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Regionalism and marine environmental services
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 444-447.1986 Printed in Great Britain
0025-326X/86 $3.00+o.oo 1986 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
Regionalism and Marine Environmental Services E. D. STANLEY Jr.
Rear Admiral Stanley has been Secretary of the SEA USE Council since its establishment in 1969. He retired from active duty in the US Navy in 1966. He has written several papers on 'consultive regionalism' seeking to encourage communication and consultation between Federal and State authorities in the several 'regions' in the United States. It is generally accepted as basically true, that the nature of the ocean body, its bathymetry, currents, and overlying atmospheric conditions, and its available resources, vary between the several natural regions of the oceans. And similarly, that the environmental, economic, social, and political character of the bordering coastal zone, so significant in governing any region's use of its ocean resources, also differ between the several natural ocean regions. What is common to all of the ocean's regions is that every one of the ocean's environmental characteristics and patterns for use of the ocean's resources have their impact on the pertinent coastal area. And all of man's uses of the resources of the ocean are based on and controlled from the coastal zone. The value of assessing environmental, social, scientific, and economic questions on a regionwide basis has repeatedly been demonstrated. Such an approach is especially significant and valuable in the case of 'ocean affairs'. The activities and problems of the 'users of the sea ~ and the resolution of resultant questions tend to be defined--and to differ--according to the varying nature of the several ocean regions. To take a case in point: the Northeast Pacific Ocean region, which includes the waters stretching westward off Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and into California as far south as Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Escarpment, is a recognized ocean region with unique natural characteristics and resources. The use of these resources is administered from a coastal zone with a unique pattern of governmental and private sector structure, relationships, and operating practices. The techniques for using the marine resources of this region differ in many ways quite noticeably from those in other ocean regions. In the United States, the States have individual 444
control of their territorial seas, that is, out to 3 nautical miles off the coast. From there and out to the 200 mile limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone ( E E Z ) the ocean is under Federal control. But the States most certainly have a rather direct interest not only in the development of their coastal zones, including their territorial seas, but also in the management of the E E Z and the use of its resources. In Canada, the legal authority and interests of the Federal government and of the Provinces has been less clearly defined; but the inherent interest in the ocean and concern for the use of its resources by those living in the coastal areas is basic and continuing.
The Sea Use Council Some years ago one of the most distinguished marine oriented statesmen in the United States, Senator Warren G. Magnuson, came up with a suggested answer to the needed coordination of marine resources development in the United States and Canada, where there exists multi-layered local, State and Province, and Federal interests and controls. He proposed the formation of a consultive forum of Federal and State government agencies for each of the natural ocean regions in the United States to consider and recommend as to the optimum development of the region's coastal and ocean resources. In response to Senator Magnuson's suggestion, the then Governor of Washington, now Senator Evans, extended invitations to the Governors of Alaska, Oregon, and Hawaii and to the Administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Maritime Administration, plus the Secretary of the Navy and the Commandant of the US Coast Guard, to agree to form, and to serve as Sponsors of, a
Volume 17/Number 10/October 1986
Federal-State consultive group, the Sea Use Council and to appoint representatives to serve as the Members of the Council. The Sea Use Council was established in 1969. The Maritime Administration's position has since been taken by the US Minerals Management Service. A year after the Council originally was formed the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada and the Minister of Environment of British Columbia joined as Sponsors of the Sea Use Council. The Sea Use Council serves as the US and Canadian, Federal, State and Provincial consultive group concerned with the development of coastal and ocean resources in the Northeast Pacific Ocean region. Since its establishment, the Sea Use Council has sought to identify the problem areas existing in respect to coastal and ocean resource development within its region of interest and to work out practical answers which give a basis for recommending constructive actions by Federal, State and Provincial, and local government agencies, and by the private sector. The Sea Use Council has served as an example of 'Consultive Regionalism', a concept calling for consultation within a region between Federal officials and State and Provincial and local authorities, in order to assess general problem areas, to identify needs, and to define mutually acceptable solutions. It offers an increasingly helpful basis for assuring productive governmental relationships within the United States and Canada. 'Consultive Regionalism' emphasizes decentralization of problem solving and the recognition of regional peculiarities in establishing governmental standards and in planning political action on environmental, social, and economic matters. 