtle Recovery Program is continuing and with increasing public support. This year a total of 56 turtles have been found and removed from nets, with over 30 live (which are tagged and released).

Dhimurru Land Management has been at the forefront of tackling the marine debris issue not only on our beaches, but also campaigning at the source.

Most of the rubbish arrives from via ocean currents from South East Asia. For several years now, in partnership with WWF and Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), the Northern Land Council, and Dept of Environment and Heritage Dhimurru has cleaned up the beaches in the Cape Arnhem area.

Not only is the rubbish removed, but it is sorted into different categories, bar codes are recorded to determine country of origin. This data is then taken to our northern neighbours by WWF and other partners such as the National Oceans Office (NOO) in an attempt to try and curb the problem at its source.

This Marine Debris Survey will again be conducted in mid to late July this year and it is important that the 'data' (debris) is left in the area until this time so that accurate comparisons with previous years can be made to demonstrate what we believe may be an increase. Dhimurru asks that rubbish not be removed from the Cape Arnhem area for this reason. It is hoped that a depot near the start of the beach drive will be established so that people who would like to clean up the Cape can deposit rubbish found on the beach without affecting the survey. This would only be for marine debris and we ask that permit holders respect this and continue to take their own rubbish out with them.

Many members of the community have asked how to be involved in cleaning up beaches in the area. Dhimurru welcomes assistance from permit holders visiting any other recreation area to clean up anything they can. We would like to hear how much has been removed from any area to add to our data. If people wish to assist with the net clean-up and recording, Dhimurru have WWF Net Identification Kits available to assist in recording the data. All help is greatly valued in an attempt to reduce this problem. If nets are too large or covered in sand, it is very worthwhile to at least pull the net above the high tide mark to be collected later so that it cannot be washed back into the sea.

Marine Debris is an issue that affects us all and many hands make light work. Email dhimurru info [one word] @dhimurru.com.au if you would like to become involved in some organised clean ups later in the year.

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June 2005