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Regional measures for marine pollution control in the Mediterranean
Marine Pollution Bulletin Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 20, No. 1, pp. 12-17. 1989. Printed in Great Britain.
0035-326X/89 $3.00+0.00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
Regional Measures for Marine Pollution Control in the Mediterranean L. J. SALIBA Dr Saliba is Senior Scientist in the Co-ordinating Unit for the Mediterranean Action Plan, at the WHO/ EURO Project Office in Athens, Greece.
Awareness of the increasing state of deterioration of the Mediterranean Sea as a result of the continuous influx of pollutants, from both maritime and land-based sources, has led to the development and implementation of several national and international activities aimed at its protection over the last two decades. Purely national programmes have been mainly directed at the establishment of local infrastructures for marine pollution prevention and control, or the improvement of existing ones, or at the alleviation of the condition of defined areas along their coasts. Bilateral and multilateral programmes affording partial geographic coverage of the region include the agreement signed between Italy and Yugoslavia on collaboration in the protection of the Adriatic (signed in 1972), that between France, Italy, and Monaco on the protection of northwestern Mediterranean coastal waters (signed in 1976) and that between Greece and Italy on the protection of the Ionian Sea (signed in 1979). All three agreements are mainly concerned with the performance of collaborative research, and with the implementation of joint programmes for pollution assessment and control through the recommendations and advice of ad hoc joint Commissions or other equivalent established bodies. At international level, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has taken a particular interest in the region mainly through its General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM), whose geographical coverage also includes the Black Sea. Following its technical conference on marine pollution and its effects on living resources and fisheries (held in Rome in 1970), FAO produced the first comprehensive report on the state of pollution in the Mediterranean (GFCM, 1972) and organized two Mediterranean consultations in 1974 with the aim of producing a regional convention (FAO, 1974). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has included the Mediterranean or its subregions in a number of its scientific programmes, while UNESCO has conducted a number of case-studies having a direct or indirect bearing on marine pollution in the region through its 'Man and the Biosphere' (MAB) programme. The World Health Organization 12
(WHO), apart from playing a prominent part in the development of national pollution control activities, principally from the sanitary viewpoint, in most countries of the region, has organized a number of activities on a Mediterranean dimension. The Intergovernmental Maritime Organization (IMO) is continually engaged in activities relating to the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships, and has paid particular attention to the Mediterranean on several occasions. At global level, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in Jamaica in 1982, has been signed by practically all Mediterranean States, and its terms relevant to marine pollution prevention and control therefore apply to the region through national signatories to the Convention. Outside the UN System, the Council of Europe, through itsCommittee for the protection of nature and natural resources, has organized a number of intercountry activities concerning the protection of coastal ecosystems among its Mediterranean member States. At a higher political level within the same Organization, the main topic selected for the fourth European Ministerial Environmental Conference, held in Athens in 1984, was the protection and management of the coastal zone. The northern part of the region has also received considerable attention from the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). Apart from EEC general directives on marine pollution control which are binding on its four Mediterranean member states (France, Greece, Italy, and Spain), the Commission has also issued a specific Communication on the protection of the Mediterranean environment, with a significant marine pollution control component (EEC, 1984) and, for the last few years, has been increasingly extending its assistance in this field to non-member States within the region. At purely scientific level, the amount of research on various aspects of marine pollution in the Mediterranean, including basic oceanographic and other studies, has reached voluminous proportions. Two comprehensive bibliographies have already been published (UNEP et al., 1981; UNEP/FAO, 1985) between them containing only part of the actual work performed
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during the last one and a half decades. One major Organization involved at this level is the Council for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean (ICSEM) which has so far held 30 Conferences on marine scientific studies in the region, the last 8 of which included special 4-day Workshops on marine pollution.
T h e Mediterranean Action Plan Following a sequence of pleas between 1971 and 1974 for official remedial action on an overall Mediterranean scale, including proposals emerging from innumerable political and technical conferences, the first Intergovernmental meeting on the protection of the Mediterranean Sea was convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Barcelona in 1975. At that meeting governments of the region adopted a joint programme -- the Mediterranean Action Plan -- which has been operational ever since (UNEP, 1975). Developed jointly by the major organizations within the UN System, in collaboration with the relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as with the countries of the region themselves, the Plan consists of three major components: legal, environmental assessment; and environmental management. All three are necessarily inter-related.
T h e Barcelona Convention and Protocols The legal component of the Mediterranean Action Plan is based on the 1976 Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, adopted and signed in Barcelona in February 1976. It is essentially a framework convention, and any Mediterranean country becoming a Party to it must concurrently become a Party to at least one of its protocols, each of which deals with a specific aspect of marine pollution control. To date, the Convention is supported by four protocols: • The protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping from ships and aircraft (signed in Barcelona in February 1976). • The protocol concerning co-operation in combating pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by oil and other harmful substances in case of emergency (signed in Barcelona in February 1976). • The protocol for protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from land-based sources (signed in Athens in May 1980). • The protocol concerning Mediterranean Speciallyprotected Areas (signed in Geneva in April 1982). A fifth protocol concerning pollution arising from exploration and exploitation of the sea-bed is in an advanced stage of preparation, and is expected to be finalized and adopted in the near future.
