Galveston Bay Marine Debris Events
We seek support for GBF's Marine Debris Removal Program for 2019, to help us plan, organize, and host marine debris clean-up events around Galveston Bay. Events will engage large numbers of volunteers to remove vast amounts of marine debris that endangers a wide variety of fish, birds, and other wildlife. We have three mainstays for 2019: 1)Abandoned Crab Trap Removal, a statewide program managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - GBF hosts two sites on Trinity Bay and East Bay/Bolivar Peninsula; 2)Trash Bash, organized by the Houston-Galveston Area Council - GBF hosts one of the largest sites at Bay Area Park, focusing on the Armand Bayou watershed, and 3)Adopt-A-Beach Clean-Up, led by the Texas General Land Office - GBF hosts a site at Morgan's Point in partnership with Port Houston. In 2017-18, we received requests to organize additional clean-up events around the bay because of storms including Hurricane Harvey. Moving forward, we want to be positioned to provide an immediate response to similar marine debris clean-up needs as they arise, and request additional funding to allow us to do that. Each event will decrease the incidence and impact of marine debris in Galveston Bay through community-based efforts.