TL: INTERNATIONAL OCEANS NEWSLETTER, OCT. 1993 SO: Greenpeace International (GP) DT: October 1993 Keywords: oceans fisheries newsletters gp greenpeace marine mammals fish / PILOT ISSUE VOLUME NO. 1 OCTOBER 1993 Around the world, increasing numbers of organisations and individuals are concerned about the health of the marine ecosystem, and involved in its conservation. The International Oceans Newsletter is intended to serve those organisations and individuals, and address the threats facing marine ecosystems and the issues associated with them. Features in the Newsletter will cover the scientific, social, political and environmental aspects of marine ecosystems issues. They will adddress the significance of the many components of global change in the oceans, and the necessity of adopting precautionary approaches in our co-existence with the marine environment. They will provide up-to-date information on upcoming symposia and key scientific research. The Newsletter is also intended as a forum for all NGOs, coastal groups, fisheries collectives and others concerned with the coastal and marine environment. All are encouraged to read, distribute, criticise and contribute. We want to hear from you: your news, views, articles and letters. Articles and letters published in the ION will be read widely: as well as being distributed in the printed form throughout the world, the Newsletter will also be posted on a number of electronic mail systems, with a potential global audience of around twenty million. Please send any comments, contributions or suggestions to the address below. We look forward to hearing from you. Kieran Mulvaney, Editor International Oceans Newsletter Greenpeace International keizersgracht 176 1016 DW Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0)20 523 6555 Fax: +31 (0)20 523 6500 CHANGE IN THE WORLD'S OCEANS? Bruce McKay An explosion in numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish is decimating sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The mysterious and fatal "withering syndrome" of black abalone continues in southern California. A "wasting disease" is striking eelgrass along northeastern U.S. coastlines. Are these natural cyclical occurences or symptoms of regional human-induced disturbances? How does one explain the epidemic of the cancer-like fibropapilloma disease, a disease virtually unheard of ten years ago, in green turtle populations in Florida and Hawaii? What is the reason for the virtual disappearance of black sea urchin throughout much of the Caribbean? Can we expect an increase in toxic algae events of the sort that killed 14 endangered humpback whales along the U.S. mid-eastern shore during late 1987/early 1988 or some 37 endangered manatee in Florida waters during 1982? Are the increases in 'ulcerative syndromes' in coastal finfish in SE Asia, the U.S. and Europe just an artifact of increased surveillance or an ominous sign of extensive coastal degredation? To what extent is commercial fishing responsible for the massive declines in populations of Steller sea lions, harbour seals and fur seals in Alaskan waters? These are just some of the questions with which marine scientists are faced as both the popular press and the scientific literature continue to be replete with reports of anomalous events and descriptions of significant change occuring in marine environments. One of the most striking phenomena has been what appears to be a remarkable increase in the frequency and geographic extent of toxic phytoplankton blooms or 'red tides'. Indeed, human health concerns and the enormity of the ecological and economical impacts of blooms is the drawing card for some 350 scientists to the upcoming VIth International Conference on Toxic Marine Phytoplankton (see Listings on page 7 for details). Only a couple of years ago, such an event years ago would have drawn but a few dozen participants. Although planktonic blooms are a natural component of aquatic environments, many individual phytoplankton species are stimulated by nutrient loadings. The over-enrichment or eutrophication of coastal waters by agricultural fertilizer run- off, human and farm animal waste, or by the nitrogenous element of 'acid' rain are likely important components in at least some bloom occurences. The alteration of food web dynamics by chemical contaminants and over-fishing may also be a factor. The transfer of aquaculture products (eg. contaminated bivalves) or ballast water discharge adequately explains the surprise appearance of species in regions where they were historically absent. The accidental, and at times purposeful, introduction of 'alien' species into marine environments has, in this regard, become a global issue. Besides eroding the biogeographical distinctness of coastal environments, introduced species can cause considerable ecological damage. For example, Caulerpa taxifolia, one of at least nine of the seaweed species introduced to the Mediterranean, is gradually replacing ecologically important Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds, which are already declining under pressure from pollution and land reclamation in the region. Surprisingly, the species can grow much larger and produce more toxin in the Mediterranean than it ever could in its native tropical environments. This has led to suggestions that it may be