Environmental assessment: the M E D P O L programme The overall objectives of the environmental assessment component of the Mediterranean Action Plan
have been described as follows (UNEP et aL, 1983): • to assess, on a continuing basis, the state of pollution of the Mediterranean basin; • to identify the sources, pathways, amounts and effects of pollutants entering the Mediterranean Sea; • to establish temporal trends in the levels of pollution; • to provide the basis for building models for the biogeochemical cycle of pollutants, including their possible effects; • to present the information thus obtained in such a way that it could be used as a management tool in the control of pollution; • to help the riparian countries in making proper decisions with respect to environmentally compatible socio-economic development strategies; and • to suggest methods for pollution control, including their cost benefit analysis. The first phase of the programme (MED POL Phase I) consisted of a number of pilot projects (Table 1) in which more than 200 scientific groups from 83 institutions in 16 Mediterranean countries participated, and covered the period 1975-1981. The current phase, the Long-term programme of pollution monitoring and research in the Mediterranean Sea (MED POL Phase II) (UNEP, 1983) has been operational since its formal approval by Mediterranean Governments in 1981. Its monitoring component aims at the eventual establishment of comprehensive marine pollution monitoring programmes in all Mediterranean countries, covering pollution sources, coastal waters and estuaries, reference areas and atmospheric transport of pollutants into the sea. Results to date have already included the upgrading of several existing laboratories and the establishment of new ones, particularly in those areas where no monitoring was previously being carried out on a regular basis. Much work however still remains to be done, particularly in quality control and comparaTABLE 1 Pilot projects forming part of the MED POL Phase I programme. MED I
Baseline studies and monitoring of oil and petroleum hydrocarbons in marine waters (IOC/WMO/UNEP). MED II Baseline studies and monitoring of metals, particularly mercury and cadmium, in marine organisms (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED III Baseline studies and monitoring of DDT, PCBs and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in marine organisms (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED IV Research on the effects of pollutants on marine organisms and their populations (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MEDV Research on the effects of pollutants on marine communities and ecosystems (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED V1 Problems of coastal transport of pollutants (IOC/UNEP). MED VII Coastal water quality control (WHO/UNEP). MED VIII Biogeochemical studies of selected pollutants in the open waters of the Mediterranean (IAEAflOC/UNEP). MED IX* The role of sedimentation in the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea (UNESCO/UNEP). MEDX Pollutants from land-based sources in the Mediterranean (WHO/ECE/UNIDO/FAO/UNE SCO//AEA/UNEP). MED XI Intercalibration of analytical techniques and common maintenance services (IAEA/FAO/IOC/UNEP). MED XII* Input of pollutants into the Mediterranean Sea via the atmosphere (WMO/IAEA/WHO/ECE/UNIDO/ UNEP). MED XIII* Modelling of marine ecosystems (UNESCO/FAO/IOC/
UNEP).
*Proposed, but not fully implemented.
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Marine Pollution Bulletin
bility of results. Other fundamental problems which can only be solved in the medium and long term are the acquisition by institutions of sophisticated analytical instrumentation, and the need for accelerated development of trained manpower. The research component of MED POL Phase II consists of twelve research and study topics (Table 2). At the present time, nearly 150 projects are ongoing, and several have been completed. Project proposals submitted by Mediterranean institutions are accepted as part of the MED POL programme on grounds of relevance to overall objectives and on scientific merit. Only partial funding is however possible, and the major costs of research projects are borne by the institutions performing them, either from their own funds, or from funds acquired from national or local authorities. As the total annual MED POL research budget allocation is of the order of USS 300,000, it is difficult to provide sufficient financial inducement to institutions towards the performance of specific research unless this is generally in line with already-existing personal and institutional interests. One other problem has been that, as a result of the initiative originally resting with the proposing institution, the programme as a whole was developing into a mosaic of often unrelated individual projects, rather than a compact entity. This problem has been solved, at least partially, by some Organizations (such as WHO) engaged in the implementation of the programme by pre-selection of institutions and the establishment of networks in project execution. Similarly, the financial inducement has improved to some extent, as national and local authorities are becoming more amenable to allocating funds to their institutions for the performance of TABLE 2
Research and study topics within the framework of MED POL Phase II. Activity A Activity B Activity C
Activity D
Activity E Activity F Activity G Activity H Activity I Activity J Activity K Activity L
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Development of sampling and analytical techniques for monitoring sources and levels of pollutants. Development of reporting formats required according to the dumping, emergency and land-based sources protocols. Formulation of the scientific rationale for the environmental quality criteria to be used in the development of emission standards, standards of use and guidelines. Epidemiological studies related to the confirmation (or eventual revision) of proposed environmental quality criteria for bathing waters, shellfish waters and edible marine organisms. Development of proposals for guidelines and criteria governing the application of the land-based sources protocol. Research on oceanographic processes, with particular emphasis on surface circulation and vertical transport. Research on the toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, carcinogeneity and mutagenicity of selected substances. Research on eutrophication and concomitant plankton blooms. Study of ecosystem modifications in areas influenced by pollutants or caused by large-scale coastal or inland engineering activity. Effects of thermal discharges on marine and coastal ecosystems, including associated effects. Biogeochemical cycles of specific pollutants, particularly those relevant to human health. Study of pollutant-transfer processes 1. at river/sea and air/sea interface, 2. by sedimentation, and 3. through the straits linking the Mediterranean with other seas.
relevant projects, particularly where these produce tangible results.
