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Save the Red Sea plan
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Despite legislation to restrict dumping, local factories are continuing to discharge untreated mercury, lead compounds, chlorine and hydrochloric acid into rivers. It was found that 70% of the contaminants flowing into the River Lyari came from local factories and the remainder from untreated sewage. This pollution flow into Karachi harbour is added to by frequent oil spills- last year amounting to 12 000 tonnes of oil. Karachi's Institute of Marine Biology has warned that shellfish populations in the area are almost on the verge of extinction.
Worry over Greenland-Canada Seal Harvest As the 1981 Canadian seal 'harvest' began last month the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) again expressed concern that the quotas set by the Canadian Government may be too high and should be carefully reviewed. During the current harvest 180000 harp seals and 15 000 hooded seals will be taken off the coasts of Canada and Greenland. Commercial Canadian sealers are expected to account for nearly 146000 out of the 180000 harp seal quota; 22 500 will be taken by commercial Norwegian sealers and only some 12 000 in total by natives of Greenland and the Canadian arctic. WWF said that while neither the harp or hooded seal is an endangered species, stocks of both have been seriously depleted in recent years and it is essential that safeguards are taken quickly to ensure the seal population increases. The W W F / I U C N international workshop on northwest Atlantic harp seals held in Ontario in December 1979 found that too little was known about numbers, reproductive capacity, effects of harvesting, etc., to set quotas with confidence. In the intervening period none of these uncertainties have been removed, said WWF.
Huoride Waste Danger to be Probed Large scale dumping of fluoride waste into Corio Bay by fertilizer producers based at Geelong, Victoria State, Australia, is to be studied by a Melbourne University scientist. Professor Tom O'Donnell, an inorganic fluoride specialist, has claimed that about 1.7 tonnes of fluorosilicate solution is deposited every day and as the bay is almost landlocked by a sandbar, dispersal by regular tidal flow is minimal. Prof. O'Donnell, who is to research the effects of this pollution in conjunction with the Victorian Environment Protection Authority, claims the 1000 tonnes of waste dumped annually is deposited as sediment and through chemical reaction turns into double that quantity of calcium fluoride at the bottom of the shallow bay. As a result the overall fluoride level in the water has shown little obvious increase and the question of pollution and damage to marine organisms is an unknown factor. 108
Fight on to Save Indonesian Environment Indonesian conservationists have formed a national alliance to help fight the rapid deterioration of their country's environment. A group known as the Indonesian Environmental Forum (IEF) is a descendant of the so-called " G r o u p of 10" formed in 1978. The major problem that they face is the lack of a national sewage system, and the group fear that waters will die from pollution if wastes from the country's 120 million population continue to be dumped raw into the environment. The group's second major problem is that of the destruction of coastlines, which the group claim are subjected to heavy pollution from industrial and domestic waste, greatly endangering the beaches and reefs, which are also being destroyed by people in settlements removing sand and coral for road building. The Minister of State for Development Supervision and Environment, Emil Salim, said that during heavy seas the beaches were eroded b y " uncontrolled wave action". Salim also expressed concern about the destruction of mangrove forests for firewood, paper and chipboard. The mangrove ecosystem is a spawning ground for many marine species and also stabilizes coastlines. Salim claims the decrease in mangrove forests will lead to a dramatic drop in the country's fish and shrimp population. The IEF hope to bring home to the people the message that the country's environment is in danger. The island Sumatra has one of the richest fauna of all the Indonesian islands, with about 212 species of mammals and 580 of birds, but even the nature reserves there have not escaped the damage of development.
New Men at W.W.F. Three major new appointments have been announced by the World Wildlife Fund to its international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The new post of Executive Secretary has been awarded to an American, Mr. Warren Lindner, while the Director of Development in charge of fund raising will be Mr. Richard Hamilton. The new successor to Dr. Lee Talbot, who recently left his post as Director of Conservation and Special Scientific Advisor to join IUCN, will be Dr. Arne Schi~6tz, former Vice-Chairman of WWF Denmark. Dr. Shic~tz is a wellknown conservationist and expert on frogs.
Save the Red Sea Plan Seven countries bordering the Red Sea have set up a regional organization to fight pollution and protect the marine environment in the area. The "Jeddah III" conference was organized by the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ALESCO) to discuss the protection of coastal areas around the Red Sea, with the emphasis on monitoring pollution in what once was one of the cleanest seas in the world.
