Cleaning Coast to Coast: Marine Industrial Debris Cleanup in Alaska
Resolve Marine salvages a barge.
Resolve Marine Group
Alaska’s thriving maritime industry is supported by a variety of environmental companies and other organizations that help clear industrial debris from the state’s waterways and shoreline. These entities perform a multitude of duties to keep Alaska’s ecosystem as pristine as possible while combating a never-ending problem.
Marine industrial debris which often makes its way to the land is a significant problem in Alaska. It involves every type of waste material that you can think of: from wrecked airplanes to fishing boats and hurricane debris, says Chris Pallister, founder of Gulf Keepers of Alaska (GoAK). So what’s the most common type of marine debris Pallister sees? “By tonnage, it’s commercial debris: massive nets, big bundles of line, all kinds of buoys and fenders, fishing totes, drums, barrels, baskets, and crates,” he says. “Every time