Pollution from land-based sources Apart from monitoring and research, the MED POL programme has, since 1983, been involved on an increasing scale in the preparation of the necessary scientific and technical material required for the progressive implementation of the protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from land-based sources. As it has been variously estimated that between 80% and 85% of the total pollution load of the Mediterranean is of terrestrial origin, the implementation of the terms of this protocol is obviously one of the most important elements of control of marine pollution in the region. Under the terms of the protocol, Mediterranean States have bound themselves to eliminate pollution by the more harmful substances, and to strictly control pollution by others. The various substances are listed in two annexes to the protocol. Apart from providing guidelines on authorizations for waste discharge, on construction of submarine ouffalls and on other aspects of municipal and industrial waste management, activities under the MED POL programme have included the preparation of assessments of the state of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by selected substances. A calendar adopted in 1985 aims at a series of assessments covering all substances listed in the annexes to the land-based pollution protocol by 1995. Each assessment identifies types of sources within the region, collates measurements of pollutant concentrations recorded in the various marine environmental matrices, on the basis of results obtained both in MED POL monitoring programmes, and elsewhere, with relevant research data, and attempts to provide a reasonably accurate picture of the situation. Formal recommendation to Mediterranean Governments regarding the adoption of common standards, criteria or measures in terms of the appropriate article and/or annex of the land-based pollution protocol are made on the basis of the actual prevailing situation, correlating technical and scientific data with recorded or otherwise known effects. So far, Mediterranean Governments have adopted common environmental quality criteria for coastal recreational waters and for shellfish waters (UNEP/WHO, 1985, 1987), as well as common emission standards for mercury discharges (UNEP/FAO/WHO, 1987). Other assessments covering cadmium, petroleum hydrocarbons, used lubricating oils, organotin compounds and organophosphorus compunds are in a relatively advanced stage of preparation, and it is expected that common measures on at least some of these will be formally adopted in 1989. The adoption of joint measures (including criteria and standards) which are legally binding on all Mediterranean Governments presents a number of problems which, in practice, can only be solved through a reasonable compromise between actual technical requirements and political and/or economic accepta-
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bility. Decisions taken should in fact be recognized for what they often are -- interim measures designed to afford an immediate palliative to the situation, and to lay the foundations for more permanent measures. In this regard, the protocol itself lays down that programmes and measures shall be adopted by taking into account, for their progressive implementation, the capacity to adapt and reconvert existing installations, the economic capacities of the Parties and their need for development. Practical problems are of two distinct types. In the first instance, developing countries not already possessing standards or criteria of their own require time to establish the necessary infrastructure to be able to enforce any joint measures adopted. On the other hand, the more developed countries, who already have their own programmes (sometimes designed according to international stipulations rather than strictly local needs) often find it difficult to adopt standards and criteria different from their own because of the legal and administrative complications involved. Even where national criteria are already stricter than the minimum prescribed by joint regional measures, technical difficulties have arisen when methodologies for determination of the different chemical and microbiological parameters laid down are not the same as those already in use. For this reason, in adopting common microbiological quality criteria for coastal recreational waters, the relative resolution also stipulated that countries already possessing criteria of their own should continue to use these, as well as to carry out comparison exercises between the regional and national criteria (UNEP, 1985). The fact that four Mediterranean States (France, Greece, Italy, and Spain) are also bound by the relevant Directives of the European Economic Community, which are developed independently, and cover the whole of the European coastline (rather than the Mediterranean proper) does not make the situation easier.
Environmental management The socio-economic component of the Mediterranean Action Plan consists of two distinct subdivisions: the Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme. The former (the term is often confused with the Action Plan as a whole) is described as an action-orientated general system of prospective studies, with the fundamental objective of initiating a continuous process of concerted co-operation among Mediterranean coastal states, and more specifically to place at the disposal of decisionmakers and planners information enabling them to formulate plans for optional socio-economic development on a sustainable basis without environmental degradation. While promoting co-operative efforts, the Plan also takes into consideration the requirements of each individual country. The first phase of the Blue Plan consisted in data acquisition through exploration of 12 areas, as shown in Table 3. Following these studies, an analysis system was constructed, conceiving the Mediterranean basin as a whole, and linking together the most critical issues
TABLE 3 Studies undertaken during the first phase of the Blue Plan. 1. Land-marine systems and sub-systems. 2. Water resources, competitive uses and human priorities. 3. Industrial growth, industrial strategies, and services related to the environment, and the utilization of subsoil resources. 4. Energy, old and new. 5. Health, population and population movements. 6. Space use, urbanization and rural development. 7. Tourism, space use and the environment. 8. Intra-Mediterranean economic relations. 9. Transport and communications. 10. Cultural heritage and cross-cultural relations. 11. Environmental awareness and value systems. 12. Impact of non-Mediterranean influence on the Mediterranean basin.
revealed during the first phase in a systematic perspective in order to reveal coherent trends, voluntary scenarios and risks of discontinuity and disruption. The third stage, currently being performed, consists in the preparation of a synthesis, elaborating recommendations to the Governments of the region. The Priority Actions Programme has, as its main objective, the initiation of co-operative activities by the Coastal States of the Mediterranean region with respect to appropriate environmental management practices on the basis of available knowledge in selected priority action areas. All activities seek to demonstrate, through practical action, alternatives for environmentally-sound socio-economic development. The six priority fields approved by Mediterranean Governments for this programme component are aquaculture, water resources management, renewable sources of energy, human settlements, soil conservation, and tourism. Programmes generated are relatively short-term in character, and directed towards action-orientated projects. Activities, regarded as complementary to the longer-term work undertaken through the Blue Plan, are intended to evolve into regional co-operative programmes.
Institutional structure of the Mediterranean Action Plan The Mediterranean Action Plan is co-ordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which also acts as Secretariat to the 1976 Barcelona Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution and its related protocols. Implementation of the various components is performed either by the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System or by ad hoc Regional Centres. Six Agencies (FAO, WHO, IOC, UNESCO, WMO and IAEA) are involved in the implementation of the MED POL programme to varying extents, each being responsible for those activities falling within their respective fields of competence. The two Agencies most heavily involved (FAO and WHO) each maintain a project office in the Co-ordinating Unit of the Mediterranean Action Plan in Athens, which is mainly staffed by UNEP personnel. Within the framework of the MED POL programme, IAEA operate an intercalibration and maintenance service for participating 15
Marine Pollution Bulletin
laboratories from their International Laboratory of Marine Radioactivity (ILMR) in Monaco. A regional oil combating centre in Malta, operated by the Intergovernmental Maritime Organization (IMO), performs duties relating to the Protocol on co-operation in pollution emergencies. The Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme operate from ad hoc Regional Activity Centres in Sophia Antipolis (France) and Split (Yugoslavia) respectively. In both cases, the work is performed by already-existing national centres to which a regional role has been assigned. Another centre of a similar nature was recently established in Tunis to deal with Specially Protected areas. The International Union for Nature Conservation 0UCN) plays a major role in the running of the Centre. Contracting Parties to the Convention and Protocols (Mediterranean Governments and the EEC) meet biennially to approve work programmes and budgets, and to discuss any recommendations brought up by the Secretariat for their adoption. The 4-man Bureau elected at each meeting generally supervises progress at six-monthly meetings during its term of office. Each component of the Action Plan has national co-ordinators or focal points in each of the various countries, who discuss technical aspects of the programme, including proposed measures, at annual meetings of two Committees -- the Scientific and Technical Committee, dealing with MED POL, the Regional Oil Combating Centre, and Specially Protected areas, and the SocioEconomic Committee, dealing with the Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme -- prior to formal
consideration at Contracting Parties' meetings. An outline of the institutional structure of the Mediterranean Action Plan is shown in Fig. 1. Internal co-ordination is effected at Secretariat level from the Athens Office of the Mediterranean Action Plan, and in the various countries by the national focal points. Internal co-ordination at country level is extremely important as, in most countries, different structures are responsible for maintaining liaison with the various components of the Plan, and in many cases, these national authorities also differ from those responsible for similar work undertaken within the framework of other international programmes. Up to 1978, the Mediterranean Action Plan was financed mainly from UNEP's Environment Fund, with contributions in cash and kind from UN Specialized Agencies as well as from national centres and institutions. Since 1979, the main cost has been borne by the Governments of the region, who contribute in agreedon proportions, based on the UN scale. UN Specialized Agencies also continue to contribute, as do those Governments hosting regional centres, who pay part of the cost of such centres in addition to their regular contribution. The average annual budget (which does not include Agency and national counterpart contributions) is currently of the order of USS 4.0 million.