'Consultation' implies constructive .joint consideration in seeking to find common agreement as to needed actions. The US Congress has, in a number of its acts, recognized the value of regional consultive groups. As applicable to marine and coastal problems, regional consultation is encouraged by Section 309 of the Coastal Zone Management Act which calls for consultation between Federal agencies and representatives of a given group of States, in seeking effectively to resolve marine and coastal problems within the given region. The Sea Use Council is an advisory body. It neither has nor seeks executive or regulatory authority. It accomplishes its objectives by attempting to ensure that undertakings of participating institutions, government agencies, and commercial organizations are in concert by providing a forum for review of the problems of the several marine communities and a focal point for encouraging action to carry out agreed upon efforts. The interested private sector marine communities include coastal and ocean shipping, commercial fishing and aquaculture, offshore mining and oil drilling, the many organizations for marine recreation, and the marine oriented industries of the coastal populations. The Sea Use Council depends on the persuasive value of its agreed upon consensus to achieve its purposes. This 'persuasive force' has been effective in bringing progress in each of the six 'general project" areas identified and defined by the Council. These
include: (1) improvement of marine environmental monitoring and services, especially navigation and fisheries related information such as weather and seastate conditions and forecasts; (2) assembly and effective use of marine environmental and socioeconomic information and data; (3) coordination of coastal zone matters; (4) development of marine fisheries and aquaculture; (5) utilization of Cobb Seamount Station; and (6) advancement of scuba diving safety and utility. The US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was established by Presidential proclamation on 10 March 1983. From an international E E Z point-of-view the Sea Use region has especial interest for it includes the Canadian West Coast E E Z lying between the US EEZs off Alaska and off Washington and Oregon. The Sea Use Council has participated in several efforts to define a valid pattern for coordinating the management of the E E Z and, specifically, has sought to define those actions required to assure the best use of the resources of the E E Z in our Northeast Pacific Ocean region.
Committees The Sea Use Council meets at least semi-annually. The Council is assisted by the Sea Use Scientific and Technical Board (SUSTB) which advises the Council on scientific and technical questions; the Sea Use Coastal Advisory Board (SUCAB) serving to recommend desirable coordination of coastal zone and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) development; the Sea Use Mariners Consultive Group (SUMCG) representing the interests of the several mariner communities; the Sea Use Marine Services Development Group (SUMSDG) acting to encourage continuing improvement in marine environmental services, both meteorological and oceanographic; and by a number of technical committees.
Financing The day-to-day administration of the Programme, as called for by the Sea Use Council, is conducted by a staff consisting of a Secretary, Sea Use Council (also serving as Director, Sea Use Programme) a Project Manager, Sea Use Programme, and a small clerical staff. The administrative costs are provided by the Sponsors on the basis of the payment of an annual 'Sponsor's fee', supplemented by grants and contracts with interested agencies. The Sea Use Foundation, a non-profit, taxexempt, charitable and scientific corporation incorporated in the State of Washington, is the legally accountable entity supporting the work of the Council.
Continuing Activities of the Sea Use Council Strongly emphasized since 1971 has been the Sea Use Council's recognition of the need for improved marine environmental services for the users of the sea. The Council's Marine Services Development Group has 445
Marine Pollution Bulletin
included representatives of Canadian and US environmental agencies. The Council has encouraged the meteroiogical services to pay greater attention to the needs of mariners; and marine weather forecasts have seen considerable improvement, both in areas covered routinely and in detail provided to users. The Council's Marine Services Development Group has emphasized the need for providing forecasts of winds and waves for all the region's ocean areas and of sea ice conditions in Arctic regions. Sea state advisories are now routinely available and sea ice advisories are provided for ship traffic and fishing craft in the northernmost part of the region in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Another environmental real-time information need identified by the Marine Services Development Group has been fishery related data covering sea surface temperature and colour. These data can be provided to fishing boats at sea, using facsimile printers, to assist in locating fish stocks. The Council has also raised the issue that such products of improving technology may bring about social changes which should be assessed. A particular development supported by the Sea Use Council has been the leadership of Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service in construction of a container, carried aboard a Japanese car freighter, to operate instrumentation to obtain high altitude weather observations enroute to and from Vancouver and Japan. The technique has been picked up for use elsewhere, including in the Atlantic, and is now being considered for use worldwide, not only at sea, but on land. A major technological development in recent years, in which the Sea Use Council has taken an interest, has been the embryo Eastern Pacific Remote Sensing System (EPRSS). A basis has been laid for a network of satellite-derived environmental data users in the Pacific Northwest. Potential data collectors and product users are now known as a result of responses to a questionnaire widely circulated by the Council's Secretariat. The Sea Use Council carried out the essential preliminary steps in developing Cobb Seamount Station as a base for scientific and ocean engineering