Volume 12/Number4/April 1981 The four main areas of pollution are domestic sewage, industrial waste, pollution from dredging operations and oil contamination from tankers, pipelines and refineries. There are also dangers from excavation of metalliferous muds, and possible future dumping of waste from nuclear plants into the sea. Currently there are 20 plants operated by Saudi Arabia, and there could be 30 more by the end of the century. Resulting variations in water temperatures in the sea could further reduce the dwindling fish stocks. Jeddah III hope to set up research stations around the coast, and have already set up an Aid Centre to cope with problems from oil pollution.
Oceans '81 A conference titled "Oceans 81" is to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, from September 16 to 18, 1981. The theme of the conference, 'the ocean as a workplace', has been organized by the Marine Technology Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and submission of papers is invited. Further details can be obtained from: Mr. Robert E. Ward, EG & G, Environmental Consultants, Oceans 81, PO Box 132, Portsmouth, R102871, USA. A final call for papers has been made by organizers of the Ocean Pollution 1981 (The North Atlantic) conference to be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, from October 19 to 23, 1981. Manuscripts should be sent to: Dr. J. Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Wood Hole, MA 02543, USA. The deadline for abstracts is 1 May 1981.
Endangered Species Conference Representatives of 67 countries and more than 100 organizations met recently in New Delhl, India, to discuss new laws on trade in wildlife. A ten-day conference discussed controversial trade in endangered species including the whale, a profitable business in countries such as West Germany, Japan and the USA. The conference was backed by leading conservationist groups including IUCN, WWF and CITES. The trades are not only in ivory, furs, hides and oils but also in live animals for zoos, pet trades and research. Last year in West Germany the value of wildlife imports topped $50 million. The trading has concerned conservationists because of its large scale, both legal and illegal. Coral in the Mediterranean and US cacti are almost exhausted and last year 5 million crocodiles were killed for their hides.
Tanker Spill off New Jersey Almost 100000 gallons of oil spilled off Brooklyn, New York, USA, when an American tanker, the Concho, ruptured its hull. The US Coast Guard immediately grounded the vessel which was carrying more than nine million gallons of oil from a New Jersey terminal. Initial overflights detected no oil leaking but soon a slick resulted and the incident was declared a federal spill by the USCG, who also ordered the
immediate offloading of the tanker's cargo. Boom and skimmers were employed in cleanup operations. USCG has since reported heavy slicks around the Brooklyn area, and a number of oiled birds have been found. Regular overflights are still being conducted and both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the EPA are monitoring the extent of environmental damage.
Oil Pollution Pay-out Soars The annual report on claims made to the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, which pays spill compensation to damaged parties in member countries, shows expenditure of about £12.5 million ($30.1 million) during 1980. Oil companies in Japan have paid about 44% of this total, and according to Oil Spill Intelligence Report (OSIR) sources, have expressed bitterness about assuming such a large share of costs. Incidents still with outstanding compensation claims against the fund include, according to OSIR, the Tanio disaster off Brittany, France, the German tanker Tarpenbeck, and three Japanese tanker incidents.
Barge Incidents Pollute Two Rivers More than 138 000 gallons of gasoil were spilled into the Neches River, Texas, USA, when a tank barge overflowed during a loading operation. Vacuum trucks, tankers and boom were used in cleanup operations contracted by the owners, Torco Oil Co. of New Orleans, USA, and it was completed in a week. Some days later the US tank barge Chotin 2880 spilled more than 100 000 gallons of gasoline into the Ohio River near Kentucky, after the vessel grounded. The river was closed for some time but evaporation and river currents dispersed the gasoline making cleanup unnecessary.
Round-the-World News Sweden Cleanup operations are still continuing in the southern Stockholm archipelago after up to 1000 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from the grounded Soviet tanker Jose Marti. The Swedish Water and Air Pollution Research Institute (IVL) are assessing the environmental damage caused by the accident, which was caused by a failed radar system and poor visibility grounding the 27 706-GRT vessel. Booms have been deployed to contain the oil and some bird mortality has already been reported. In another incident off the eastern coast of Sweden, oil patches from an unknown source have covered a 15 km by a few hundred metres area and caused some bird deaths.