Co-ordination with other programmes In their initial approval of the Mediterranean Action Plan, the Governments of the region made it clear that,
I Mediterranean Governments Socioeconomic Committee Scientific and Technical Committee
Coordinating Unit for the Mediterranean Action Plan. Athens
ol
National
Coordinators for MED POL
I
._. •
National Focal Points
I
UNEP
Blue Plan RegionalActivity
Centre
I
O | Inter-Agency Advisory Committee for MED POL
Sophia AntipolLs
National Focal Points
Priority Actions Programme
RegionalActivity
Centre Split
....•
National Focal Points
IAEA
International Laboratory for marine I Radioactivity Monaco"
Priority Actions Programme
RegionalActivity Centre Tunis
_..q National Focal Points
RegionalOil Combating Centre Malta
National Institutions
I
Fig. 1 Outline of the institutional organization of the Mediterranean Action Plan.
16
Volume 20/Number 1/January 1989
in all activities, full account should be taken of already ongoing and/or planned work, both within and outside the region. This policy is in fact reflected in the Action Plan's budget, particularly MED POL, where the amount of assistance obtainable by participating institutions pre-assumes the availability of other sources of finance. This emphasises the need for the fullest possible coordination of activities with external bodies engaged in similar work as part of their own programmes. The situation regarding United Nations Specialized Agencies is relatively easily controlled, as each Agency ensures that there is no duplication between activities implemented under MED POL and those under their other programmes. Co-ordination with other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations is more difficult, as all their activities are planned and executed independently. A certain degree of duplication does therefore arise. The Mediterranean Action Plan provides a good example of the importance of proper programme design in bringing together countries with common environmental interests, despite their heterogeneity in other spheres, towards the solution of overall regional problems in the marine pollution field. Similarly, it was one of the first programmes the execution of which demanded the simultaneous and co-ordinated involvement of the major organizations within the UN System. Compliance with both these prerequisites has contributed significantly to the Action Plan's success so
EEC (1984). Commission communication to the Council on the protection of the environment in the Mediterranean basin. Official Journal of the European Communities 27, C 133, 12-32. FAO (1974). Protection of the marine environment against pollution in the Mediterranean: Report of a Consultation on the pollution convened to study the protection of living resources and fisheries against pollution in the Mediterranean. FAO Fisheries Reports, No. 148. FAO, Rome. GFCM (1972). The state of marine pollution in the Mediterranean and legislative controls. General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Report and Studies No. 51. FAO, Rome. UNEP (1983). Long-term programme for pollution monitoring and research in the Mediterranean Sea (MED POL) -- Phase iI. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 28. UNEP, Geneva. UNEP (1985). Report of the Fourth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and its related Protocols. Document UNEP/IG.56/5. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO (1985). Bibliography of the marine environment in the Mediterranean, 1978-84. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. FAO, Rome. UNEP/WHO (1985). Assessment of the present state of microbial pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and proposed control measures. Document UNEPAVG.118/6. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/WHO (1987). Assessment of the state of microbial pollution and shellfish waters in the Mediterranean Sea and 'proposed measures. Document UNEP/WG.160/10. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO/WHO (1987). Assessment of the state of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by mercury and mercury compounds and proposed measures. Document UNEP/WG.160/8. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO/UNESCO/WHO/WMO/IOC/IAEA (1981). Selected bibliography on the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. UNEP, Geneva. UNEP/FAO/UNESCO/WHO/WMO/IOC/IAEA (1983). Co-ordinated Mediterranean Pollution Monitoring and Research Programme (MED POL) -- Phase I: Programme Description. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 23. UNEP, Geneva.
far.
Marine Pollution Bulletin. Volume 20. No. 1, pp. 17-21, 1989. Printed in Great Britain.
0035-326X/89 $3.00+0.00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Heavy Metals on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary BRIAN BARNETT*, SHERRY FORBES* and CHRISTOPHER ASHCROFT* Anglian Water, PO Box 62, Waterside House, Waterside North, Lincoln, LN2 5HA, UK *Anglian Water, NRA Unit (Northern), Aqua House, Harvey Street, Lincoln, LN1 1TF; *Bioaquatic Consultants, Bain Cottage, Magna Mile, Ludford, Lines. LN3 6A J: *Anglian Water. NRA Unit, Aqua House, London Road, Peterborough, PE2 8AG, UK
Fucus vesiculosus has been collected from the Humber Estuary in summer and winter since September 1981. Results of analyses for copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, and iron are examined for all surveys up to February
1987. Spatial trends for levels of cadmium and nickel conform to the pattern of classical conservative behaviour with decreasing concentrations in a seaward direction. Copper and zinc exhibit considerable departures from this pattern, indicating appreciable inputs into the lower estuary. Substantial inputs of iron are also
apparent in the same area. Long-term temporal trends suggest that refinements in methodology may account for some of the changes observed in earlier years, but in recent surveys, increases in copper, zinc and, to a lesser extent cadmium are attributed to enhanced inputs of metals into the estuary. There is little evidence for any seasonal cycle in metal concentrations. Some of the difficulties encountered in presenting large, long-term data sets are considered.
