HONOLULU — A study of the eight main Hawaiian Islands shows that most of the ocean debris regularly accumulating around the archipelago is not linked to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, state officials said Tuesday.

The aerial survey shows that much of the debris that accumulates on the shores of Hawaii is from items discarded carelessly across the Pacific, officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement. Ocean currents can bring trash from as far away as the U.S. mainland and Asia to the shores of Hawaii.

“In order to characterize the potential ecological consequences of tsunami and other debris, it’s important to quantify it,” said Kirsten Moy, the state’s marine debris coordinator. “Understanding the types, sizes and locations of debris accumulating on Hawaiian coastlines is crucial in developing plans to streamline removal and mitigate negative impacts.”

The debris, mostly plastics but also wood, household goods, fishing gear and other items, accumulates in hot spots around the islands, mostly on the north and east shores where ocean currents deposit the trash. The study did not examine individual pieces of debris to determine where they came from, but rather looked at the sizes and types of trash, as well as their locations, to determine what amount was produced by the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan and what was not.

“This survey found a very limited amount of debris associated with the Japan tsunami,” said Suzanne Case, chairwoman of the Department of Land & Natural Resources.