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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.
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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’s mainland in the northwest to Prince of Wales Island at the southern tip of the Southeast panhandle.
“This 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,” Kristina Tirman, Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic marine debris manager, said in a statement. “Ocean Conservancy is pleased to support and amplify the work of the organizations and Tribes who have been leading this work to protect Alaska’s coastlines and communities.”
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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.
Fishing-related materials like pieces of netting, line and buoys dominated Alaska’s collected marine debris in past years, according to a report released by Ocean Conservancy last year.
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