evolving new genotypic traits helping it to outcompete existing species. But whether it be C. taxifolia flourishing in the Mediterranean, or the European shore crab scuttling along the South African coast, or the Asian clam that now makes up most of the living biomass in San Francisco Bay this much is known: nearshore environments around the world are being irrevocably altered by a virtual onslaught of alien invaders. Changes in coastal environments are occuring, of course, in numerous other ways; this is largely a result of the fact that over half of the world's population lives along the coastal zone. Highly productive wetlands such as seagrass beds, saltwater marshes, coral reefs and mangrove forests are under tremendous assault. For example, over half -- and perhaps as much as seventy per cent -- of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Caribbean have been destroyed over the last 40 years. Changes in these ecosystems are now so extensive that the regeneration of mangroves into former habitats is unlikely. Bereft of this natural physical barrier, those coastal environments will be particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and extreme storm events as predicted by some climate change scenarios. Increasingly, many coral reef systems are falling victim to reef fisheries, eutrophication, and sedimentation. Some estimates have suggested that up to eighty per cent of coral reefs in SE Asia have been severely degraded as a result of human activity. In addition, an unprecedented series of coral 'bleaching' events (ie. in which there is a dissociation of the symbiotic relationship between the color-providing algae or zooxanthellae and the host coral) have struck in a variety of regions during the last 15 years. Bleached coral, though not dead, appear to be more vulnerable to other stresses which, in turn, can lead to reduced growth and mortality. The wide geographic range of coral bleaching complexes and their known dependence on a narrow temperature regime has resulted in speculation that this may be one early sign of increased climatic warming. Some startling events in populations of higher level predators have also been occuring. Over the last six years there have been four major die-off events involving marine mammals. During 1987/88 over half of the inshore population of U.S. east coast bottlenose dolphin succumbed, ultimately, to massive bacterial infections. Shortly after, in 1988, approximately 18,000 harbour seals died in northern European waters as a result of infection by a distemper-like virus. During 1990 and 1991, another distemper-like virus raced through striped dolphin populations in the Mediterranean; thousands of animals were estimated to have died. And, during the first four months of 1990, 270 bottlenose dolphins washed ashore along the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico. In all cases high levels of persistent and highly toxic organochlorine chemicals were found in the affected populations, leading to much speculation that contaminants may have played an important role in the events. There are numerous other human-related impacts than those mentioned above that are currently resulting, or will result in the future, in extensive alterations and stress to marine environments. These include climate change, increased UV radiation, the damming of rivers for irrigation and energy purposes, overfishing and other harmful fisheries practices, sea surface microlayer contamination by a wide variety of contaminants, and the myriad development and maintenance projects along coastlines worldwide. In many cases, the ecological significance of these and other events, changes, and conditions currently defy understanding. Perhaps, they may simply portend the continued alteration and re- organisation of coastal and oceanic environments, much of it at the hand of humankind. After all, the regenerative and adaptability potential of many environments is enormous. But at its worst, we may be witnessing the unravelling of delicate trophic balances and pathways, and of ecosystemic regulatory controls, with a syndrome of structural effects to be felt over larger and larger regions. OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, INTO THE FIRE: Climate change and the oceans Erwin Jackson and Lyn Goldsworthy The threat of human-induced climate change is real, and in the years to come is likely to radically alter ocean ecosystems. Changes in ocean circulation, the enhancement or suppression upwellings, and the loss of important habitat such as coastal wetlands can be expected. However, considering all the threats faced by marine ecosystems, it would be easy to take the view that climate change was not an immediate problem and would require little action at least in the short term. Overfishing, coastal habitat destruction and toxic pollution would all appear more urgent. Nevertheless, if policy makers interested in the future sustainablity of the oceans ignore climate change they may find themselves stepping out of an overfishing frying pan and into the climate change fire. CHANGES IN OCEAN CIRCULATION: Modelling experiments reviewed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that climate change will result in an increase in sea surface temperature of between 0.2 and 2.5 degrees Celsius by 2030. Ocean warming will be