Who are we?

The mission of the Center is to reduce the amount of aquatic debris in Puerto Rico. The Center operates from the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla with the help of volunteer support groups from other 5 UPR units (Arecibo, Bayamón, Humacao, Ponce, and Utuado). The Center is trying to reduce the problem of aquatic debris with three components: education and outreach, recovery and recycling and marine debris monitoring.

The Caribbean Center for the Reduction of Aquatic Debris has a strong community base since the primary education resources are undergraduate students from the UPR system. These same students are in charge of monitoring and maintaining a network of 76 used monofilament recycling containers that have been installed on the coast and on the major freshwater reservoirs of the island. We have also started a research component that studies the abundance of plastic microscopic particles in the water column in different spots of the coast.

Ever since the Center started operations in 2007, dozens of undergraduate students have been trained and approximately 700 lbs. of used monofilament line have been recovered from the coastal environment of the island. The Center has installed 76 monofilament containers on the coast and all major freshwater reservoirs of the island. Other than reducing the amount of aquatic debris on the island the program is training future generations of a new type of environmental specialist, one that can translate scientific and social issues in effective public policy. The Center currently operates with funds from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Toyota Foundation and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. The Center was started with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We also manage the Dune Restoration Program of Puerto Rico as a collaborative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

What do we do with all the monofilament that we recover?

We weigh all the monofilament line we recover and then we ship it to “Berkeley Pure Fishing”. This material is the melted and turned into small plastic pellets that are used in the manufacturing of new plastic objects.

The Vida Marina staff has been formally trained in techniques of environmental education in order to serve as education resources in talks about the problem of aquatic debris. We have a series of talks that have been designed for the K-12 levels as well as for adults. These talks are one hour long. If you are interested in requesting a talk please click here. Note: Please request talks two weeks in advance due to a high demand for this sort of service.