The database identifies areas cleaned and surveyed with links to photos with reports of the volume removed and other statistics.

Dave Benton, the foundation's executive director, said that more than 1 million pounds of marine debris has been removed from Alaska's shoreline since the organization in 2003 joined in the cleanup effort.

Benton said the database will help future planning by showing locations where debris accumulations have been identified through surveys, and where cleanups have taken place. It also provides historical data on efforts to identify and remove accumulations of marine debris, he said.

Marine debris is any persistent, solid, manufactured material such as plastics that is disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment. In Alaska, much of the debris is derelict fishing gear such as nets, crab line and buoys.

While some of it is sought by beachcombers, the volume of plastic debris that washes up along Alaska's shoreline degrades habitat and presents a threat of entanglement and ingestion that can be fatal to fish, marine mammals and seabirds.

The foundation's Diane Scoboria designed the database, which was unveiled to the public during a session on debris at the recent annual Alaska Forum on the Environment in Anchorage. The database can be viewed at www.mcafoundation.org.

The Marine Conservation Alliance Foundation was formed in 2003 to tackle the marine debris problem in Alaska and coordinate cooperative research efforts between fishermen and scientists. It is the nonprofit arm of the Juneau-based Marine Conservation Alliance, an industry association that includes fishermen, vessel owners, seafood processors and communities involved in the groundfish and crab fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Funding for MCAF debris cleanup and research efforts comes largely through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.