most severe in the surface layer, which will result in less vertical mixing between the surface layer and the nutrient-rich deep ocean. Experiments from four major models also show that maximum warming will occur in the polar regions, and that rainfall could increase especially along the eastern fringes of the continents. Changes in climate may result in a dramatic change of large-scale ocean circulation and upwellings. Recent work by Manabe and Stouffer, published in the British Journal Nature, suggests that within 50 years the oceanic conveyor belt may begin to slow. This is mainly in response to a freshwater cap forming in the North Atlantic and thus inhibiting bottom water formation. Manabe and Stouffer also suggest that if we allow carbon dioxide to quadruple in the atmosphere the oceanic conveyer belt may grind to a virtual halt with catastrophic consequences to the ocean's ecosystems and the Earth's climate. The IPCC submits that these changes in the deep water and surface water mixing may have a significant impact on ocean productivity. Palaeoecological studies reviewed by the IPCC confirm that in the warm periods between ice ages, ocean productivity was reduced in response to changes in oceanic upwellings. In contrast, an increase in the temperature gradient between the quickly warming land masses and the slower warming oceans may cause an increase in along-shore winds. This increase would result in the intensification of coastal upwellings. The IPCC concludes that both processes may be active in the warming world, but the dominance of one will depend on the proximity to land (eg eastern boundary current regimes) or open ocean (North Pacific Equatorial Counter-Current). They warn that these changes may have "profound impacts" on fisheries. Impacts of changing currents and nutrient availability: 45 per cent of the primary production of the ocean is produced in the polar regions and the upwelling zones. The expected decrease in oceanic upwellings will lead to a global decrease in the primary productivity of the world's oceans. This may be further exacerbated in some regions by the increased frequency and intensity of drought and decreased rainfall (resulting from climate change). In some regions this would lead to the reduction of nutrient input from the landmasses. The decrease in upwellings and increase in vertical stratification will result in the reduction of nutrients being injected from rich deep water into surface water layers. This has an obvious consequence of diminishing nutrient supply to the open ocean, leading to a loss of phytoplankton productivity. An increase in temperature could also be expected to increase photosynthesis in phytoplankton, which would in turn lead to a faster turnover of nutrients, thus exhausting the already reduced nutrient supply. However, the intensification of coastal upwellings, as well as, for example, increased run-off from land masses in some areas (as climate change intensifies regional rainfall) could result in increased nutrient supply in coastal waters. The destruction of coastal habitats such as mangrove communities by climate change could temporarily also increase the input of nutrients. Dramatic increases in nutrient supply may result in detrimental changes in ecosystem structure; algal blooms, which are exacerbated by warmer temperatures, may be one consequence of this ecosystem imbalance. Some algae produce toxins: the mass death of dolphins in the Carolinas in 1988 has been linked to such alankton bloom" killed salmon off Sweden and threatened Norway's salmon mariculture industry. IMPACTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE: Thermal expansion of the warming oceans will result in global sea level rise, estimated at around 20-40mm per decade. The IPCC classifies this as the most important effect to impact on coastal communities and associated marine ecosystems. Over two-thirds of all commercial fish species rely on wetlands for at least one part of their life cycle. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that such wetlands can adapt to rapidly changing oceans, and they may well be drowned even with the very small sea level rises predicted by IPCC. CONCLUSION: Climate change has emerged as one of the world's most pressing problems. It is a problem that must be addressed if we are to ensure the future viability of society. While policy-makers continue to procrastinate, ocean habitats are being dangerously stressed from overfishing, pollution and loss of habitat -- and greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere. GOVERNMENTS FIDDLE AS FISHERIES FLOUNDER Mike Hagler NEW YORK -- Government delegations failed to agree on fundamental reforms needed to overcome the deepening crisis in world fisheries during the first session of the United Nations conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. The collective political will to achieve such urgent reforms is fundamentally lacking, according to representatives of most of the NGOs attending the three-week-long July session at the United Nations in New York. As a result, some NGOs want the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to assume an oversight role over further proceedings, to ensure the Confernece meets its Earth Summit obligations, as set out in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21. The