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Australia
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Navigation Charts A new navigational chart of Lake Ontario--the first of a series of border region charts to be produced jointly by Canada and the U SA - - is now available from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. A chart of Lake Erie is being issued simultaneously by the Unites States National Ocean Survey. Co-operation between hydrographers from the two countries means that they will be able to reproduce each others' maps and it is planned to extend the scheme to other areas of the Great Lakes. Canada and the US have co-operated in marine surveys and the charting of coastal and inland navigation routes for many years. In 1963 a joint advisory committee was set up to reduce duplication and standardize procedure. Now plans for field surveys and their results are exchanged twice-yearly. The joint system, as well as being more economical, is also more convenient for ship's navigators who are able to interchange Canadian and US charts en r o u t e .
Safety Scrutiny of Chemical Carriers The Lloyds Register of Shipping annual report for 1976 reveals that there has been a considerable increase in the examination of plans for new and existing chemical carriers to ensure that they comply with the IMCO's code for the carriage of dangerous chemicals. Plans of liquefied gas cargo handling and storage arrangements are examined for compliance with the relevant IMCO requirements. Where the design temperature is -110°C or lower, stress analysis of cargo pipe lines is carried out taking into account all the associated significant factors such as weight of pipes, internal pressure, thermal movement of pipes and loads induced by the hog or sag of the ship.
World Fish Catch Declines The total world catch of fish fell by almost 1m tons to 69.7m tons in 1975 according to figures released by the FAO in the current Year Book of statistics. Japan remains top of the world 'league' despite a slight fall in her overall catch (down 0.3m tons to 10.Sm tons). In second place once again the USSR showed an increase of 0.5-9.8m tons representing a 50% increase since 1971. The nine EEC countries accounted for a combined catch of nearly 5.2m tons, a fall of 0.25m tons from 1974. The British share of this combined catch total was 0.96m tons. Other tonnage totals were Peru 3.4m, USA 2.7m, Norway 2.5m, India 2.3m, South Korea 2.1m, Iceland 0.99m, and the total catch for the whole West African region fell from 1.6m to 1.4m.
Caribbean Action Plan A scientific workshop to study pollution in the Caribbean area has compiled a list of priority problems requiring urgent action which includes petroleum pollution, 100
sanitary quality of coastal waters, transport of pollutants in lagoons and estuaries and effects of persisient chemicals. Fifteen regional experts from 13 countries who were brought together at a meeting jointly convened by UNEP, FAO and the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in Trinidad also identified priority research and monitoring areas in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters. The meeting has been described as the first step towards a more comprehensive inter-governmental action in the Caribbean area. A regional action plan formulated by UNEP in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) aimed at protecting the marine environment as well as promoting environmental health, tourism, development of technological and natural resources and the control of natural disasters will be presented to an intergovernmental conference in 1978.
Round-the-World News Australia A research programme to test levels of pollution in lobster and prawning grounds off the west coast of Australia is being carried out by the area's State Fisheries Department and CSIRO. Particular attention is being given to measuring levels of heavy metal residue in crustaceans in these offshore waters which, while unlikely to prove unduly high, will give valuable data to measure future increase.
New Zealand Long awaited measures to conserve the rock lobster fishery around the Chatham Islands, 800 km east of the mainland, have been announced by Fisheries Minister Duncan MacIntyre. The grounds will be protected by a two month closed season in autumn and a total ban on skin divers taking rock lobsters throughout the year. Recently the total commercial catch which topped 10 000 tons in 1969, when the Chatham Islands fishery was discovered, has fallen to 3000 tons and brought demands for a conservation scheme from the Federation of Commercial Fishermen.
Australia Sea spray contaminated by detergents discharged from sewage outlets has become a threat to all vegetation in coastal areas exposed to it. This is the finding of a study conducted by the School of Biological Sciencies at Sydney University into the deaths of hundreds of trees along the Sydney beaches. The researchers led by Professor M. G. Pitman found that the reduction in surface tension produced by the detergents allowed the sea spray to penetrate the pores in the leaves of the trees.