Mexico A pumping operation error at a storage tank in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, on the Bay of Campeche, caused up to 75 000 barrels of crude oil to spill into the harbour. 109
Despite legislation to restrict dumping, local factories are continuing to discharge untreated mercury, lead compounds, chlorine and hydrochloric acid into rivers. It was found that 70% of the contaminants flowing into the River Lyari came from local factories and the remainder from untreated sewage. This pollution flow into Karachi harbour is added to by frequent oil spills- last year amounting to 12 000 tonnes of oil. Karachi's Institute of Marine Biology has warned that shellfish populations in the area are almost on the verge of extinction.
Worry over Greenland-Canada Seal Harvest As the 1981 Canadian seal 'harvest' began last month the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) again expressed concern that the quotas set by the Canadian Government may be too high and should be carefully reviewed. During the current harvest 180000 harp seals and 15 000 hooded seals will be taken off the coasts of Canada and Greenland. Commercial Canadian sealers are expected to account for nearly 146000 out of the 180000 harp seal quota; 22 500 will be taken by commercial Norwegian sealers and only some 12 000 in total by natives of Greenland and the Canadian arctic. WWF said that while neither the harp or hooded seal is an endangered species, stocks of both have been seriously depleted in recent years and it is essential that safeguards are taken quickly to ensure the seal population increases. The W W F / I U C N international workshop on northwest Atlantic harp seals held in Ontario in December 1979 found that too little was known about numbers, reproductive capacity, effects of harvesting, etc., to set quotas with confidence. In the intervening period none of these uncertainties have been removed, said WWF.
Huoride Waste Danger to be Probed Large scale dumping of fluoride waste into Corio Bay by fertilizer producers based at Geelong, Victoria State, Australia, is to be studied by a Melbourne University scientist. Professor Tom O'Donnell, an inorganic fluoride specialist, has claimed that about 1.7 tonnes of fluorosilicate solution is deposited every day and as the bay is almost landlocked by a sandbar, dispersal by regular tidal flow is minimal. Prof. O'Donnell, who is to research the effects of this pollution in conjunction with the Victorian Environment Protection Authority, claims the 1000 tonnes of waste dumped annually is deposited as sediment and through chemical reaction turns into double that quantity of calcium fluoride at the bottom of the shallow bay. As a result the overall fluoride level in the water has shown little obvious increase and the question of pollution and damage to marine organisms is an unknown factor. 108
Fight on to Save Indonesian Environment Indonesian conservationists have formed a national alliance to help fight the rapid deterioration of their country's environment. A group known as the Indonesian Environmental Forum (IEF) is a descendant of the so-called " G r o u p of 10" formed in 1978. The major problem that they face is the lack of a national sewage system, and the group fear that waters will die from pollution if wastes from the country's 120 million population continue to be dumped raw into the environment. The group's second major problem is that of the destruction of coastlines, which the group claim are subjected to heavy pollution from industrial and domestic waste, greatly endangering the beaches and reefs, which are also being destroyed by people in settlements removing sand and coral for road building. The Minister of State for Development Supervision and Environment, Emil Salim, said that during heavy seas the beaches were eroded b y " uncontrolled wave action". Salim also expressed concern about the destruction of mangrove forests for firewood, paper and chipboard. The mangrove ecosystem is a spawning ground for many marine species and also stabilizes coastlines. Salim claims the decrease in mangrove forests will lead to a dramatic drop in the country's fish and shrimp population. The IEF hope to bring home to the people the message that the country's environment is in danger. The island Sumatra has one of the richest fauna of all the Indonesian islands, with about 212 species of mammals and 580 of birds, but even the nature reserves there have not escaped the damage of development.
New Men at W.W.F. Three major new appointments have been announced by the World Wildlife Fund to its international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The new post of Executive Secretary has been awarded to an American, Mr. Warren Lindner, while the Director of Development in charge of fund raising will be Mr. Richard Hamilton. The new successor to Dr. Lee Talbot, who recently left his post as Director of Conservation and Special Scientific Advisor to join IUCN, will be Dr. Arne Schi~6tz, former Vice-Chairman of WWF Denmark. Dr. Shic~tz is a wellknown conservationist and expert on frogs.
Save the Red Sea Plan Seven countries bordering the Red Sea have set up a regional organization to fight pollution and protect the marine environment in the area. The "Jeddah III" conference was organized by the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ALESCO) to discuss the protection of coastal areas around the Red Sea, with the emphasis on monitoring pollution in what once was one of the cleanest seas in the world.