Conference negotiations involve the disputes over the interests of 60 "like-minded" coastal countries led by Canada, Iceland, Argentina, Chile, Peru and New Zealand, and those of ten so-called Distant Water Fishing Nations (DWFNs) such as China, Russia, Japan, Poland, Taiwan, and South Korea whose fleets include vessels with long-range capability. Concerned that fishing by DWFNs on straddling and highly migratory stocks outside national EEZs was undermining management efforts inside their zones, the "likeminded states", led by Canada, had pushed for urgent action -- pressure which intensified in the preparatory meetings leading up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Finding such matters too difficult to resolve at Rio, the Earth Summit called for an intergovernmental conference to address the problems of transboundary stocks. This set the stage for the UN General Assembly to agree, last December, to convene the July 1993 gathering in New York. Last year, the Canadian government, in a desperate move to protect the cod stocks off its eastern coast, closed the fishery indefinitely. The result was an overnight loss of 25,000 jobs in Newfoundland, affecting 400 coastal communities. Canada has laid the blame for the collapse of its cod fishery on the fleets of DWFNs fishing adjacent to its EEZ. But NGOs, amongst them displaced Canadian fishermen's groups, argued that in most cases of this sort, it is the coastal state which is equally, if not largely, to blame, as a result of poor and even reckless fisheries development and management decisions. An NGO Statement, A Call for Global Fisheries Reform, signed by more than 100 groups from both North and South, was presented to the Conference on the opening day. It formed the basis of NGO lobbying of delegates during the three weeks of negotiations, calling for reforms in three fundamental areas: first, to ensure conservation and an ecologically sound approach to fishing on the high seas, and adoption of comparable measures in zones of national jurisdiction -- measures based on precaution; second, to protect and preserve marine and coastal habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas; and third, to support and strengthen artisanal, indigenous, women, traditional and smallscale fishworkers, and coastal communities which rely substantially on fishing for food and livelihoods, and ensure their effective representation in national, regional and global fora. Coastal states were adamant in pressing for urgent action, while distant water fishing states were loathe to see themselves pressed by this sense of urgency to give up what they saw as their historical right of access to high seas fisheries. Generally agreed by most delegates is that regional fisheries organizations should be empowered to take whatever relevant conservation and management measures are eventually agreed, in whatever form, and enforce them. Most NGOs are in agreement with this. However, NGO consensus is (and this is supported by some delegations) that a legally binding, global regime is necessary as a safety net, in case regional agreements fail. Distant water states, such as the European Community and South Korea, reject this outright, seeing it as a direct threat to their national interests. Frustrated at the failure of the Conference to address the fundamental concerns outlined in the NGO Statement, NGOs left the first session of the Conference better organised and determined to continue to raise concerns to world media and other interested global reform organizations. On other fronts, FAO is expected to participate actively in the continuing Conference negotiations, and will be working on two technical papers -- on the precautionary principle in fisheries management; and on Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) -- in advance of the next session. FAO should seek extensive consultation with NGOs which have expertise and the desire to make contributions to the production of these important papers. One of the most significant parallel activities being undertaken by FAO is the development of a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing. Whereas the mandate of the UN Conference covers fishing practices on the high seas, the FAO Code of Conduct is also meant to apply within EEZs. NGOs are deeply concerned that, although the drafting of some sections of the Code is already well advanced, FAO has made no effort to consult NGOs. This was a key issue at the March 1993 meeting of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), where delegates agreed that "the active participation of member governments, governmental and nongovernmental organisations and experts will be sought in the preparation of the Code." NGOs are insisting that clear and effective mechanisms be established to ensure active participation, based on timely and advanced access to pertinent documents and information, and direct involvement in consultations and meetings. Copies of the NGO Statement, A Call for Global Fisheries Reform, are available by writing to the International Oceans Newsletter. THE NEED FOR AN EC DRIFTNETS BAN On the opening day of the UN Fisheries Conference, the European Community tried to claim the environmental high ground. In his opening address, the EC Director General for Fisheries, Almeida Serra, told delegates that