fisheries and marine service translation series no. 4414dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library/115899.pdffor instance...
TRANSCRIPT
FISHERIES AND MARINE SERVICE
Translation Series No. 4414
Fish eats fish - Food chains and catches in the North Sea
by G. Hempel
Original title: Fisch frisst Fisch - Nahrungsketten und Fangertrage in der Nordsee
From: Umschau 78: 271-277, 1978
Translated by the Translation Bureau (EK) Multilingual Services Division
Department of the Secretary of State of Canada
Department of the Environment Fisheries and Marine Service
Halifax Laboratory Halifax, N. S.
1978
•
25 pages typescript
• e. ..
DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE SECRÉTARIAT D'ÉTAT
TRANSLATION BUREAU BUREAU DES TRADUCTIONS
DIVISION DES SERVICES MULTILINGUAL SERVICES CANADA
TRANSLATED FROM - TRADUCTION DE INTO EN
German English
271-277 ISSUE NO.
NUMÉRO VOLUME
YEAR
ANNÉE
9 1978 78
DATE OF PUBLICATION DATE DE PUBLICATION
PAGE NUMBERS IN ORIGINAL
NUMÉROS DES PAGES DANS
L'ORIGINAL
PUBLISHER - ÉDITEUR
not shown
PLACE OF PUBLICATION LIEU DE PUBLICATION
not shown
NUMBER OF TYPED PAGES
NOMBRE DE PAGES
DACTYLOGRAPHIÉES
2 5
DATE OF REQUEST DATE DE LA DEMANDE 14/9/7 8
DIVISION MULTILINGUES
tF re
AUTHOR - AUTEUR
Gotthilf HEMPEL TITLE IN ENGLISH - TITRE ANGLAIS
Fish eats Fish - Food Chains and Catches in the North Sea
TITLE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TRANSLITERATE FOREIGN CHARACTERS)
TITRE EN LANGUE ÉTRANGÉRE (TRANSCRIRE EN CARACTÈRES ROMAINS)
Fisch frisst Fisch - Nahrungsketten und Fangertrâge in der Nordsee
REFERENCE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (NAME OF BOOK OR PUBLICATION) IN FULL. TRANSLITERATE FOREIGN CHARACTERS.
RÉFÉRENCE EN LANGUE ÉTRANGÉRE (NOM DU LIVRE OU PUBLICATION), AU COMPLET, TRANSCRIRE EN CARACTÈRES ROMAINS,
UMSCHAU
REFERENCE IN ENGLISH - RÉFÉRCE EN ANGLAIS
(Science) 'nview
REQUESTING DEPARTMENT TRANSLATION BUREAU NO. 1486952 MINISTÈRE-CLIENT DFE NOTRE DOSSIER N°
Fisheries BRANCH OR DIVISION DIRECTION OU DIVISION Sc. Info. & Pub. Br.
Allan T. Reid PERSON REQUESTING DEMANDÉ PAR Scientific Documentation
YOUR NUMBER VOTRE DOSSIER N°
TRANSLATOR (INITIALS) E.K. TRADUCTEUR (INITIA LES)
NOV 20 JIU
UNED:1-r:D
For Inforrnolion
TRADUCTION Informaiion seulement
SO5.200.10.6 (REV. 2/68)
7530-21-029-5333
TRANSLATION BUREAU BUREAU DES TRADUCTIONS
. ,
•. Secretary Secrétariat of State d'État
MULTILINGUAL SERVICES DIVISION DIVISION DES SERVICES MULTILINGUES
Client's No.—No du client - Department — Ministère Division/Branch — Division/Direction City — Ville
Sc. Info. & Pub. Br./ DFE Fisheries Ottawa
Bureau No.—No du bureau Language — Langue Translator (Initials) — Traducteur (Initiales)
NOY 1486952 German E.K. 21 1918
Fish eats Fish - Food Chains and Catches in the North Sea
From: "Umschau", 1978, issue 9, pages 271-277
Author: Gotthilf HEMPEL
Address of author: Prof. Dr. G. Hempel Direktor der Abteilung Fischereibiologie Institut fuer Meereskunde an der Universitàt Kiel Dtisternbrooker Weg 20 D-2300 Kiel FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
[Director, Department of Fishery Biology Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel]
SUMMARY
The total landings of North Sea fisheries drastically increased in the sixties and early seventies. The structure of fishing has changed through the development of commercial fisheries which exploit fish species unwanted before, such as sprat, sand lance and Norway pout. At present, more North Sea fish is used for fish meal than for human consumption. At the same time, productivity of traditionally exploited resources has changed. While the number of herrings has declined, most other fish populations have become more productive due to an increased growth rate of the young, and to an increased reproduction rate. This paper discusses the position of the fishes in the complex food web of the North Sea, and possible effects of the climate on the food supply for fish larvae and older fish. So far, eutrophication and pollution seem to be of minor importance. Predator-prey relationships between species and age groups of fish have been upset by the decrease in herring and mackerel resources. These indirect effects of fisheries on marine ecosystems should be taken into account in the future management of multispecies fisheries.