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0035-326X/89 $3.00+0.00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
Regional Measures for Marine Pollution Control in the Mediterranean L. J. SALIBA Dr Saliba is Senior Scientist in the Co-ordinating Unit for the Mediterranean Action Plan, at the WHO/ EURO Project Office in Athens, Greece.
Awareness of the increasing state of deterioration of the Mediterranean Sea as a result of the continuous influx of pollutants, from both maritime and land-based sources, has led to the development and implementation of several national and international activities aimed at its protection over the last two decades. Purely national programmes have been mainly directed at the establishment of local infrastructures for marine pollution prevention and control, or the improvement of existing ones, or at the alleviation of the condition of defined areas along their coasts. Bilateral and multilateral programmes affording partial geographic coverage of the region include the agreement signed between Italy and Yugoslavia on collaboration in the protection of the Adriatic (signed in 1972), that between France, Italy, and Monaco on the protection of northwestern Mediterranean coastal waters (signed in 1976) and that between Greece and Italy on the protection of the Ionian Sea (signed in 1979). All three agreements are mainly concerned with the performance of collaborative research, and with the implementation of joint programmes for pollution assessment and control through the recommendations and advice of ad hoc joint Commissions or other equivalent established bodies. At international level, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has taken a particular interest in the region mainly through its General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM), whose geographical coverage also includes the Black Sea. Following its technical conference on marine pollution and its effects on living resources and fisheries (held in Rome in 1970), FAO produced the first comprehensive report on the state of pollution in the Mediterranean (GFCM, 1972) and organized two Mediterranean consultations in 1974 with the aim of producing a regional convention (FAO, 1974). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has included the Mediterranean or its subregions in a number of its scientific programmes, while UNESCO has conducted a number of case-studies having a direct or indirect bearing on marine pollution in the region through its 'Man and the Biosphere' (MAB) programme. The World Health Organization 12
(WHO), apart from playing a prominent part in the development of national pollution control activities, principally from the sanitary viewpoint, in most countries of the region, has organized a number of activities on a Mediterranean dimension. The Intergovernmental Maritime Organization (IMO) is continually engaged in activities relating to the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships, and has paid particular attention to the Mediterranean on several occasions. At global level, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in Jamaica in 1982, has been signed by practically all Mediterranean States, and its terms relevant to marine pollution prevention and control therefore apply to the region through national signatories to the Convention. Outside the UN System, the Council of Europe, through itsCommittee for the protection of nature and natural resources, has organized a number of intercountry activities concerning the protection of coastal ecosystems among its Mediterranean member States. At a higher political level within the same Organization, the main topic selected for the fourth European Ministerial Environmental Conference, held in Athens in 1984, was the protection and management of the coastal zone. The northern part of the region has also received considerable attention from the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). Apart from EEC general directives on marine pollution control which are binding on its four Mediterranean member states (France, Greece, Italy, and Spain), the Commission has also issued a specific Communication on the protection of the Mediterranean environment, with a significant marine pollution control component (EEC, 1984) and, for the last few years, has been increasingly extending its assistance in this field to non-member States within the region. At purely scientific level, the amount of research on various aspects of marine pollution in the Mediterranean, including basic oceanographic and other studies, has reached voluminous proportions. Two comprehensive bibliographies have already been published (UNEP et al., 1981; UNEP/FAO, 1985) between them containing only part of the actual work performed
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during the last one and a half decades. One major Organization involved at this level is the Council for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean (ICSEM) which has so far held 30 Conferences on marine scientific studies in the region, the last 8 of which included special 4-day Workshops on marine pollution.
T h e Mediterranean Action Plan Following a sequence of pleas between 1971 and 1974 for official remedial action on an overall Mediterranean scale, including proposals emerging from innumerable political and technical conferences, the first Intergovernmental meeting on the protection of the Mediterranean Sea was convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Barcelona in 1975. At that meeting governments of the region adopted a joint programme -- the Mediterranean Action Plan -- which has been operational ever since (UNEP, 1975). Developed jointly by the major organizations within the UN System, in collaboration with the relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as with the countries of the region themselves, the Plan consists of three major components: legal, environmental assessment; and environmental management. All three are necessarily inter-related.
T h e Barcelona Convention and Protocols The legal component of the Mediterranean Action Plan is based on the 1976 Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, adopted and signed in Barcelona in February 1976. It is essentially a framework convention, and any Mediterranean country becoming a Party to it must concurrently become a Party to at least one of its protocols, each of which deals with a specific aspect of marine pollution control. To date, the Convention is supported by four protocols: • The protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping from ships and aircraft (signed in Barcelona in February 1976). • The protocol concerning co-operation in combating pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by oil and other harmful substances in case of emergency (signed in Barcelona in February 1976). • The protocol for protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from land-based sources (signed in Athens in May 1980). • The protocol concerning Mediterranean Speciallyprotected Areas (signed in Geneva in April 1982). A fifth protocol concerning pollution arising from exploration and exploitation of the sea-bed is in an advanced stage of preparation, and is expected to be finalized and adopted in the near future.