the meeting's goal should be "conservation and management policies ... which guarantee rational, responsible and sustainable fishing." But the reality of the fisheries management in the EC is a far cry from its rhetoric. Even as the New York conference opened, driftnet vessels from EC nations were at work in the Mediterranean and Northeast Atlantic, more than two years after the UN General Assembly had agreed to a global ban on the use of high seas driftnets by the end of 1992. Some of these vessels were operating, and continue to operate, with the support of EC governments and as part of EC fisheries policy. In December 1991, following the General Assembly ruling, the EC granted a derogation to some French vessels using driftnets to catch albacore tuna in the Northeast Atlantic. This derogation provided a phase-out period of two years, to ease the process of reconversion for those vessels which had been using driftnets for at least two years. These vessels would be allowed to use driftnets which did not each exceed 2.5 km in length, and which together measured less than 5 km. Under the terms of the Regulation under which it was adopted, the derogation is set to expire on 31 December 1993, "unless the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, decides to extend it in the light of scientific evidence showing the absence of any ecological risk linked thereto." However, no definition of "ecological risk" which would allow a measurable evaluation has been agreed. Supporters of the driftnet fleet are attempting to restrict the definition to the impact of driftnets either on the target albacore, or the by-catch of dolphins. And, as the deadline approaches, they have been working overtime to establish that neither albacore nor dolphins are at risk from continued use of driftnets. But the evidence clearly shows otherwise. Study after study of driftnet fisheries around the world has shown their devastating impact, and not just on target fish species and marine mammals. In the South Pacific, observer reports listed a total of 46 species caught in the former Japanese driftnet fishery for tuna; the Japanese squid driftnet fishery in the North Pacific used to catch millions of non-target animals. European driftnet fisheries are no different. The French driftnet fishery catches several species in addition to albacore, including swordfish, sunfish, sharks and seven species of cetaceans. In the Mediterranean, a study of the Italian swordfish fishery in the Ligurian Seas in 1990 and 1991, sponsored by the Italian Ministerio della Marina Mercantile, recorded a total of 30 different species in the nets. Only eighteen per cent of the catch was the target species. This report, combined with other sources, suggests that the total number of different species caught could be as high as 85. In December 1992, the EC Council of Ministers agreed on a new basis for the management of Community fisheries. They recognised that consideration of the impact of fisheries on the marine ecosystem should be an integral part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). As a consequence, there is now a much stronger legal basis for measures such as a restriction on the use of driftnets. Such a restriction must now be put in place, not only because of the impact of those driftnet fisheries already in existence, but because of those which could develop and grow, encouraged by any apparent lack of willingness on the part of the Community to take action against driftnetters. Already, Britain and Ireland are conducting small, "experimental" drift net fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic. The Baltic, whose ecosystem has already been devastated by human overexploitation, is nonetheless home to driftnets which are more than 20 km long. And in the Mediterranean, the Italian driftnet fleet also continues to deploy nets which are longer than 20 km. This illegal fleet, comprising approximately 720 vessels, occupies the entire Mediterranean, from the south of Turkey to the Spanish coast. Its negative impact on fish stocks and other marine populations could, within a very few years, become irreversible. The future of thousands of artisanal fishermen -- whose livelihood depends on the very species driftnetters discard by the ton, such as Atlantic bonito, frigate mackerel, albacore and bluefin tuna -- is also threatened. Sightings of these illegal vessels have been reported to the European Commission and the UN Secretary-General. But nothing has changed. In fact, observations during the 1993 season suggest that the driftnetters may be expanding their area of operation: in May 1993, Spanish fishermen reported that Italian fleets were operating in the Balearic Sea. Since then, at least eleven sperm whales and numerous dolphins have been found dead on the Spanish coast. The majority of the sperm whales were entangled in fragments of driftnet. Most were young or recently born. There is only one way to prevent such devastation continuing. The EC must bring an end to the derogation, and prohibit the use of driftnets by its nationals and in international waters. Not only would that bring an end to the immediate problem, it would also show that the EC is serious about appropriate fisheries management measures. For, if the EC is not capable of cpntrolling fishing operations by its own nationals