- Email: [email protected]
US poll on ocean pollution
MarinePollutionBulletin the subject of debate at the recent International Conference on Oil and Gas Development in Southeast Asia held in Ho Chi Minh City. The conference, which attracted 120 attendees, was organized by the Asia Foundation and the Texaco Foundation and aimed to find a consensus on issues related to the environment and industry development. Several environmental groups were critical of the reporting on environmental impact, concluding that many were simply used as a ‘tool to satisfy the law’ with little or no real intent to protect the environment. The lack of detailed laws, regulations and requirements in many countries in the region was also criticized, and some participants stated that rules on environmental protection were frequently flouted. Among the reasons given for the lack of enforcement of environmental laws were the lack of funding and training of government bodies and a lack of commitment by the industry. Director of the Petroleum Thongthip Ratanarat, Institute of Thailand, pointed out the weaknesses in Asian governments and business which were too preoccupied with economic growth and development at the expense of environmental protection. The role of the oil industry in environmental protection was defended by Jack Hinton, Texaco’s Vice-president for environment, health and safety. He emphasized the need for balance among the ‘three Es’; Economy; Energy; and Environment. Effective environmental regulation required co-operation between the public, government and industry. It was essential to develop an appropriate framework which would be flexible enough to encourage innovation and new technology development while ensuring the best possible protection of the environment and the safety of the public and employees. D. FEGAN
US Poll on Ocean Pollution 72% of 1300 Americans in a recent poll believe that sea exploration is more important than space exploration and 85% believed that the government was not doing enough to protect the sea. 25% would not vote for a politician who did not support their ideas on sea protection which makes this an important political issue with numbers on a par with those who feel strongly on abortion. The survey was carried out by the Mellman Group Inc. who also researched opinions on what were considered the most important environmental problems. The disposal of toxic waste topped the findings at 33%, air pollution next at 31% with water pollution third on 26%. 58% felt that the oceans had deteriorated over the past few years but only 14% ranked ocean destruction as most important. 54% were aware that the govemment issued contamination warnings on fish species while only 37% knew that the government issued classifications on fish as being overfished. Of the group studied 61% agreed that that citizens and scientists did not agree on the most important problems facing the sea and 42% believed that the government 836
should rank citizen’s opinions over that of scientists. Overall the survey found ‘concern to be high, but information low’.
Russian Warship Sunk A 95 m, 1600 t Russian frigate has been sunk off the Caribbean island of Cayman. The vessel, which was built in Nakhoda in 1984 and served as a patrol ship in Cuba, was due to be scrapped when it was discovered by a Cayman Island dive operator tied up in a Cuban harbour. After negotiations with the Russian embassy the vessel was eventually bought from the Russians for $275,000 and sunk off Cayman Brat, part of the Cayman Islands British dependency in the West Indies. The sinking of the frigate was intentional and aimed at creating a new diving site to attract more tourists to the island. The scuttling was overseen by the Cuban maritime services company SERMAR and was accomplished by initially pumping seawater into the hull until the ship was partially submerged and then cutting holes in the hull to hasten its flooding. The whole operation took about 12 h to complete at the end of which time the warship came to rest in about 25 m of water. The total cost of the venture was around $300,000. The sinking was filmed by Jean-Michel Cousteau who is reported to have ridden down on the deck of the ship to the sea bottom as she sank.
News-in-Brief Great Lakes $1 million from the Great Lakes Protection Fund has been earmarked by the governors of the Great Lake states to protect the waters from further invasion by exotic species. A range of organisms could cause potential danger including pathogens and parasites as well as the exotic species. The fund will be used to develop technology to stop the transfer of these organisms from visiting ships. A vessel, the Algonorfh, which will form the basis of the research, was donated to the project by Algoma Central Marine. Vigilance is the aim of the work to allow the Great Lakes to be kept clear of invading species while remaining open to world shipping.
Scotland Jelly fish killed salmon worth around E250,OOOwhen they drifted into a Scottish sea loch in which there were fish farms. A swarm of lion’s mane jelly fish, Cyanea, up to 500 cm in diameter were forced into Loch Fyne by strong tides and came up against cages containing salmon where their tentacles streamed past the nets killing, blinding and maiming the fish.
US Poll on Ocean Pollution 72% of 1300 Americans in a recent poll believe that sea exploration is more important than space exploration and 85% believed that the government was not doing enough to protect the sea. 25% would not vote for a politician who did not support their ideas on sea protection which makes this an important political issue with numbers on a par with those who feel strongly on abortion. The survey was carried out by the Mellman Group Inc. who also researched opinions on what were considered the most important environmental problems. The disposal of toxic waste topped the findings at 33%, air pollution next at 31% with water pollution third on 26%. 58% felt that the oceans had deteriorated over the past few years but only 14% ranked ocean destruction as most important. 54% were aware that the govemment issued contamination warnings on fish species while only 37% knew that the government issued classifications on fish as being overfished. Of the group studied 61% agreed that that citizens and scientists did not agree on the most important problems facing the sea and 42% believed that the government 836
should rank citizen’s opinions over that of scientists. Overall the survey found ‘concern to be high, but information low’.
Russian Warship Sunk A 95 m, 1600 t Russian frigate has been sunk off the Caribbean island of Cayman. The vessel, which was built in Nakhoda in 1984 and served as a patrol ship in Cuba, was due to be scrapped when it was discovered by a Cayman Island dive operator tied up in a Cuban harbour. After negotiations with the Russian embassy the vessel was eventually bought from the Russians for $275,000 and sunk off Cayman Brat, part of the Cayman Islands British dependency in the West Indies. The sinking of the frigate was intentional and aimed at creating a new diving site to attract more tourists to the island. The scuttling was overseen by the Cuban maritime services company SERMAR and was accomplished by initially pumping seawater into the hull until the ship was partially submerged and then cutting holes in the hull to hasten its flooding. The whole operation took about 12 h to complete at the end of which time the warship came to rest in about 25 m of water. The total cost of the venture was around $300,000. The sinking was filmed by Jean-Michel Cousteau who is reported to have ridden down on the deck of the ship to the sea bottom as she sank.
News-in-Brief Great Lakes $1 million from the Great Lakes Protection Fund has been earmarked by the governors of the Great Lake states to protect the waters from further invasion by exotic species. A range of organisms could cause potential danger including pathogens and parasites as well as the exotic species. The fund will be used to develop technology to stop the transfer of these organisms from visiting ships. A vessel, the Algonorfh, which will form the basis of the research, was donated to the project by Algoma Central Marine. Vigilance is the aim of the work to allow the Great Lakes to be kept clear of invading species while remaining open to world shipping.
Scotland Jelly fish killed salmon worth around E250,OOOwhen they drifted into a Scottish sea loch in which there were fish farms. A swarm of lion’s mane jelly fish, Cyanea, up to 500 cm in diameter were forced into Loch Fyne by strong tides and came up against cages containing salmon where their tentacles streamed past the nets killing, blinding and maiming the fish.