WA’s environment department says it’s aware of overseas rubbish fouling Aussies beaches but we can be grateful it’s not as bad as many places overseas.

Recently Fremantle citizen scientists Jamie and Base Van Jones discovered three rubbish hotspots off Ningaloo Reef, Dirk Hartog Island and the Montebello Islands (“Ocean of rubbish,” Herald, April 8, 2017).

Parks and Wildlife says marine debris is putting pressure on WA’s marine parks and its fauna, and it undertakes surveys and clean-ups periodically.

“For example, ongoing collection of debris is undertaken by Parks and Wildlife staff, and in collaboration, and in collaboration with community groups, along the Ningaloo Coast and Montebello Islands,” the department said in a release.

“The department also collaborates with various community groups, such as Tangaroa Blue, to co-ordinate beach clean ups across a number of other marine parks.”

The federal department of environment and energy is currently developing a threat abatement plan to protect vertebrate marine species.

Parks and Wildlife says it’s also been working with the feds of a public education program to encourage people to keep Ningaloo pristine.

At Exmouth, local businesses embraced a campaign to rid the area of plastic bags and stopped handing out free plastic bags in 2008.