in the Mediterranean, can we have faith in their dealings with high seas fisheries? HISTORIC LONDON CONVENTION MEETING SET FOR NOVEMBER At their 16th Consultative Meeting, November 8-12, the Contracting Parties to the London Convention (LC) will take action on proposals to prohibit permanently ocean incineration and the dumping of radioactive and industrial wastes at sea. Earlier this year, Denmark Spain and Nauru took the lead at a special LC "Amendment Group" meeting to adopt a "fast track" approach, whereby final decisions will be made on three annexrelated amendments. Their proposals, which most governments are supporting, would *prohibit radioactive waste dumping at sea *prohibit industrial waste dumping at sea, and *prohibit ocean incineration These decisions are needed now, in order to put the London Convention's house in order with respect to outdated, environmentally unacceptable dumping practices that have been the subject of extensive LC consideration over the past decade. Most of the regional agreements pertaining to waste disposal at sea, signed after the LC came into existence, go far beyond the LC in so far as the prohibition of ocean dumping of industrial and radioactive wastes is concerned. Within the LC, a growing number of governments are of the view that, unless the Convention is brought into line with current environmental, ocial, political and legal realities by making the above kinds of changes, the old LC runs the risk of becoming obsolete. DUMPERS'CLUB? Too often over the years, the LC has conveyed the image of a "dumpers' club", rather than that of an organisation truly dedicated and committed to ocean protection and pollution prevention. Although this perception may have been unfair in some instances, it is a well known fact, and also has resulted in lack of interest in attending or joing the LC by many countries not directly concerned with ocean dumping techniques. Given this concern over the negative image of the Convention, the Contracting Parties of what was until then known as the London Dumping Convention decided by consensus, at their Fifteenth Consultative Meeting last year, to change the name, dropping the word "dumping". That decision was widely welcomed. Everyone agreed that it made a lot of sense to move away from the "dumpers' club" perception that has existed throughout the Convention's history. However, unless the Consultative Meeting adopts the proposals to ban ocean incineration and the dumping of industrial and radioactive wastes, Contracting Parties risk being accused of hypocricy and inconsistency, of wanting cosmetic change only. It is widely believed that the prohibition of radioactive and industrial waste dumping and incineration will definitely modify the "dumpers' club" image. In fact, no other measure could reinforce a "new" or "updated" focus and image for the Convention, while also serving as an excellent advertisement to non-member countries to join and participate in the LC efforts to solve cutting edge marine pollution problems in the 1990s and beyond. FISHERIES AND THE RIGHTS OF FISHWORKERS Sebastian Matthew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers Given the inter-relationship between species and the fluidity of the ocean, developments in the high seas and EEZs have a direct impact -- economic, social, political and biological -- on coastal waters, and on the millions of artisanal and small-scale fishworkers who contribute to the largest share of the world's fish production. Economic overfishing and the consequent redundancy of capital and labour in the industrial countries have forced many of those nations to seek alternative fishing grounds in Southern waters. National governments in Southern states, often caught under the burden of debt-crisis as a result of the unfair lending practices of international lending institutions, myopically respond to any offer of foreign exchange and totally disregard the long-term interests of their coastal fishworkers. Given the absence of any surveillance and enforcement mechanisms to supervise their own waters, alien fishing vessels find it easy to transgress into rich coastal waters. The result is considerable damage to artisanal and small-scale fishworkers, because the alien vessels remove the fish on which they are traditionally dependent and also often destroy their traditional fishing craft and gears. Senegalese fishermen, in particular, are very concerned about these developments. EC vessels fishing in Senegalese waters under the Lome Agreement have played havoc with subsistence fisheries, and the fishermen have been actively campaigning, at home and in the EC, against the fisheries agreement signed by the Senegalese government and the Community. Indiscriminate removal of bait fish -- the food for species traditionally caught in the lagoon waters -- by Japanese pole- andline vessels in the South Pacific is believed to have affected the catch potential of traditional communities, especially in the Solomon Islands. Distant-water fishing vessels, sometimes referred to as the "vacuum-cleaners of the ocean," often violate basic human rights, particularly of workers recruited from Southern countries. Contractual violations resulting in lower pay than as originally stipulated, ill treatment onboard, longer working hours, and sexual abuse have been reported by