studies and for marine environmental monitoring, efforts which have included carrying out twelve expeditions to Cobb between 1968 and 1974. An early Council initiative was in response to the increasing number of scuba diving accidents relative to growth of recreational diving. A scuba diving safety plan has been put in effect throughout the region. It calls for use of a standardized medical examination for divers and provides information on diving accident treatment facilities within the region to which victims can be taken for medical attention. Another thrust of the Council's activities has helped to avoid conflicts in the use of vessel traffic management systems in the heavily utilized areas of Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound. The Council sponsored Puget Sound Users Forum (PSUF) has helped significantly in resolving problems arising from ocean-going ship traffic moving through intensive gillnet fishing operations and across heavily used ferry routes. 446
Cross-border Issues In 1984 the Council recognized the need for considering cross-border issues in a broad sense. The Sea Use Scientific and Technical Board accordingly held meetings in Victoria and Vancouver to consider comments from invited Canadian government and university scientists. A similar meeting was held in Newport, Oregon, to hear comments from the US side of the border. These meetings suggested that patterns for effective resolution of cross-border issues do exist. Two kinds of situations were emphasized. Where there are formal channels in existence, the channels may have the potential to handle previously unconsidered matters. For example, the Letter of Agreement negotiated between Canada and the US in 1946 on water and product quality for bivalve shellfish (clams and oysters) guarantees cross-border flow of the commercial products. The agreement permits changes in procedures, as when new quality tests have been agreed upon. If new concerns ever arose among clam and oyster users on either side of the border, the Agreement would allow the matter to be considered. For example, if the present inequitable harvesting controls on recreational use caused overcropping on one side of the border, so that the other side was providing all the larval stock for the border area, and this came to be a matter of concern, it would not be difficult to raise the matter with shellfish authorities, since contacts are in place. It does not mean that a resolution would be reached, but at least channels exist to encourage discussion. Similarly, cooperation between submersible-using scientists exploring the Juan de Fuca and Explorer Ridges is occurring due to prior contacts established through the international system of scientific conferences and information exchange. Oceanographers and fishery scientists in general have informal cross-border contacts through such disciplinary conferences as Pacific Northwest Oceanographers and the Pacific Northwest Fisheries meetings. One area was identified, that of marine pollution, where local contacts between monitoring scientists and enforcement officers across the border appear not to be sufficient for good information flow, and equitable controls. In this interdisciplinary subject, it seems that there is not the organizational focus that single discipline problems may have. It is apparent that there is a need for initiatives to improve the situation. The Sea Use Council suggested a number of possible helpful actions. One is that pollution control workshops organized in British Columbia by the Canadian Environmental Protection Service, should be better advertised in the US, and better attended by US counterpart officials. Similar US workshops should be encouraged to draw Canadian participants. A further action which may seem trivial, but a type of action which can have helpful consequences, is to convince Federal budgetary authorities that visits by civil servants of one country to an adjacent State or Province of the other, should be regarded as out-ofState (or Province) travel, not out-of-Country. Ottawa
Volume 17/Number 10/October 1986
and Washington, DC must handle decisions about outof-Country travel, even from Seattle to Vancouver, or the 10-mile ferry run from Friday Harbour to Sidney, B.C., and it may take 6 months to obtain permission and release of funds. Currently, the Council is disseminating information on coastal management practices as they affect the users of the sea. Information about offshore mining developments is particularly important for those officials who will be involved in eventual consideration of the extension of the international border to the seaward edge of the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. In the event of recoverable minerals being found in the Juan de Fuca Ridge area, the position of the international border could have considerable economic implications. T h e Value o f Regional Consultive G r o u p s The Sea Use Council, as an example of a regional consultive group, serves as a means of encouraging senior civil servants with regional interests serving at
Federal, State or Provincial levels of government, to be alert to matters raised by their equivalents in other agencies, and to take appropriate action. The Council brings such senior civil servants together regularly so that between meetings, when direct interaction is desirable, the persons concerned know each other sufficiently well that they can correspond with or telephone each other, with productive results. The Sea Use Council's assessments and proposals have made a definite contribution to the scientific and economic development of coastal and ocean resources in the Northeast Pacific Ocean region. In addition, important regional information that might otherwise not be available and considered by Head Offices in Washington, DC or Ottawa, can also be fed there from the Northeast Pacific region by the Council Members. Thus the region can have appropriate influence in the pertinent national policies and programmes. The Sea Use Council believes that its experience provides encouragement and helpful guidance in developing other regional consultive groups.
