Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	Reader feedback

Organisations
	New hyperlinks to websites

Environment
	IUCN unveiled updated Red List and Species Information Service
	WWF-UK report reveals deploring state of coastal habitats
	Beluga whales affected by noise pollution

Development & Trends
	Fish farming bigger as ever and still growing
	UNEP plans global catalogue of environmental data sources
	Accelerated phasing-in of double hull oil tankers

Policy
	EUCC welcomes the European Commission’s new ICZM strategy
	Commissioner listened to criticism on fishing policy measures

Events recently announded

Please note:
The overview of the Coastal Guide conference and event  meeting list can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/meetings/
 

Reader feedback

Is pollution the primary cause of Caspian Seal deaths?

Dear Colleagues,
It was interesting to read in Coastal Guide News no. 19 "Now proven:  virus killed Caspian seals along Kazakhastan's coast". What I would have liked to see discussed however, and what was also not mentioned on the web-page you referred to, is whether high levels of pollutants in the seals, including organo-chlorines, may have caused the seals to be more susceptible to the canine distemper virus than they would otherwise have been.  The way the web-page and your summary read now, the impression is given that pollution had absolutely nothing to do with the death of the seals. In my opinion that is far from proven.

Joost Brouwer, Brouwer@Wetlands.agro.nl

New hyperlinks to websites

Adopt-a-Beach: 
A national environmental initiative involving local communities: Groups and individuals all over the UK are given the opportunity to adopt their favourite stretch of coast and take part in beach cleans and surveys to monitor coastal pollution

Indo-British Integrated Coastal Zone Management Training (ICZOMAT): 
Short-course training in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in two Universities: Anna University, Tamil Nadu; and Jadavapur University, West Bengal

Turning the Tide:
Regenerating the coast of Durham in the UK after suffering from 100 years of waste tipping by the coal industry
 

IUCN unveiled updated Red List and Species Information Service

On 28 September IUCN, the World Conservation Union released its list of threatened species for the year 2000, confirming that the global extinction crisis is as bad or worse than believed. A total of 18,276 species and subspecies of plants and animals are included in the 2000 Red List, of which 11,046 are listed as “threatened” (facing a high risk of extinction in the near future). Many marine species are also represented in the 2000 Red List, although the coverage is limited due to the lack of systematic assessment except a few groups of species such as marine mammals, seabirds, and marine turtles. The status of tortoises and freshwater turtles is rapidly deteriorating in Southeast Asia due to heavy exploitation for food and medicinal use. Studying 95 species of fishes provided evidence of a number of extinction risk factors. These are over-exploitation, habitat destruction and degradation, and the effects of disease and invasive species. Increased efforts in the future are expected to confirm that extinction risk in the marine environment is increasing and that marine species share many of the threats that so seriously affect terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.

IUCN also launched the development of the Species Information Service (SIS), the most current and comprehensive information service about the status of plants and animals worldwide. The Red List Programme Joint Venture and the SIS will enhance conservationists' ability to confront threats to species before they escalate to extinction crises. The Joint Venture partners include the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of IUCN, BirdLife International, Conservation International, the Centre for Marine Conservation and the Association for Biodiversity Information. Users will be able to find out the number of species in a country, identify threats and actions in place, to determine what further actions are needed. The SIS will also make information readily accessible to policy-makers and establish linkages among diverse groups. It will allow for analyses at different geographical scales, and be adaptable to each user's needs.

For further information read the full news release on the Red List at http://www.iucn.org/redlist/2000/news.html. For the first time the Red List is searchable on its own homepage at http://www.redlist.org. For more information on SIS contact:
Mariano Gimenez-Dixon +41-(0)763670961.
 

