One of CLEAR’s objectives is to do research that matters to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We specialize in research on plastic pollution including its ties to wild food, food security, and food sovereignty.

Open source technology for monitoring plastics includes:
– BabyLegs (surface trawl)
– LADI trawl (surface trawl)
– Marine Debris Tracker app (for shoreline plastics/beach clean ups)
– How to analyze fish guts for plastics (do it yourself!)

Plastic pollution monitoring in Newfoundland and Labrador: CLEAR has an ongoing commitment to monitor plastic pollution in Newfoundland and Labrador in water, on shorelines, and in animals. Main findings: Regional report on plastic pollution in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1962-2019 

Plastic pollution monitoring in Nunatsiavut: The Nunatsiavut Government’s Department of Lands and Natural Resources has partnered with CLEAR to co-create a community-based monitoring program for plastic pollution.

Fish tag project: Tags from fishing gear that are lost in ocean currents can tell us where plastics travel globally.

Newfoundland and Labrador food pricing project: With partners and citizen scientists, we are gathering data on the price of key food items from around Newfoundland and Labrador to gain insight into differences of food security and sovereignty in different regions and over time.

Historical consumption of wild and country food in Newfoundland and Labrador (2018-2020): We know wild and country food is important in Newfoundland and Labrador, but what do people eat the most and how has that changed over time?

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and shoreline plastics: While Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is often presented as a solution to marine plastic pollution, it has rarely been systematically evaluated for its effects on this goal. Main findings: “Using citizen science to evaluate extended producer responsibility policy to reduce marine plastic debris shows no reduction in pollution levels”