Navigation Charts A new navigational chart of Lake Ontario--the first of a series of border region charts to be produced jointly by Canada and the U SA - - is now available from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. A chart of Lake Erie is being issued simultaneously by the Unites States National Ocean Survey. Co-operation between hydrographers from the two countries means that they will be able to reproduce each others' maps and it is planned to extend the scheme to other areas of the Great Lakes. Canada and the US have co-operated in marine surveys and the charting of coastal and inland navigation routes for many years. In 1963 a joint advisory committee was set up to reduce duplication and standardize procedure. Now plans for field surveys and their results are exchanged twice-yearly. The joint system, as well as being more economical, is also more convenient for ship's navigators who are able to interchange Canadian and US charts en r o u t e .
Safety Scrutiny of Chemical Carriers The Lloyds Register of Shipping annual report for 1976 reveals that there has been a considerable increase in the examination of plans for new and existing chemical carriers to ensure that they comply with the IMCO's code for the carriage of dangerous chemicals. Plans of liquefied gas cargo handling and storage arrangements are examined for compliance with the relevant IMCO requirements. Where the design temperature is -110°C or lower, stress analysis of cargo pipe lines is carried out taking into account all the associated significant factors such as weight of pipes, internal pressure, thermal movement of pipes and loads induced by the hog or sag of the ship.
World Fish Catch Declines The total world catch of fish fell by almost 1m tons to 69.7m tons in 1975 according to figures released by the FAO in the current Year Book of statistics. Japan remains top of the world 'league' despite a slight fall in her overall catch (down 0.3m tons to 10.Sm tons). In second place once again the USSR showed an increase of 0.5-9.8m tons representing a 50% increase since 1971. The nine EEC countries accounted for a combined catch of nearly 5.2m tons, a fall of 0.25m tons from 1974. The British share of this combined catch total was 0.96m tons. Other tonnage totals were Peru 3.4m, USA 2.7m, Norway 2.5m, India 2.3m, South Korea 2.1m, Iceland 0.99m, and the total catch for the whole West African region fell from 1.6m to 1.4m.
Caribbean Action Plan A scientific workshop to study pollution in the Caribbean area has compiled a list of priority problems requiring urgent action which includes petroleum pollution, 100
sanitary quality of coastal waters, transport of pollutants in lagoons and estuaries and effects of persisient chemicals. Fifteen regional experts from 13 countries who were brought together at a meeting jointly convened by UNEP, FAO and the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in Trinidad also identified priority research and monitoring areas in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters. The meeting has been described as the first step towards a more comprehensive inter-governmental action in the Caribbean area. A regional action plan formulated by UNEP in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) aimed at protecting the marine environment as well as promoting environmental health, tourism, development of technological and natural resources and the control of natural disasters will be presented to an intergovernmental conference in 1978.
Round-the-World News Australia A research programme to test levels of pollution in lobster and prawning grounds off the west coast of Australia is being carried out by the area's State Fisheries Department and CSIRO. Particular attention is being given to measuring levels of heavy metal residue in crustaceans in these offshore waters which, while unlikely to prove unduly high, will give valuable data to measure future increase.
New Zealand Long awaited measures to conserve the rock lobster fishery around the Chatham Islands, 800 km east of the mainland, have been announced by Fisheries Minister Duncan MacIntyre. The grounds will be protected by a two month closed season in autumn and a total ban on skin divers taking rock lobsters throughout the year. Recently the total commercial catch which topped 10 000 tons in 1969, when the Chatham Islands fishery was discovered, has fallen to 3000 tons and brought demands for a conservation scheme from the Federation of Commercial Fishermen.
Australia Sea spray contaminated by detergents discharged from sewage outlets has become a threat to all vegetation in coastal areas exposed to it. This is the finding of a study conducted by the School of Biological Sciencies at Sydney University into the deaths of hundreds of trees along the Sydney beaches. The researchers led by Professor M. G. Pitman found that the reduction in surface tension produced by the detergents allowed the sea spray to penetrate the pores in the leaves of the trees.