Environmental assessment: the M E D P O L programme The overall objectives of the environmental assessment component of the Mediterranean Action Plan
have been described as follows (UNEP et aL, 1983): • to assess, on a continuing basis, the state of pollution of the Mediterranean basin; • to identify the sources, pathways, amounts and effects of pollutants entering the Mediterranean Sea; • to establish temporal trends in the levels of pollution; • to provide the basis for building models for the biogeochemical cycle of pollutants, including their possible effects; • to present the information thus obtained in such a way that it could be used as a management tool in the control of pollution; • to help the riparian countries in making proper decisions with respect to environmentally compatible socio-economic development strategies; and • to suggest methods for pollution control, including their cost benefit analysis. The first phase of the programme (MED POL Phase I) consisted of a number of pilot projects (Table 1) in which more than 200 scientific groups from 83 institutions in 16 Mediterranean countries participated, and covered the period 1975-1981. The current phase, the Long-term programme of pollution monitoring and research in the Mediterranean Sea (MED POL Phase II) (UNEP, 1983) has been operational since its formal approval by Mediterranean Governments in 1981. Its monitoring component aims at the eventual establishment of comprehensive marine pollution monitoring programmes in all Mediterranean countries, covering pollution sources, coastal waters and estuaries, reference areas and atmospheric transport of pollutants into the sea. Results to date have already included the upgrading of several existing laboratories and the establishment of new ones, particularly in those areas where no monitoring was previously being carried out on a regular basis. Much work however still remains to be done, particularly in quality control and comparaTABLE 1 Pilot projects forming part of the MED POL Phase I programme. MED I
Baseline studies and monitoring of oil and petroleum hydrocarbons in marine waters (IOC/WMO/UNEP). MED II Baseline studies and monitoring of metals, particularly mercury and cadmium, in marine organisms (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED III Baseline studies and monitoring of DDT, PCBs and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in marine organisms (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED IV Research on the effects of pollutants on marine organisms and their populations (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MEDV Research on the effects of pollutants on marine communities and ecosystems (FAO(GFCM)/UNEP). MED V1 Problems of coastal transport of pollutants (IOC/UNEP). MED VII Coastal water quality control (WHO/UNEP). MED VIII Biogeochemical studies of selected pollutants in the open waters of the Mediterranean (IAEAflOC/UNEP). MED IX* The role of sedimentation in the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea (UNESCO/UNEP). MEDX Pollutants from land-based sources in the Mediterranean (WHO/ECE/UNIDO/FAO/UNE SCO//AEA/UNEP). MED XI Intercalibration of analytical techniques and common maintenance services (IAEA/FAO/IOC/UNEP). MED XII* Input of pollutants into the Mediterranean Sea via the atmosphere (WMO/IAEA/WHO/ECE/UNIDO/ UNEP). MED XIII* Modelling of marine ecosystems (UNESCO/FAO/IOC/
UNEP).
*Proposed, but not fully implemented.
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Marine Pollution Bulletin
bility of results. Other fundamental problems which can only be solved in the medium and long term are the acquisition by institutions of sophisticated analytical instrumentation, and the need for accelerated development of trained manpower. The research component of MED POL Phase II consists of twelve research and study topics (Table 2). At the present time, nearly 150 projects are ongoing, and several have been completed. Project proposals submitted by Mediterranean institutions are accepted as part of the MED POL programme on grounds of relevance to overall objectives and on scientific merit. Only partial funding is however possible, and the major costs of research projects are borne by the institutions performing them, either from their own funds, or from funds acquired from national or local authorities. As the total annual MED POL research budget allocation is of the order of USS 300,000, it is difficult to provide sufficient financial inducement to institutions towards the performance of specific research unless this is generally in line with already-existing personal and institutional interests. One other problem has been that, as a result of the initiative originally resting with the proposing institution, the programme as a whole was developing into a mosaic of often unrelated individual projects, rather than a compact entity. This problem has been solved, at least partially, by some Organizations (such as WHO) engaged in the implementation of the programme by pre-selection of institutions and the establishment of networks in project execution. Similarly, the financial inducement has improved to some extent, as national and local authorities are becoming more amenable to allocating funds to their institutions for the performance of TABLE 2
Research and study topics within the framework of MED POL Phase II. Activity A Activity B Activity C
Activity D
Activity E Activity F Activity G Activity H Activity I Activity J Activity K Activity L
14
Development of sampling and analytical techniques for monitoring sources and levels of pollutants. Development of reporting formats required according to the dumping, emergency and land-based sources protocols. Formulation of the scientific rationale for the environmental quality criteria to be used in the development of emission standards, standards of use and guidelines. Epidemiological studies related to the confirmation (or eventual revision) of proposed environmental quality criteria for bathing waters, shellfish waters and edible marine organisms. Development of proposals for guidelines and criteria governing the application of the land-based sources protocol. Research on oceanographic processes, with particular emphasis on surface circulation and vertical transport. Research on the toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, carcinogeneity and mutagenicity of selected substances. Research on eutrophication and concomitant plankton blooms. Study of ecosystem modifications in areas influenced by pollutants or caused by large-scale coastal or inland engineering activity. Effects of thermal discharges on marine and coastal ecosystems, including associated effects. Biogeochemical cycles of specific pollutants, particularly those relevant to human health. Study of pollutant-transfer processes 1. at river/sea and air/sea interface, 2. by sedimentation, and 3. through the straits linking the Mediterranean with other seas.
relevant projects, particularly where these produce tangible results.
