Given the fact that the vast majority of protected areas in the Pacific is the ocean, it's important for those in charge of Marine Protected Areas, Monuments, Reserves, etc. to stay abreast of ocean pollution.
Wilcox, C., N. J. Mallos, G. H. Leonard, A. Rodriguez, and B. D. Hardesty. 2016. Using expert elicitation to estimate the impacts of plastic pollution on marine wildlife. Marine Policy 65: 107-114.
Here's part of the press release:
An analysis based on a survey of 274 experts representing 19 fields of study assigned scores for entanglement, ingestions and contamination on a shortlist of items culled from 30 years of data from Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup. The study found that a wide variety of items pose threats to marine wildlife through entanglement, ingestion, or contamination, suggesting that a comprehensive approach to preventing plastics from entering the ocean is vitally needed. Among the items, abandoned and lost fishing gear like nets, fishing line and buoys were found to pose the greatest overall threat to marine wildlife, primarily because of entanglement. Plastic bags emerged as the second most harmful item as they are often confused for food by marine mammals. Smaller items like balloons were also found to be harmful.
