Combatting

Last March, the French Institute of Medi--
cal Oceanography issued a warning that
fishermen and others who consume an aver-
age of five pounds of Mediterranean fish a
week would be chronically ill within seven
years and dead within 20 years from mer-
cury poisoning. Consumption of 300 grams
(about 13.5 ounces) of such fish a week
carries a similar threat but over a longer
period, with symptoms not likely to appear
for as long as 40 years. The institute reported
that several species common to the French
and Italian riviera have mercury content that
has reached three times the maximum gen-
erally accepted in fish fit for human consum-
tion. :
In the two articles following, reprinted
from UNESCO Features, Peter Thacher of the
United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) reports on a meeting held in Barce-
lona, Spain, last January that produced a
plan te cope with pollution and other prob-
lems of the Mediterranean; and L. Vail,

that end.

By Peter Thacher

Sixteen Mediterranean states have now
agreed on a long-term comprehensive plan
to protect their sea. Up till now, agreement
on a concerted approach to a common
problem had been held up by the diversities
of ecolegical conditions, of economic devel-
opment and social values.
Preparatory meetings of scientists had
identified the coastal zones as priority

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 5, 1976—Page 8

pollution

areas needing greater protection in view of

their great potential for fisheries and tour-

ism.
But whereas oil spills may_be the princi-
pal problem in some parts of this region, in
others it is industrial discharges, and in
others pesticides, largely carried by air.
And the Mediterranean countries have been
separated by political differences and dis-
similar approaches to problems.

But within hours of the opening on Jan-
‘uary 28 of the eight-day UNEP meeting in
Barcelona, it was clear that the partici-
pating nations were ready to get down to
business. The result is the Barcelona
Action Plan which calls for:

A coordinating programme to incorpor- —

ate environmental safeguards in long-term
development of the Mediterranean. To this
end, detailed information will be gathered
on such activities as waste treatment, pro-
tection of soils in neighboring «areas, re-
cycling of fresh water, aquaculture and the
economics and environmental aspects of
tourism and industrial development. The
overall purpose is to achieve the best use
of the resources of the Mediterranean for
economic development, while improving
environmental quality.

Continuing assessment of the Mediter-
ranean. Pilot projects are to monitor and
conduct research, and there is to be a
coastal water quality contro] programme.

A legal basis for regional cooperation.
In cooperation with the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
UNEP was asked to convene a Barcelona
Plenipotentiary Conference in early 1976 to
establish an overall convention together
with agreed measures to deal with the pre-
vention of pollution by dumping and coop-
eration to combat serious oil spills. Addi-
tional agreements on land-based pollution,

and protection of sea-bed activities were
requested as soon as possible. It was also
agreed to work together to have the Medi-
terranean designated a “‘special area” with
regard to ‘noxious liquid substances”’ as
spelled out in the 1973 U.N. Internation-
al Maritime Consultative Organization
(IMCO) Convention on Prevention of Pol-
lution from Ships.

Malta had the jump on other partici-
pants with a proposal for a regional center
to cope with big oil spills which’*many fear
will increase as traffic through the Suez
Canal resumes. The meeting agreed that
UNEP’s Executive Director, Maurice
Strong, should meet soon with Mediter-
ranean governments to discuss the ques-
tion of setting up such a regional center.

It was apparent from the debate that a
number of offers can be expected from
states around the Mediterranean who wish
to ensure that their institutions participate
actively in the action plan.

But it is the comprehensiveness of the
plan which gives it major significance. The
participants agreed:

To take specific steps that will provide
an accurate picture of the conditions of the
Mediterranean for the use of national
decision-makers — something not now
available;

To develop a legal basis which will

progressively bind the countries of the
region — and*in some cases non-Mediter-
ranean maritime powers — to take action
at the sources of pollution contributing to
the problem; Ss

To begin to incorporate an integrated
approach in naticnal development pro-
grammes which will give environmental
aspect:; weight alongside economic consid-
erations.

In each of these endeavors the Mediter-
ranean states will be assisted by the UN
system and by international bodies associ-
ated with the region in a plan to be coor-
dinated by UNEP. A pilot project on petro-
leum monitoring and research on coastal
transport of pollutants will be undertaken
by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of UNESCO. More intensive
study of living resources, particularly
aquaculture, will be accelerated by FAO
and the General Fisheries Commission of
the Mediterranean. IMCO has already
begun developing a national pollution con-
trol center for Malta which may be ex-
panded to take on regional responsibilities.
World Health Organization (WHO) activi-
‘ties to protect human health in coastal

waters will be accelerated.
The three United..Nations Economic
Commissions involved — for the Arab

States, Africa and Europe — were repre-
sented at Barcelona and will have contribu-
tions to make as will the UN Development
Program. Other organizations present at
the meeting — the Commission of the Euro-
pean Communities, the Arab League Edu-
cational, Cultural and Scientific Organiza-
tion and the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development will also
take on tasks in keeping with their respec-
tive programmes. :

An immediate follow-up to the confer-
ence came on the eve of its close when
Barcelona’s mayor, Enrique Maso Vas-
quez, offered to organize a meeting of may-
ors of major Mediterranean cities so that
they can act together to protect the sea.