Marine Pollution Bullet#l. Vol. 17, No. 10, pp.447-452, 1986 Primed i0 Great Britain
0025-326X/86 53.00+0.0o ¢) 1986 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Estimating Particulate Dispersiveness and Accumulation at Nearshore Ocean Dumpsites M I C H A E L E DEVINE*, M I C H A E L G. N O R T O N t and M I C H A E L A. CHAMP:]:
*National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Oceanographyand Marine Assessment, Rockville, MD 20852; ~'BritishEmbassy, Washington, DC; and ~ US Environmental ProtectionAgency, Washington, DC, USA
The characteristics controlling the dispersion and accumulation of ocean-dumped sewage sludge are analysed for eight sites in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Based on the assumption that the sludge consists of a rain of fine materials descending on a sandy substrate, annual dispersiveness from both the local dumpsite and the dumpsite region is calculated as a fraction of sludge solids dumped during a given year. Using actual dumping amounts, indices of local and regional sludge accumulation are then calculated. The local index ranges from less than 1 for slightly impacted sites to 35 for the most severely impacted location. The regional index is less than 1 in all but one case. The index appears to be useful as a predictive tool for assessing impact from a given dumping scenario.
The long-term impacts of ocean dumping are mostly associated with particulate accumulation in the surface sediments of the ocean floor. Contamination in the water column is discernible for, at most, a few days after disposal; whereas evidence of past dumping has been found on the ocean bottom even several years after disposal has stopped (Devine & Simpson, 1985). Debate continues as to whether dispersiveness or accumulation is preferable for ocean dumpsites. Proponents of dispersiveness assert that through dilution, effects are minimized through effective dispersion from the local dumpsite into the general marine environment. Those who favour accumulation feel that harmful effects should be confined to a small region. Most studies quantifying negative impacts have been from accumulating 447
Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 444-447.1986 Printed in Great Britain
0025-326X/86 $3.00+o.oo 1986 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Viewpoint is a column which allows authors to express their own opinions about current events.
Regionalism and Marine Environmental Services E. D. STANLEY Jr.
Rear Admiral Stanley has been Secretary of the SEA USE Council since its establishment in 1969. He retired from active duty in the US Navy in 1966. He has written several papers on 'consultive regionalism' seeking to encourage communication and consultation between Federal and State authorities in the several 'regions' in the United States. It is generally accepted as basically true, that the nature of the ocean body, its bathymetry, currents, and overlying atmospheric conditions, and its available resources, vary between the several natural regions of the oceans. And similarly, that the environmental, economic, social, and political character of the bordering coastal zone, so significant in governing any region's use of its ocean resources, also differ between the several natural ocean regions. What is common to all of the ocean's regions is that every one of the ocean's environmental characteristics and patterns for use of the ocean's resources have their impact on the pertinent coastal area. And all of man's uses of the resources of the ocean are based on and controlled from the coastal zone. The value of assessing environmental, social, scientific, and economic questions on a regionwide basis has repeatedly been demonstrated. Such an approach is especially significant and valuable in the case of 'ocean affairs'. The activities and problems of the 'users of the sea ~ and the resolution of resultant questions tend to be defined--and to differ--according to the varying nature of the several ocean regions. To take a case in point: the Northeast Pacific Ocean region, which includes the waters stretching westward off Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and into California as far south as Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Escarpment, is a recognized ocean region with unique natural characteristics and resources. The use of these resources is administered from a coastal zone with a unique pattern of governmental and private sector structure, relationships, and operating practices. The techniques for using the marine resources of this region differ in many ways quite noticeably from those in other ocean regions. In the United States, the States have individual 444
control of their territorial seas, that is, out to 3 nautical miles off the coast. From there and out to the 200 mile limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone ( E E Z ) the ocean is under Federal control. But the States most certainly have a rather direct interest not only in the development of their coastal zones, including their territorial seas, but also in the management of the E E Z and the use of its resources. In Canada, the legal authority and interests of the Federal government and of the Provinces has been less clearly defined; but the inherent interest in the ocean and concern for the use of its resources by those living in the coastal areas is basic and continuing.