WWF-UK report reveals deploring state of coastal habitats

WWF UK’s Marine Health Check report just published confirms what was already known for some time: As a result of human interactions all the coastal habitats studied have suffered extensive damage. Eelgrass meadows for instance have disappeared from 85% of the UK's estuaries and saltmarshes has undergone a 75% decline. In addition, several fish stocks and marine mammals are at particular risk. The report also points at evidence that heavy towed fishing gear and shellfish dredges have caused serious damage to reef communities, in particular of the deepwater Lopheleia coral, that provides habitat for at least 800 species of deep-sea animals. According to British marine biologists, trawling the seabed has destroyed large parts of the Darwin Mounds, 100 kilometres northwest of the Scottish mainland, home to large cauliflower-shaped thickets of Lophelia pertusa. Because the area is not covered by the protection of the European Habitat Directive, trawlers from France, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Norway and the Faroes may operate in the area, thus smashing the coral within a few years. 
For further information, read the complete news release on the WWF UK homepage at http://www.wwf-uk.org/news/news150.htm, or download the full Marine Health Check report at: http://www.wwf-uk.org/news/pdfs/mhcr.pdf. A New Scientist article on Lophelia can be found at
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns225737
 

Beluga whales affected by noise pollution

Ice-breakers may seriously disturb beluga whales in the Arctic, possibly scaring them away from their preferred habitats and even damaging their hearing, say researchers in Canada. Beluga numbers in parts of the Canadian Arctic are declining probably due to increased shipping in the area since industrialism. The scientists studied the ice-breaker noises and used computer simulation that mimics the beluga's hearing. They found that vessels are noisy enough to mask beluga communications, inducing behavioural changes almost 14 kilometres from the ice-breaker. In addition, the constant sound made by the ice-breaker can rise over 200 dB and might damage beluga hearing up to four kilometres away. If the results prove true, those manning icebreakers and other noise emitting infrastructure could be instructed in the future how and when to alleviate noise.
A scientific publication on this matter can be downloaded at
http://pulson.seos.uvic.ca/people/erbe/JASA2000c.pdf
 

Fish farming bigger as ever and still growing

Aquacultural output, growing at 11 percent a year over the past decade, has become the fastest growing sector of the world's food economy, reports the Worldwatch Institute in its Issue Alert on fish farming, released on 3 October. While the global population is growing by a rate of 80 million people each year, there is an increasing need for animal protein. Over the past century the world's diet has been sustained on livestock and wild fisheries, but the natural ecosystems that those food sources depend on are reaching a saturation point. When cattle needs to be fed some 7 kilograms of grain to add 1 kilogram of live weight, fish require less then 2 kilograms of grain feed to add 1 kilogram of weight. Considering that it takes 1000 tons of fresh water to produce 1 ton of grain, fish are evidently much more resource efficient. With overfishing now commonplace, developing countries see an appealing alternative in fish farming to satisfy their growing demand for seafood. Nearly 85 percent of fish farming is in developing countries, China and India being the leader with 21 million and 2 million tons per year, respectively. Industrialised countries come far behind: e.g. Japan 800,000 tons; U.S. 450,000 tons; Norway 400,000 tons per year. But there is a dark side to increasing fish farming and environmental impacts are not to be neglected (see Coastal Guide News No 17). It is e.g. estimated that the waste produced by farmed salmon in Norway is roughly equal to the sewage produced by Norway's four million people. 
Whether farming genetically modified fish will be a solution, as some scientists claim, remains to be seen. They say that biotechnology could lead to stronger, faster-growing, more nutritious fish that can reproduce all year round.

For further information read the full Issue Alert by Worldwatch Institute at http://www.worldwatch.org/chairman/issue/001003.html.
Read about GM solution to overfishing at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_948000/948307.stm.
 