workers from the Phillipines - -often young boys -- on Taiwanese and Korean vessels. There are also reports of migrant workers being killed onboard these vessels in violent mutinies between different ethnic and linguistic groups. The ongoing UN Conference process must address the basic human rights of fishworkers, especially those for whom fish and fishing are fundamental for food and survival. As is stated in the NGO Statement, A Call for Global Fisheries Reform, the three broad issues before the conference are conservation, protection of the marine environment and the rights of fishworkers. Although fishing on the high seas is an issue of concern, the Conference cannot ignore fishworkers' concerns in coastal waters and fisheries, and must commit to fundamental reform. CHLORINE THREAT TO MEDITERRANEAN EXPOSED IN REPORT A report published in August by Greenpeace has exposed a chlorine factory at Flix, in Catalunya, Spain as perhaps the most dangerous source of chlorine pollutants to the whole Mediterranean. The factory discharges into the river Ebro which reaches the Mediterranean on the western coast of Spain. These pollutants were implicated three years ago in a mass killing of Mediterranean dolphins. The factory at Flix is also exposed as a potentially serious source of mercury pollution. Samples of water and soil sediments taken outside the plant revealed alarming levels of the banned chlorinated carcinogens DDT and PCB. The chlorine factory stands 80 km up stream from the Mediterranean Sea. Erkimia, the holding company in Barcelona, have claimed that they no longer produce these chemicals. In a letter to the Inter Press Service, Erkimia stated that production of PCB was shut down in December 1986 and that, "concerning DDT, we stopped production in 1971." Yet scientists have discovered levels of DDT and its break-down products, and levels of PCBs, consistent with "recent discharge" into the river Ebro. According to Dr Paul Johnston of the University of Exeter in the UK, one of the authors of the report, it is possible that the presence of such high levels of these poisons can in part be explained by the incineration of redundant DDT and PCBs still stockpiled on the site. "Burning off DDT and PCBs may be part of the answer. But our results suggest that mobilisation of these chemicals may be continuing into the river. The levels of DDT we measured were up to 1,000 times higher than those agreed by various regulatory authorities as necessary to protect aquatic life." Research conducted in 1987 on fish in the Mediterranean, around the mouth of the river Ebro, found significantly higher levels of DDT and PCB in their tissue than elsewhere in the western Mediterranean. The river Ebro carries all these contaminants downstream to a delta before emptying into the Mediterranean. The delta is an important rice growing region and local fishing supports many coastal communities. The health hazards of DDT and PCBs have been recognised for over thirty years. Both these products are made with the chlorine produced in the plant and are known as organochlorines. They accumulate in the fatty tissues of lower organisms like plankton, insects and molluscs, and are then passed up the food chain to fish, to dolphins, whales and ultimately to human beings. DDT is a suspected human carcinogen, and therefore widely banned. PCBs also persist in the food chain and are strongly suspected to cause learning difficulties in children whose mothers have been exposed to these chemicals. They are known to cause the suppression of the human immune system. Both DDT and PCBs have effects in tiny concentrations. In July 1990, a mass killing of striped dolphins began in the western Mediterranean. It began in Spanish waters and spread over the following six months into the eastern Mediterranean. One scientist who examined the carcasses of many dead dolphins found the highest levels of organochlorines ever recorded in the bodies of marine mammals. "The PCBs we're finding now are the PCBs that were released in the 1970s," said Professor Alex Aguilar in the Biology Department of the University of Barcelona. "The animals continue to recycle and reincorporate them - and the problem is getting worse." Industry unleashes chlorine from its naturally occurring forms to create chlorine gas, or free chlorine, setting in motion a chain of events that is wreaking havoc with public health and the environment. Chlorine is an element which has always existed in nature, but usually only found bound as salts, mainly sodium chloride, or common salt. Chlorine gas does not exist naturally anywhere. Major uses of chlorine are in PVC production, solvent manufacture and pulp bleaching. Free chlorine combines with carbon to form organochlorines. Because these chemicals rarely occur naturally most living creatures have not developed the means to detoxify them. Some of the documented effects of organochlorines on a wide range of species, including humans are: they can cause cancer, lead to reproductive failure and infertility, cause feminization of males, reduce sperm count, impair the development of young, disrupt the immune system and damage the nervous system, liver, kidneys and other organs. Organochlorines are bioaccumulative, they are passed from one generation to the next. These toxic chemicals are passed through the placenta to