The Sea Use Council Some years ago one of the most distinguished marine oriented statesmen in the United States, Senator Warren G. Magnuson, came up with a suggested answer to the needed coordination of marine resources development in the United States and Canada, where there exists multi-layered local, State and Province, and Federal interests and controls. He proposed the formation of a consultive forum of Federal and State government agencies for each of the natural ocean regions in the United States to consider and recommend as to the optimum development of the region's coastal and ocean resources. In response to Senator Magnuson's suggestion, the then Governor of Washington, now Senator Evans, extended invitations to the Governors of Alaska, Oregon, and Hawaii and to the Administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Maritime Administration, plus the Secretary of the Navy and the Commandant of the US Coast Guard, to agree to form, and to serve as Sponsors of, a
Volume 17/Number 10/October 1986
Federal-State consultive group, the Sea Use Council and to appoint representatives to serve as the Members of the Council. The Sea Use Council was established in 1969. The Maritime Administration's position has since been taken by the US Minerals Management Service. A year after the Council originally was formed the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada and the Minister of Environment of British Columbia joined as Sponsors of the Sea Use Council. The Sea Use Council serves as the US and Canadian, Federal, State and Provincial consultive group concerned with the development of coastal and ocean resources in the Northeast Pacific Ocean region. Since its establishment, the Sea Use Council has sought to identify the problem areas existing in respect to coastal and ocean resource development within its region of interest and to work out practical answers which give a basis for recommending constructive actions by Federal, State and Provincial, and local government agencies, and by the private sector. The Sea Use Council has served as an example of 'Consultive Regionalism', a concept calling for consultation within a region between Federal officials and State and Provincial and local authorities, in order to assess general problem areas, to identify needs, and to define mutually acceptable solutions. It offers an increasingly helpful basis for assuring productive governmental relationships within the United States and Canada. 'Consultive Regionalism' emphasizes decentralization of problem solving and the recognition of regional peculiarities in establishing governmental standards and in planning political action on environmental, social, and economic matters. 'Consultation' implies constructive .joint consideration in seeking to find common agreement as to needed actions. The US Congress has, in a number of its acts, recognized the value of regional consultive groups. As applicable to marine and coastal problems, regional consultation is encouraged by Section 309 of the Coastal Zone Management Act which calls for consultation between Federal agencies and representatives of a given group of States, in seeking effectively to resolve marine and coastal problems within the given region. The Sea Use Council is an advisory body. It neither has nor seeks executive or regulatory authority. It accomplishes its objectives by attempting to ensure that undertakings of participating institutions, government agencies, and commercial organizations are in concert by providing a forum for review of the problems of the several marine communities and a focal point for encouraging action to carry out agreed upon efforts. The interested private sector marine communities include coastal and ocean shipping, commercial fishing and aquaculture, offshore mining and oil drilling, the many organizations for marine recreation, and the marine oriented industries of the coastal populations. The Sea Use Council depends on the persuasive value of its agreed upon consensus to achieve its purposes. This 'persuasive force' has been effective in bringing progress in each of the six 'general project" areas identified and defined by the Council. These
include: (1) improvement of marine environmental monitoring and services, especially navigation and fisheries related information such as weather and seastate conditions and forecasts; (2) assembly and effective use of marine environmental and socioeconomic information and data; (3) coordination of coastal zone matters; (4) development of marine fisheries and aquaculture; (5) utilization of Cobb Seamount Station; and (6) advancement of scuba diving safety and utility. The US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was established by Presidential proclamation on 10 March 1983. From an international E E Z point-of-view the Sea Use region has especial interest for it includes the Canadian West Coast E E Z lying between the US EEZs off Alaska and off Washington and Oregon. The Sea Use Council has participated in several efforts to define a valid pattern for coordinating the management of the E E Z and, specifically, has sought to define those actions required to assure the best use of the resources of the E E Z in our Northeast Pacific Ocean region.
Committees The Sea Use Council meets at least semi-annually. The Council is assisted by the Sea Use Scientific and Technical Board (SUSTB) which advises the Council on scientific and technical questions; the Sea Use Coastal Advisory Board (SUCAB) serving to recommend desirable coordination of coastal zone and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) development; the Sea Use Mariners Consultive Group (SUMCG) representing the interests of the several mariner communities; the Sea Use Marine Services Development Group (SUMSDG) acting to encourage continuing improvement in marine environmental services, both meteorological and oceanographic; and by a number of technical committees.