UNEP plans global catalogue of environmental data sources

On 15 September, environmental information managers, policy advisors and lawyers participating in an international conference of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), adopted the Dublin Declaration on Access to Environmental Information. This declaration calls on governments to support UNEP in the development of a global environmental portal on the internet. National consortia are encouraged to establish protocols and standards for delivering an integrated information service in each country. UNEP plans to evolve its GRID networks towards a network of sub-regional data centres and thematic centres of excellence that analyse and synthesise data and information. Allied to this initiative is the restructuring of UNEP-Infoterra national-level networking infrastructure that identifies and certifies primary information and data resources for GRID. UNEP plans to develop thereby a global catalogue of data sources (CDS) in partnership with the European Environment Agency and the Global Environment Facility. The Global CDS will be an Internet-based meta-information system developed and updated by a regional network of GRID nodes working in collaboration with the Infoterra national consortia.
For further information, contact Tore J. Brevik, UNEP, cpiinfo@unep.org or Beth Ingraham, UNEP, beth.ingraham@unep.org.
 

Accelerated phasing-in of double hull oil tankers

On 2 October, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Community Regulation that is aimed at scrapping all single hull oil tankers of more than 600 tonnes dead weight, which fly a Member State flag. Tankers that don’t comply will be denied access to the ports of the Member States, independently of the flag flown by the vessel. The proposal sets dates for phasing out all single hull oil tankers without protective ballast tanks by 2005, single hull oil tankers with partial protection of the cargo tank area by 2010 and single hull oil tankers below MARPOL tonnage (20,000 tonnes DWT) by 2015. International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) requires that all oil tankers with a dead weight tonnage, equal or superior to 600 tonnes DWT delivered as from July 1996 are constructed with a double hull or an equivalent design. For single hull tankers with a dead weight tonnage equal or superior to 20 000 tonnes DWT, and delivered before 6 July 1996, the International Convention requires that they comply with the double hull standards at the latest by the time they are 25 or 30 years old, depending on whether or not they have segregated ballast tanks. The shipping industry argues that gradual phasing out of single hull oil tankers in favour of those with a double hull will have an impact on oil product prices. According to industry estimates about 30 percent of the world's tanker fleet is 20 years old. The International Chamber of Shipping has estimated that the proposal could mean eliminating 2,500 ships worth about 16 billions USD. In the same meeting, EU member states also agreed on stronger port inspections for ships, which are older and have previously failed inspections. The measures of the proposal were to be presented at the International Maritime Organisation this week.
For further information, read the proposal at http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l24231.htm, or read a news release at http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8411&newsDate=3-Oct-2000.
 

EUCC welcomes the European Commission’s new ICZM strategy

On 27 September, the European Commission adopted the “Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on Integrated Coastal Zone Management: a Strategy for Europe”(COM(2000) 547 final) including the “Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Recommendation concerning the implementation of ICZM in Europe"(see Coastal Guide News Special Issue of 29 September). EUCC warmly welcomes this relevant, realistic, and attainable Strategy document and would like to highlight the following points:

1.) The European Commission stresses the need for environmentally sustainable management of the coastal zone in order to maintain the integrity of this resources base of critical importance. This principle should be whole-heartedly supported. Too often in the past, development or exploitation of coastal resources has been looked at from the perspective of only a single stakeholder. The Commission also acknowledges that the Structural Funds have not paid enough attention to the general principles of sustainability and integrated planning and management, and that they should do so in the future.

2.) The EUCC supports the idea of a European Coastal Stakeholders Forum as it will, ultimately, encourage dialogue and better understanding between groups who may not have come together before. Throughout the document, ‘partnerships’ are stressed but these can only work if the relevant stakeholders come together and agree what the issues are and the options for dealing with them.

3.) The plan to support the creation of a coastal practitioners network is very important in the EUCC’s opinion. The key point is the exchange of information on what works and does not work, derived from practical experience. The network will have to be pan-European (linking into the Regional Seas programmes as the Commission indicates in the Strategy), comprehensive, multidisciplinary, encompassing both governmental and non-governmental practitioners in the field of planning and management, and multi-faceted e.g. linked to coastal habitat networks, such as the EUCC's shingle network and sand dune network. The network should also be supported by communication media such as an Internet site, an e-mail newsletter and maybe a magazine. The EUCC is already engaged in this approach through its interactive Coastal Guide information service and is ready to join forces with other networks to meet the Commission's objectives.