the unborn young and accumulate in breast milk to be passed to the newborn. AGENDA Each issue of the International Oceans Newsletter will contain news of upcoming events, symposia, seminars and conventions. Please send information to the address on Page 2. Fifth South Pacific Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas October 4-8, Tonga Meeting of Sub-Committee on Fisheries Trade of the FAO Committee on Fisheries October 5-8, Rome, Italy VI International Conference on Toxic Marine Phytoplankton October 18-22, Nantes, France Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) October 25-November 23, Hobart, Australia World Coast: International Conference on Coastal Zone Management November 1-5, The Hague, The Netherlands London Convention: 16th Consultative Meeting November 8-12, London, England The Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas November 10-13, Baltimore, Maryland, USA United Nations General Assembly, 48th Session September-December, New York, New York, USA; late November/early December, consideration of fisheries issues: Review of implementation of driftnet moratorium resolution (46/215, 1991); approval of further sessions of UN Fisheries Conference; annual resolution on Law of the Sea. CORAL REEFS AT RISK More than 100 top coral reef scientists from thirty countries have concluded that, although data is scarce, the available information shows a "distressingly consistent" worldwide pattern of reef degradation near centres of human population. The warning came at the end of a three-day meeting at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in June. Acording to conference organiser Dr. Robert Ginsburg, the results of the meeting confirmed what had previously been only a vague impression among those who study reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and in the Caribbean. "In each region, there are still pristine reefs with abndant natural resources. However, there are a growing number of reefs, particularly those near urban centres, that are showing dramatic degradation," Ginsburg said. "There are five major laboratories located on the rim of the Caribbean basin where scientists over the past foty years have documented a dramatic decrease of up to fifty per cent of the previously abundant corals and significant reductions in numbers of reef fish," added Dr Jeremy Jackson of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. The researchers ranked sewage, siltation from poorly planned land use, and overfishing as the top causes of reef damage. The meeting agreed to designate 1996 as "International Coral Reef Year" and to establish a permanent coral reef monitoring network. The network would link marine research labs worldwide and set up a global database on reef health. Two international agencies, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Britain and the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management in the Philippines, are setting up the database; they plan to use dive groups, marine park managers, fisheries regulators and scientific publications around the world to help collect data. "We can no longer simply do science as usual, but we need to dramatically increase the attention we give to management of coral reefs," Ginsburg said. "Coral reefs have been on this Earth for more than 260 million years and have survived all manner of catastrophes including meteorites, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and so must be considered robust or hearty ecosystems," said Dr Richard Griggs of the University of Hawaii. "What strikes me as signficant and alarming is that in just forty years, how many of these lovely reefs close to population centers have been degraded. Our challenge for the future is to turn this situation around by protecting those still pristine reefs from human encroachment, and improving conditions to enable recovery of those reefs that have been damaged." ATTENTION! INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY BY AND FOR NGOs WORKING ON CORAL REEF ISSUES Greenpeace is inviting you to contribute to the publication of the Coral Reef Network Directory. This directory will be the first of its kind to highlight NGOs worldwide working to protect coral reefs. The Coral Reef Network Directory will contain comprehensive profiles of NGOs working on coral reef issues, describing their objectives, current activities and areas of expertise. Organisations that exclusively focus on coral reef issues and those that may have a coral reef-oriented project are equally welcome to contribute. The Directory will help promote cooperation, collaboration and support among NGOs worldwide concerned about coral reef ecosystems and livelihoods they sustain. The growing numbers of groups working on coral reef issues have a great deal to learn from each other, and the Directory will be one means of opening more lines of communication. A copy of the Directory will be provided to each contributor. Please make sure your organization -- or any organizations with which you may work -- are included, by filling out a questionnaire and returning it no later than November 1, 1993. For more information, and/or copies of the questionnaire, please write to: Project coordinator, Coral Reef Network Directory, Greenpeace, 139 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, United States.