• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2013

Even though styrofoam buoys represent a large portion of beached marine debris in Korea, efficient government actions have been lacking to address them. Three participatory workshops were organized from 2010 to 2012 to develop policy measures to manage styrofoam buoy marine debris. The first workshop held in 2010 was organized in order for workshop participants to understand and share the styrofoam debris issue. Participating stakeholders suggested policy measures to address styrofoam debris through brainstorming in the second workshop in 2011. In the third workshop organized in 2012, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to set priorities for 16 selected policy measures. A total of 56 people participated in AHP, and answers of 40 participants that passed the consistency test were analyzed. 'Beach cleanup by public works program' ranked highest in priority, followed by 'Development of alternative buoy and aquaculture technologies'. Other research projects also ranked high in priority. Feasibility of policy measures was considered the most important criterion in the priority setting, followed by effectiveness, efficiency, and acceptability. This study demonstrated that participatory workshops in which diverse stakeholders take part in could provide a valuable tool in developing practical policy measures on styrofoam buoy marine debris.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.104-115
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• 2014

Abundance and composition of marine debris on 13 beaches of Tongyeong City, South Korea were surveyed in 2013 Autumn. The average quantity of macro debris (>25 mm) was about 30 particle/$m^2$ and that of micro debris (1 mm-25 mm) was about 26,971 particle/$m^2$. This is a very high level compared with other areas of South Korea and the other countries. Among the 7 material types of debris (styrofoam, hard plastic, fiber, metal, glass, wood and others), styrofoam composed a large portion: 75% of macro debris and 98% of micro debris. And among the 'whole' styrofoam debris items whose original volume is remained more than 50%, styrofoam buoy debris composed 93%. This result suggests that the beaches surveyed are seriously contaminated by marine debris, and most of its sources are aquaculture styrofoam buoys. Management of styrofoam buoy debris used for oyster aquaculture in Tongyeong City is important not only for Tongyeong city, but also for other areas, because Tongyeong city hosts the biggest number of oyster aquaculture areas in South Korea.