4.) The EUCC underlines the Commission's recognition of the need to try to ensure research meets the real needs of ICZM. In that context the Commission’s idea of using working groups of the coastal practitioners network for identifying research needs is an important step in the right direction. The idea of setting up a European Coastal Zone Research office to co-ordinate research and diffuse results is also appreciated provided that it is given the remit to promote cross-sectoral research involving both environmental scientists and socio-economic researchers and that it ensures these identify real needs.

5.) The EUCC considers it very important that the Commission will promote public diffusion of information about the coastal zone and the implementation of the Aarhus Convention.

6.) It is also appreciated that the Commission commits itself to better meet its ICZM related obligations on the Regional Seas level and to involve neighbouring non-EU countries. The recognition that guidance for lower administrative levels is also needed and will be provided is a step forward.

7.) The EUCC hopes that existing European Union funds will be re-prioritised towards ICZM as outlined in the Strategy.

8.) Inevitably, the strength of the Strategy will be reliant upon the acceptance of the Recommendation by individual Member States. In this context, the EUCC very much welcomes the idea of committing the Member States to publishing the results of a National Stocktaking exercise that analyses which actors, laws and institutions influence the planning and management of the coastal zone and describes the role of citizens, NGOs, and the private sector. 

9.) The EUCC also supports the proposal to develop and to publish national ICZM strategies and to establish adequate, continuous systems for monitoring and diffusing information about the coastal zone. 

10.) The EUCC calls upon governments of EU Member States and the Members of the European Parliament to show their commitment to the ICZM process by accepting the Recommendation and supporting the Strategy. Only in this way will the myriad of problems facing the coastal zone be resolved.

For more information, please contact Dr. Alan Pickaver (Head, Policy & Projects) at the EUCC International Secretariat.
 

Commissioner listened to criticism on fishing policy measures

Commissioner Frans Fischler, responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, invited all the parties interested in the future of the Common Fisheries Policy to a hearing in Brussels on 21 September. There was agreement among the almost 200 delegates attending the hearing on the need to tackle fleet overcapacity which threatens the sustainability of many fisheries and of the fleets which depend on them. However, they were also almost unanimous in their criticism of the Community Multi-Annual Guidance Programmes (MAGPs) and particularly of the current one: MAGP IV. A recent Commission report on this MAGP described it as inefficient, ineffective and cumbersome to manage. The environmental dimension was not forgotten either. Fleet policy should take more account of the effects of specific fisheries on the marine environment and favour the use of selective fishing gears. Some called for “set-aside” schemes in the fisheries sector similar to those in the agriculture sector. Commissioner Fischler made a pledge that many issues raised at the hearing would be addressed in the Commission Green Paper on the CFP after 2002. This consultation paper, to be published in February 2001, would look at fleet policy in the long-term. Further information: 
Full press release of the hearing: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/news_corner/press/inf00_09_en.htm
Commission report on MAPG IV: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/factsheets/legal_texts/docscom/en/com_00_272_en.pdf
See also the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on '2002: the Common Fisheries Policy and the fisheries situation in the European Union': 
http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/dat/2000/c_268/c_26820000919en00390042.pdf
 

COASTAL GUIDE NEWS is a biweekly newsletter published by the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) with financial support of Stichting DOEN, the foundation of the Dutch lottery "Postcode Loterij" and the Department of International Nature Affairs of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. For free subscriptions, comments or contributions to this newsletter, please contact news@coastalguide.org. 

© Articles may be reproduced free of charge with acknowledgement and citation of Coastal Guide News and the URL of the Coastal Guide (http://www.coastalguide.org). The articles of this and previous issues of Coastal Guide News can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/news

Members of the Coastal Guide News editorial team: Erik Devilee, Levente Galambosi, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, René van Oers, and Albert Salman. 

Established in 1989, the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) is an association involving the largest coastal network in Europe with 750 members and member organisations in 40 countries. For more information please contact EUCC International Secretariat, POB 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl

© European Union for Coastal Conservation