Financing The day-to-day administration of the Programme, as called for by the Sea Use Council, is conducted by a staff consisting of a Secretary, Sea Use Council (also serving as Director, Sea Use Programme) a Project Manager, Sea Use Programme, and a small clerical staff. The administrative costs are provided by the Sponsors on the basis of the payment of an annual 'Sponsor's fee', supplemented by grants and contracts with interested agencies. The Sea Use Foundation, a non-profit, taxexempt, charitable and scientific corporation incorporated in the State of Washington, is the legally accountable entity supporting the work of the Council.
Continuing Activities of the Sea Use Council Strongly emphasized since 1971 has been the Sea Use Council's recognition of the need for improved marine environmental services for the users of the sea. The Council's Marine Services Development Group has 445
Marine Pollution Bulletin
included representatives of Canadian and US environmental agencies. The Council has encouraged the meteroiogical services to pay greater attention to the needs of mariners; and marine weather forecasts have seen considerable improvement, both in areas covered routinely and in detail provided to users. The Council's Marine Services Development Group has emphasized the need for providing forecasts of winds and waves for all the region's ocean areas and of sea ice conditions in Arctic regions. Sea state advisories are now routinely available and sea ice advisories are provided for ship traffic and fishing craft in the northernmost part of the region in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Another environmental real-time information need identified by the Marine Services Development Group has been fishery related data covering sea surface temperature and colour. These data can be provided to fishing boats at sea, using facsimile printers, to assist in locating fish stocks. The Council has also raised the issue that such products of improving technology may bring about social changes which should be assessed. A particular development supported by the Sea Use Council has been the leadership of Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service in construction of a container, carried aboard a Japanese car freighter, to operate instrumentation to obtain high altitude weather observations enroute to and from Vancouver and Japan. The technique has been picked up for use elsewhere, including in the Atlantic, and is now being considered for use worldwide, not only at sea, but on land. A major technological development in recent years, in which the Sea Use Council has taken an interest, has been the embryo Eastern Pacific Remote Sensing System (EPRSS). A basis has been laid for a network of satellite-derived environmental data users in the Pacific Northwest. Potential data collectors and product users are now known as a result of responses to a questionnaire widely circulated by the Council's Secretariat. The Sea Use Council carried out the essential preliminary steps in developing Cobb Seamount Station as a base for scientific and ocean engineering studies and for marine environmental monitoring, efforts which have included carrying out twelve expeditions to Cobb between 1968 and 1974. An early Council initiative was in response to the increasing number of scuba diving accidents relative to growth of recreational diving. A scuba diving safety plan has been put in effect throughout the region. It calls for use of a standardized medical examination for divers and provides information on diving accident treatment facilities within the region to which victims can be taken for medical attention. Another thrust of the Council's activities has helped to avoid conflicts in the use of vessel traffic management systems in the heavily utilized areas of Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound. The Council sponsored Puget Sound Users Forum (PSUF) has helped significantly in resolving problems arising from ocean-going ship traffic moving through intensive gillnet fishing operations and across heavily used ferry routes. 446
Cross-border Issues In 1984 the Council recognized the need for considering cross-border issues in a broad sense. The Sea Use Scientific and Technical Board accordingly held meetings in Victoria and Vancouver to consider comments from invited Canadian government and university scientists. A similar meeting was held in Newport, Oregon, to hear comments from the US side of the border. These meetings suggested that patterns for effective resolution of cross-border issues do exist. Two kinds of situations were emphasized. Where there are formal channels in existence, the channels may have the potential to handle previously unconsidered matters. For example, the Letter of Agreement negotiated between Canada and the US in 1946 on water and product quality for bivalve shellfish (clams and oysters) guarantees cross-border flow of the commercial products. The agreement permits changes in procedures, as when new quality tests have been agreed upon. If new concerns ever arose among clam and oyster users on either side of the border, the Agreement would allow the matter to be considered. For example, if the present inequitable harvesting controls on recreational use caused overcropping on one side of the border, so that the other side was providing all the larval stock for the border area, and this came to be a matter of concern, it would not be difficult to raise the matter with shellfish authorities, since contacts are in place. It does not mean that a resolution would be reached, but at least channels exist to encourage discussion. Similarly, cooperation between submersible-using scientists exploring