Pollution from land-based sources Apart from monitoring and research, the MED POL programme has, since 1983, been involved on an increasing scale in the preparation of the necessary scientific and technical material required for the progressive implementation of the protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from land-based sources. As it has been variously estimated that between 80% and 85% of the total pollution load of the Mediterranean is of terrestrial origin, the implementation of the terms of this protocol is obviously one of the most important elements of control of marine pollution in the region. Under the terms of the protocol, Mediterranean States have bound themselves to eliminate pollution by the more harmful substances, and to strictly control pollution by others. The various substances are listed in two annexes to the protocol. Apart from providing guidelines on authorizations for waste discharge, on construction of submarine ouffalls and on other aspects of municipal and industrial waste management, activities under the MED POL programme have included the preparation of assessments of the state of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by selected substances. A calendar adopted in 1985 aims at a series of assessments covering all substances listed in the annexes to the land-based pollution protocol by 1995. Each assessment identifies types of sources within the region, collates measurements of pollutant concentrations recorded in the various marine environmental matrices, on the basis of results obtained both in MED POL monitoring programmes, and elsewhere, with relevant research data, and attempts to provide a reasonably accurate picture of the situation. Formal recommendation to Mediterranean Governments regarding the adoption of common standards, criteria or measures in terms of the appropriate article and/or annex of the land-based pollution protocol are made on the basis of the actual prevailing situation, correlating technical and scientific data with recorded or otherwise known effects. So far, Mediterranean Governments have adopted common environmental quality criteria for coastal recreational waters and for shellfish waters (UNEP/WHO, 1985, 1987), as well as common emission standards for mercury discharges (UNEP/FAO/WHO, 1987). Other assessments covering cadmium, petroleum hydrocarbons, used lubricating oils, organotin compounds and organophosphorus compunds are in a relatively advanced stage of preparation, and it is expected that common measures on at least some of these will be formally adopted in 1989. The adoption of joint measures (including criteria and standards) which are legally binding on all Mediterranean Governments presents a number of problems which, in practice, can only be solved through a reasonable compromise between actual technical requirements and political and/or economic accepta-
Volume 20/Number 1/January 1989
bility. Decisions taken should in fact be recognized for what they often are -- interim measures designed to afford an immediate palliative to the situation, and to lay the foundations for more permanent measures. In this regard, the protocol itself lays down that programmes and measures shall be adopted by taking into account, for their progressive implementation, the capacity to adapt and reconvert existing installations, the economic capacities of the Parties and their need for development. Practical problems are of two distinct types. In the first instance, developing countries not already possessing standards or criteria of their own require time to establish the necessary infrastructure to be able to enforce any joint measures adopted. On the other hand, the more developed countries, who already have their own programmes (sometimes designed according to international stipulations rather than strictly local needs) often find it difficult to adopt standards and criteria different from their own because of the legal and administrative complications involved. Even where national criteria are already stricter than the minimum prescribed by joint regional measures, technical difficulties have arisen when methodologies for determination of the different chemical and microbiological parameters laid down are not the same as those already in use. For this reason, in adopting common microbiological quality criteria for coastal recreational waters, the relative resolution also stipulated that countries already possessing criteria of their own should continue to use these, as well as to carry out comparison exercises between the regional and national criteria (UNEP, 1985). The fact that four Mediterranean States (France, Greece, Italy, and Spain) are also bound by the relevant Directives of the European Economic Community, which are developed independently, and cover the whole of the European coastline (rather than the Mediterranean proper) does not make the situation easier.
Environmental management The socio-economic component of the Mediterranean Action Plan consists of two distinct subdivisions: the Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme. The former (the term is often confused with the Action Plan as a whole) is described as an action-orientated general system of prospective studies, with the fundamental objective of initiating a continuous process of concerted co-operation among Mediterranean coastal states, and more specifically to place at the disposal of decisionmakers and planners information enabling them to formulate plans for optional socio-economic development on a sustainable basis without environmental degradation. While promoting co-operative efforts, the Plan also takes into consideration the requirements of each individual country. The first phase of the Blue Plan consisted in data acquisition through exploration of 12 areas, as shown in Table 3. Following these studies, an analysis system was constructed, conceiving the Mediterranean basin as a whole, and linking together the most critical issues
TABLE 3 Studies undertaken during the first phase of the Blue Plan. 1. Land-marine systems and sub-systems. 2. Water resources, competitive uses and human priorities. 3. Industrial growth, industrial strategies, and services related to the environment, and the utilization of subsoil resources. 4. Energy, old and new. 5. Health, population and population movements. 6. Space use, urbanization and rural development. 7. Tourism, space use and the environment. 8. Intra-Mediterranean economic relations. 9. Transport and communications. 10. Cultural heritage and cross-cultural relations. 11. Environmental awareness and value systems. 12. Impact of non-Mediterranean influence on the Mediterranean basin.
revealed during the first phase in a systematic perspective in order to reveal coherent trends, voluntary scenarios and risks of discontinuity and disruption. The third stage, currently being performed, consists in the preparation of a synthesis, elaborating recommendations to the Governments of the region. The Priority Actions Programme has, as its main objective, the initiation of co-operative activities by the Coastal States of the Mediterranean region with respect to appropriate environmental management practices on the basis of available knowledge in selected priority action areas. All activities seek to demonstrate, through practical action, alternatives for environmentally-sound socio-economic development. The six priority fields approved by Mediterranean Governments for this programme component are aquaculture, water resources management, renewable sources of energy, human settlements, soil conservation, and tourism. Programmes generated are relatively short-term in character, and directed towards action-orientated projects. Activities, regarded as complementary to the longer-term work undertaken through the Blue Plan, are intended to evolve into regional co-operative programmes.
Institutional structure of the Mediterranean Action Plan The Mediterranean Action Plan is co-ordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which also acts as Secretariat to the 1976 Barcelona Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution and its related protocols. Implementation of the various components is performed either by the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System or by ad hoc Regional Centres. Six Agencies (FAO, WHO, IOC, UNESCO, WMO and IAEA) are involved in the implementation of the MED POL programme to varying extents, each being responsible for those activities falling within their respective fields of competence. The two Agencies most heavily involved (FAO and WHO) each maintain a project office in the Co-ordinating Unit of the Mediterranean Action Plan in Athens, which is mainly staffed by UNEP personnel. Within the framework of the MED POL programme, IAEA operate an intercalibration and maintenance service for participating 15
Marine Pollution Bulletin
laboratories from their International Laboratory of Marine Radioactivity (ILMR) in Monaco. A regional oil combating centre in Malta, operated by the Intergovernmental Maritime Organization (IMO), performs duties relating to the Protocol on co-operation in pollution emergencies. The Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme operate from ad hoc Regional Activity Centres in Sophia Antipolis (France) and Split (Yugoslavia) respectively. In both cases, the work is performed by already-existing national centres to which a regional role has been assigned. Another centre of a similar nature was recently established in Tunis to deal with Specially Protected areas. The International Union for Nature Conservation 0UCN) plays a major role in the running of the Centre. Contracting Parties to the Convention and Protocols (Mediterranean Governments and the EEC) meet biennially to approve work programmes and budgets, and to discuss any recommendations brought up by the Secretariat for their adoption. The 4-man Bureau elected at each meeting generally supervises progress at six-monthly meetings during its term of office. Each component of the Action Plan has national co-ordinators or focal points in each of the various countries, who discuss technical aspects of the programme, including proposed measures, at annual meetings of two Committees -- the Scientific and Technical Committee, dealing with MED POL, the Regional Oil Combating Centre, and Specially Protected areas, and the SocioEconomic Committee, dealing with the Blue Plan and the Priority Actions Programme -- prior to formal
consideration at Contracting Parties' meetings. An outline of the institutional structure of the Mediterranean Action Plan is shown in Fig. 1. Internal co-ordination is effected at Secretariat level from the Athens Office of the Mediterranean Action Plan, and in the various countries by the national focal points. Internal co-ordination at country level is extremely important as, in most countries, different structures are responsible for maintaining liaison with the various components of the Plan, and in many cases, these national authorities also differ from those responsible for similar work undertaken within the framework of other international programmes. Up to 1978, the Mediterranean Action Plan was financed mainly from UNEP's Environment Fund, with contributions in cash and kind from UN Specialized Agencies as well as from national centres and institutions. Since 1979, the main cost has been borne by the Governments of the region, who contribute in agreedon proportions, based on the UN scale. UN Specialized Agencies also continue to contribute, as do those Governments hosting regional centres, who pay part of the cost of such centres in addition to their regular contribution. The average annual budget (which does not include Agency and national counterpart contributions) is currently of the order of USS 4.0 million.
