Native America Calling: Native crews help solve the growing marine trash problem

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Native America Calling: Native crews help solve the growing marine trash problem

Monday, March 2, 2026

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Native crews help solve the growing marine trash problem

Typhoon Merbok swept buildings, boats, and tons of trash into the sea off the west coast of Alaska in 2022.

The city of Chevak is one of many coastal Alaska Native communities tasked with helping to find and recover that and other marine debris clogging the coastal waters and shorelines. With federal funding help, the ongoing cleanup is aimed at making the waterways safe for people and marine animals.

A similar project is underway in Hawai’i. The non-profit Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project works year-round, pulling tons of debris from around the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a place sacred to Native Hawaiians.

Coastal tribes and Native communities are an important piece of the puzzle for solving the growing problem of derelict nets, ropes, boats, and other trash that threaten marine ecosystems. In this program, talk with some of the people involved in the cleanup about what it takes to rid marine areas of unsightly and dangerous debris.

A building lifted from its foundation by floodwater from Extratropical Typhoon Merbok is trapped under a bridge in Nome, Alaska. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey

Guests on Native America Calling

Richard Tuluk (Cup’ik), project manager for the city of Chevak in Alaska

Grant Ka’ehukai Goin (Kānaka ʻŌiwi), cultural specialist and lead marine debris tech for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project in Hawaii