the Juan de Fuca and Explorer Ridges is occurring due to prior contacts established through the international system of scientific conferences and information exchange. Oceanographers and fishery scientists in general have informal cross-border contacts through such disciplinary conferences as Pacific Northwest Oceanographers and the Pacific Northwest Fisheries meetings. One area was identified, that of marine pollution, where local contacts between monitoring scientists and enforcement officers across the border appear not to be sufficient for good information flow, and equitable controls. In this interdisciplinary subject, it seems that there is not the organizational focus that single discipline problems may have. It is apparent that there is a need for initiatives to improve the situation. The Sea Use Council suggested a number of possible helpful actions. One is that pollution control workshops organized in British Columbia by the Canadian Environmental Protection Service, should be better advertised in the US, and better attended by US counterpart officials. Similar US workshops should be encouraged to draw Canadian participants. A further action which may seem trivial, but a type of action which can have helpful consequences, is to convince Federal budgetary authorities that visits by civil servants of one country to an adjacent State or Province of the other, should be regarded as out-ofState (or Province) travel, not out-of-Country. Ottawa
Volume 17/Number 10/October 1986
and Washington, DC must handle decisions about outof-Country travel, even from Seattle to Vancouver, or the 10-mile ferry run from Friday Harbour to Sidney, B.C., and it may take 6 months to obtain permission and release of funds. Currently, the Council is disseminating information on coastal management practices as they affect the users of the sea. Information about offshore mining developments is particularly important for those officials who will be involved in eventual consideration of the extension of the international border to the seaward edge of the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. In the event of recoverable minerals being found in the Juan de Fuca Ridge area, the position of the international border could have considerable economic implications. T h e Value o f Regional Consultive G r o u p s The Sea Use Council, as an example of a regional consultive group, serves as a means of encouraging senior civil servants with regional interests serving at
Federal, State or Provincial levels of government, to be alert to matters raised by their equivalents in other agencies, and to take appropriate action. The Council brings such senior civil servants together regularly so that between meetings, when direct interaction is desirable, the persons concerned know each other sufficiently well that they can correspond with or telephone each other, with productive results. The Sea Use Council's assessments and proposals have made a definite contribution to the scientific and economic development of coastal and ocean resources in the Northeast Pacific Ocean region. In addition, important regional information that might otherwise not be available and considered by Head Offices in Washington, DC or Ottawa, can also be fed there from the Northeast Pacific region by the Council Members. Thus the region can have appropriate influence in the pertinent national policies and programmes. The Sea Use Council believes that its experience provides encouragement and helpful guidance in developing other regional consultive groups.
Marine Pollution Bullet#l. Vol. 17, No. 10, pp.447-452, 1986 Primed i0 Great Britain
0025-326X/86 53.00+0.0o ¢) 1986 Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Estimating Particulate Dispersiveness and Accumulation at Nearshore Ocean Dumpsites M I C H A E L E DEVINE*, M I C H A E L G. N O R T O N t and M I C H A E L A. CHAMP:]:
*National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Oceanographyand Marine Assessment, Rockville, MD 20852; ~'BritishEmbassy, Washington, DC; and ~ US Environmental ProtectionAgency, Washington, DC, USA
The characteristics controlling the dispersion and accumulation of ocean-dumped sewage sludge are analysed for eight sites in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Based on the assumption that the sludge consists of a rain of fine materials descending on a sandy substrate, annual dispersiveness from both the local dumpsite and the dumpsite region is calculated as a fraction of sludge solids dumped during a given year. Using actual dumping amounts, indices of local and regional sludge accumulation are then calculated. The local index ranges from less than 1 for slightly impacted sites to 35 for the most severely impacted location. The regional index is less than 1 in all but one case. The index appears to be useful as a predictive tool for assessing impact from a given dumping scenario.
The long-term impacts of ocean dumping are mostly associated with particulate accumulation in the surface sediments of the ocean floor. Contamination in the water column is discernible for, at most, a few days after disposal; whereas evidence of past dumping has been found on the ocean bottom even several years after disposal has stopped (Devine & Simpson, 1985). Debate continues as to whether dispersiveness or accumulation is preferable for ocean dumpsites. Proponents of dispersiveness assert that through dilution, effects are minimized through effective dispersion from the local dumpsite into the general marine environment. Those who favour accumulation feel that harmful effects should be confined to a small region. Most studies quantifying negative impacts have been from accumulating 447