Co-ordination with other programmes In their initial approval of the Mediterranean Action Plan, the Governments of the region made it clear that,
I Mediterranean Governments Socioeconomic Committee Scientific and Technical Committee
Coordinating Unit for the Mediterranean Action Plan. Athens
ol
National
Coordinators for MED POL
I
._. •
National Focal Points
I
UNEP
Blue Plan RegionalActivity
Centre
I
O | Inter-Agency Advisory Committee for MED POL
Sophia AntipolLs
National Focal Points
Priority Actions Programme
RegionalActivity
Centre Split
....•
National Focal Points
IAEA
International Laboratory for marine I Radioactivity Monaco"
Priority Actions Programme
RegionalActivity Centre Tunis
_..q National Focal Points
RegionalOil Combating Centre Malta
National Institutions
I
Fig. 1 Outline of the institutional organization of the Mediterranean Action Plan.
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Volume 20/Number 1/January 1989
in all activities, full account should be taken of already ongoing and/or planned work, both within and outside the region. This policy is in fact reflected in the Action Plan's budget, particularly MED POL, where the amount of assistance obtainable by participating institutions pre-assumes the availability of other sources of finance. This emphasises the need for the fullest possible coordination of activities with external bodies engaged in similar work as part of their own programmes. The situation regarding United Nations Specialized Agencies is relatively easily controlled, as each Agency ensures that there is no duplication between activities implemented under MED POL and those under their other programmes. Co-ordination with other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations is more difficult, as all their activities are planned and executed independently. A certain degree of duplication does therefore arise. The Mediterranean Action Plan provides a good example of the importance of proper programme design in bringing together countries with common environmental interests, despite their heterogeneity in other spheres, towards the solution of overall regional problems in the marine pollution field. Similarly, it was one of the first programmes the execution of which demanded the simultaneous and co-ordinated involvement of the major organizations within the UN System. Compliance with both these prerequisites has contributed significantly to the Action Plan's success so
EEC (1984). Commission communication to the Council on the protection of the environment in the Mediterranean basin. Official Journal of the European Communities 27, C 133, 12-32. FAO (1974). Protection of the marine environment against pollution in the Mediterranean: Report of a Consultation on the pollution convened to study the protection of living resources and fisheries against pollution in the Mediterranean. FAO Fisheries Reports, No. 148. FAO, Rome. GFCM (1972). The state of marine pollution in the Mediterranean and legislative controls. General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Report and Studies No. 51. FAO, Rome. UNEP (1983). Long-term programme for pollution monitoring and research in the Mediterranean Sea (MED POL) -- Phase iI. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 28. UNEP, Geneva. UNEP (1985). Report of the Fourth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and its related Protocols. Document UNEP/IG.56/5. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO (1985). Bibliography of the marine environment in the Mediterranean, 1978-84. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. FAO, Rome. UNEP/WHO (1985). Assessment of the present state of microbial pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and proposed control measures. Document UNEPAVG.118/6. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/WHO (1987). Assessment of the state of microbial pollution and shellfish waters in the Mediterranean Sea and 'proposed measures. Document UNEP/WG.160/10. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO/WHO (1987). Assessment of the state of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by mercury and mercury compounds and proposed measures. Document UNEP/WG.160/8. UNEP, Athens. UNEP/FAO/UNESCO/WHO/WMO/IOC/IAEA (1981). Selected bibliography on the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. UNEP, Geneva. UNEP/FAO/UNESCO/WHO/WMO/IOC/IAEA (1983). Co-ordinated Mediterranean Pollution Monitoring and Research Programme (MED POL) -- Phase I: Programme Description. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 23. UNEP, Geneva.
far.
Marine Pollution Bulletin. Volume 20. No. 1, pp. 17-21, 1989. Printed in Great Britain.
0035-326X/89 $3.00+0.00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Heavy Metals on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary BRIAN BARNETT*, SHERRY FORBES* and CHRISTOPHER ASHCROFT* Anglian Water, PO Box 62, Waterside House, Waterside North, Lincoln, LN2 5HA, UK *Anglian Water, NRA Unit (Northern), Aqua House, Harvey Street, Lincoln, LN1 1TF; *Bioaquatic Consultants, Bain Cottage, Magna Mile, Ludford, Lines. LN3 6A J: *Anglian Water. NRA Unit, Aqua House, London Road, Peterborough, PE2 8AG, UK
Fucus vesiculosus has been collected from the Humber Estuary in summer and winter since September 1981. Results of analyses for copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, and iron are examined for all surveys up to February
1987. Spatial trends for levels of cadmium and nickel conform to the pattern of classical conservative behaviour with decreasing concentrations in a seaward direction. Copper and zinc exhibit considerable departures from this pattern, indicating appreciable inputs into the lower estuary. Substantial inputs of iron are also
apparent in the same area. Long-term temporal trends suggest that refinements in methodology may account for some of the changes observed in earlier years, but in recent surveys, increases in copper, zinc and, to a lesser extent cadmium are attributed to enhanced inputs of metals into the estuary. There is little evidence for any seasonal cycle in metal concentrations. Some of the difficulties encountered in presenting large, long-term data sets are considered.
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