PORTSMOUTH — While many local residents were hunkering down in front of a fire Saturday, a small group of volunteers from Clean Ocean Access (COA) was on a beach, scouring for trash.

Four people removed 385 pounds of small- to medium-sized marine debris from the Gull Cove fishing area as part of COA’s Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle Project.

Although Gull Cove features a boat ramp and public access to the shoreline for people to enjoy the waters of Blue Bill Cove, it’s also commonly used as a dumping ground.

Last year COA found 30 large oil filters there and this year the group found an entire toilet setup tossed in the bushes inside a black garbage bag. Other items of interest including dozens of flavored cigarette packages, alcohol nip bottles, single-use plastic bottles and Styrofoam coffee cups.

“The careless littering has to stop,” said Dave McLaughlin, COA’s executive director. “Marine debris is a major issue that gets worldwide attention related to the garbage patches in the middle of the ocean, including plastic that slowly breaks into smaller pieces and becomes tiny plastic particles that fish often mistake as food. Solutions to environmental issues require a multitude of action plans some of which are complicated, but we can make significant progress locally on Aquidneck Island by increasing the awareness of the issue and inspiring each other to take small simple steps each day to change our ways to use less single-use material and being mindful of the impact of our actions.”

Since COA started to address the marine debris issues in 2006, the group has removed 75,834 pounds of debris from local shorelines in 211 cleanup events.

COA is an Aquidneck Island environmental group with a grassroots approach to its mission of taking action today so future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities. For more information, visit www.cleanoceanaccess.org.