By L. Vail

een biggest water sewer in the world;
that was how the International Council for
the Exploration of the Sea described the
Baltic in 1970. : S

With only a slim connecting strait. to the
seas beyond and possessing a very particu-
lar hydrological system, the Baltic is pecu-
liarly susceptible to pollution. It takes 20
years for its waters to be wholly renewed,
yet every year some 700 cubic’kilometers
of waste and sediment are deposited in it
by nearly 200 rivers and streams laden with
industrial, agricultural and domestic waste,

Phosphorous, hydrogen sulphide and

- dustries of several countries.

‘the creation ofa Baltic Fisheries Board,

straits that join the Baltic to the North Sea.

ammonia are found in increasing amounts .
while the Baltic’s oxygen content is dim-
inishing. Petroleum pollution is also in-

creasing quite rapidly and relatively high, |
dangerous concentrations of oil are found
not only on the surface but down to depths
of 100 meters (330 ft.) in the open sea. Add-
ing to this gloomy picture is the accumu: —
lation of such pesticides as DDT and mer- |
cury waste coming from the wood-pulp in-

Hence increasing attention is being giv-
en to the problems of pollution and marine |
protection by specialists, governments and
international organizations.

Pollution, however, is not the only prob- —
lem to be reckoned with; there is also the
question of maintaining the Baltic’s fishing
resources,

This sea is undergoing what might be
called major aggression by fishing fleets -
from different countries using the most up- —
to-date equipment. Indeed, one may well
ask whether the Baltic’s fishing banks will
survive and whether the trawler fleets will
continue bringing in big profitable catches.

Already, despite intensified fishing, the
herring catch in its northern and eastern”
waters has fallen off. Moreover, the fish
are getting ‘‘younger,”’ seldom attaining
maturity, and. the fry are putting on ab-
normal weight.

At the suggestion of the Soviet Baltic
Fisheries Research Institute, the Soviet |
government has set limits on catches in the ||
Gulf of Riga since the 1950’s and, start-
ing in 1972, in the Gulf of Finland. Regu-
lations have also been tightened, such as
those affecting the permissible amount of |
herring and cod fry that can be taken and |
the size of fishing net mesh. s

Another of our proposals adopted was

attached to the USSR Fisheries Ministry,
to oversee conservation and exploitation of
fishing resources. _
International contacts have also increas
ed with conferences on combatting pollu-
tion in Visby, Sweden in 1969 and 1970,
and in Helsinki, Finland and Riga, Soviet
Latvia in 1973. Last September, represen: |
tatives of the seven Baltic states (Den-
mark, Finland, Federal Republic of Ger-
many, German Democratic Republic, Pol- }
and, Sweden, USSR) met in Gdansk, Pol--
and to sign a convention protecting the
living resources of the Baltic and the Baelt

But this is not enough. Better interna- ~
tional cooperation is needed in encourag-
ing both valuable species native to the |
Baltic and newly introduced species to
flourish. Heavy investment is involved in
such measures and the country making :
such outlays does not always benefit from
them. :
For instance our institute developed
methods for the artificial breeding of salm- |
on in Latvian hatcheries with the result of |
checking the disappearance of this fish and
enabling the fishing industry based on it to
survive. But the salmon we put into the
Gulf of Riga swim far from their native
shore and end up being fished on the high
seas... ‘ 4

The institute has also found that Russia”
and Siberian sturgeon could live in the Bak
tic, but it is difficult to accept the costs of |
breeding them for others to enjoy the bene
fit. After all, it is scarcely sound business
to go.on for any length of time supplying |
fish for others to catch.

The signing of the Baltic protection com
vention gives hope that pollution can be
fought on a larger front and by. such im)
portant measures as the installation 9
modern purification equipment in coastal |
industrial plants. :

Other crucial questions to be answered
are imposition of a ban on all industrial |
construction in the coastal zone and along.
rivers flowing into the Baltic, creation ©
government protected reserves in the area .
around coastal resorts, and setting up bod
ies to enforce the application of regulation®
covering fishing, waste disposal and dis
charges by ships at sea. :

No less important is the need to step uP
scientific research on all these matters an
to develop underwater research.

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