Volume 12/Number4/April 1981 The four main areas of pollution are domestic sewage, industrial waste, pollution from dredging operations and oil contamination from tankers, pipelines and refineries. There are also dangers from excavation of metalliferous muds, and possible future dumping of waste from nuclear plants into the sea. Currently there are 20 plants operated by Saudi Arabia, and there could be 30 more by the end of the century. Resulting variations in water temperatures in the sea could further reduce the dwindling fish stocks. Jeddah III hope to set up research stations around the coast, and have already set up an Aid Centre to cope with problems from oil pollution.
Oceans '81 A conference titled "Oceans 81" is to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, from September 16 to 18, 1981. The theme of the conference, 'the ocean as a workplace', has been organized by the Marine Technology Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and submission of papers is invited. Further details can be obtained from: Mr. Robert E. Ward, EG & G, Environmental Consultants, Oceans 81, PO Box 132, Portsmouth, R102871, USA. A final call for papers has been made by organizers of the Ocean Pollution 1981 (The North Atlantic) conference to be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, from October 19 to 23, 1981. Manuscripts should be sent to: Dr. J. Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Wood Hole, MA 02543, USA. The deadline for abstracts is 1 May 1981.
Endangered Species Conference Representatives of 67 countries and more than 100 organizations met recently in New Delhl, India, to discuss new laws on trade in wildlife. A ten-day conference discussed controversial trade in endangered species including the whale, a profitable business in countries such as West Germany, Japan and the USA. The conference was backed by leading conservationist groups including IUCN, WWF and CITES. The trades are not only in ivory, furs, hides and oils but also in live animals for zoos, pet trades and research. Last year in West Germany the value of wildlife imports topped $50 million. The trading has concerned conservationists because of its large scale, both legal and illegal. Coral in the Mediterranean and US cacti are almost exhausted and last year 5 million crocodiles were killed for their hides.
Tanker Spill off New Jersey Almost 100000 gallons of oil spilled off Brooklyn, New York, USA, when an American tanker, the Concho, ruptured its hull. The US Coast Guard immediately grounded the vessel which was carrying more than nine million gallons of oil from a New Jersey terminal. Initial overflights detected no oil leaking but soon a slick resulted and the incident was declared a federal spill by the USCG, who also ordered the
immediate offloading of the tanker's cargo. Boom and skimmers were employed in cleanup operations. USCG has since reported heavy slicks around the Brooklyn area, and a number of oiled birds have been found. Regular overflights are still being conducted and both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the EPA are monitoring the extent of environmental damage.
Oil Pollution Pay-out Soars The annual report on claims made to the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, which pays spill compensation to damaged parties in member countries, shows expenditure of about £12.5 million ($30.1 million) during 1980. Oil companies in Japan have paid about 44% of this total, and according to Oil Spill Intelligence Report (OSIR) sources, have expressed bitterness about assuming such a large share of costs. Incidents still with outstanding compensation claims against the fund include, according to OSIR, the Tanio disaster off Brittany, France, the German tanker Tarpenbeck, and three Japanese tanker incidents.
Barge Incidents Pollute Two Rivers More than 138 000 gallons of gasoil were spilled into the Neches River, Texas, USA, when a tank barge overflowed during a loading operation. Vacuum trucks, tankers and boom were used in cleanup operations contracted by the owners, Torco Oil Co. of New Orleans, USA, and it was completed in a week. Some days later the US tank barge Chotin 2880 spilled more than 100 000 gallons of gasoline into the Ohio River near Kentucky, after the vessel grounded. The river was closed for some time but evaporation and river currents dispersed the gasoline making cleanup unnecessary.
Round-the-World News Sweden Cleanup operations are still continuing in the southern Stockholm archipelago after up to 1000 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from the grounded Soviet tanker Jose Marti. The Swedish Water and Air Pollution Research Institute (IVL) are assessing the environmental damage caused by the accident, which was caused by a failed radar system and poor visibility grounding the 27 706-GRT vessel. Booms have been deployed to contain the oil and some bird mortality has already been reported. In another incident off the eastern coast of Sweden, oil patches from an unknown source have covered a 15 km by a few hundred metres area and caused some bird deaths.
Mexico A pumping operation error at a storage tank in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, on the Bay of Campeche, caused up to 75 000 barrels of crude oil to spill into the harbour. 109