Marine research/herring/cod/plaice/sand lance/sprats/mackerels/haddock/
whiting/phytoplankton/pollution/spawning grounds/CO 2
um Er): i-F.D TRANSLATION For in forna tior, TRA Dfi:0I9
NON R EVISEE InForen,'
SEC 5-25 (Rev. 6/78)
2
In former times, a rise or a decline in the yields of fisheries were considered a judgement of God: God had decided to reward proper behavior if the yields increased, or to punish a sinful life if they decreased. In the last decade, we have observed the decline of herring fishery and a simultaneous rise in the haddock catches in the North Sea--and nobody can say that herring catchers are more sinful than the luckier haddock catchers. Today, man interferes deeply with the complex ecosystem of the North Sea, and nobody can predict the consequences with even so much as approximate accuracy. The following article is not intended to lend our concern for the future of the biotic communities in the North Sea the appearance of scientific argumentation, which cannot be offered as yet. It rather aims at stimulating environmental research in the North Sea in the hope that we are still in time with a warning based on well-grounded scientific facts.
In the second half of the last century, fisherieshad grown continually;
the market in the prospering industrial regions played an important role:
"Fish and chips" in England or salt herrings in Upper Silesia and in the
region around the Ruhr were at times the most important protein sources
for the industrial population. Transportation of fresh fish into the interior
of the country was made possible by the railroad, and through motorization
large nets could be drawn by ships, and heaved by winches. The fleets became
mobile, fish expanded over the whole North Sea. Consequently, the fish
stocks were quickly reduced, and thus fish became less profitable. To
counteract this development, and to keep the landings and the catches per
day of voyage at a high level, the fishing capacity of ships was increased
by more efficient machinery and other improvements.
But if one now eliminates these improvements mathematically, one
obtains, in the light of the corrected catches per day of voyage, a picture of
the changes in the fish stocks in the southern North Sea from 1885 to 1952
'(Fig. 1): a sharp declineuntil the First World War, then a resurgence of
the fish populations due to the 'closed season' enforced by the war, another
decline in the twenties and thirties, then again a resurgence caused by
the war. However, thereafter the accumulated stocks were rapidly depleted.
3
The development was not uniform for all fish species: natural,
long-term fluctuations in the size of the populations apparently interfered
with the influence of fish
Fish resources and fisheries are subject to change
The haddock, distributed over the whole North Sea in the 19th century,
retreated north. True southern species, especially the sole, decreased
slightly until 1910, but then increased greatly. Only in about the last
15 years have these trends of the northern and southern species became
reversed; the haddock is again advancing south and the sole is retreating.
Typical North Sea animals, such as plaice and codfish, however,
showed few systematic changes until the middle of this century.
In spite of this shift and the increase in fishing intensity, the
total catches of North Sea fisheries remained nearly constant at 1 to 1.5
million tons during the first half of this century, except during wartime.
Subsequently, however, considerable changes took place. In 1952,
Danish and German cutters started to catch fish as raw material for fish
meal in order to promote poultry and pig fattening. At that time, young
herrings served as such fish-meal raw material. From 1965 to 1968, the
Norwegians, with their ringnet fishery, then embarked on herring and mackerel
fishing on a large scale in the northern North Sea reducing the stocks of
both species to approximately one tenth of their original size within
three years. In the southern and central North Sea, the herrings had
made a very noticeable retreat already before that time.
After 1968, commercial fishing, therefore, had to direct
attention to new species: sand lance, sprat, Norway pout. The surprising
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: 'In this paper, "tons" (0 always refers to metric tons.
80000 Icçj
70 000
60 000
50 000
40 000
30 000
20 000-
10 000
1889 94 99
re Sch ,?I)- fische
U)
z
• r • r • 1904 09 14 19 24 29 34 39 46 48
I:91 ;
- -
andere Gadiden Plattfische Fische andere Schollen andere
4
Fip:ure 1: Population density of the North Sea fishes, measured --- as the corrected yield of the voyage of a fictitious
standard steam trawler. (According to Lundbedk.)
(1) haddock
(2) other gadoid fishes
(3) plaice
(4) other flatfishes
(5) other fishes
5
thing now is that simultaneous with the decline of herring and mackerel
fishing, and with the rise of the commercial fishing, the yields of the
traditional bottom-dwelling fishes increased: cod, haddock, whiting and
plaice. The spawn stock of plaice, for instance, have increased fivefold
since 1950 due to improved growth of the young, and to an increased
production of offspring.
These changes have come quite unexpectedly for all biologists, who
now demand a general revision of our concepts concerning the management
of fish resources in the North Sea. From the parallel changes in almost
all the lightly-exploited as well as heavily-exploited populations it can
be deduced that either all species are reacting jointly to a powerful
external stimulus or that they are strongly interdependent so that interferences--
for instance the heavy exploitation of herring and mackerel stocks--have a
drastic effect on other species.
Most animal species, especially the fishes, occupy very different /272
positions in the food web in the course of their lives. Take, for
instance, the codfish of Kiel Bay which when young chiefly feeds on small
crustaceans and clams, i.e. exists on the level of the first carnivores
(level of predacious animals). Later on, it may also eat sprat and herring
which means it has climbed one step higher. It may climb to even higher
carnivore levels by eating small predatory fishes, and it may extract food
from various trophic levels during one meal (Fig. 2).
In the course of their lives, the fishes belong to different
biotic communities, and often the various stages of life are also separated
spatially. Let us look at the herring, for instance (Fig. 3): the eggs lie
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: German city on the Baltic Sea.
6
on the bottom, the larvae float freely in the water; they migrate to the
shallows, and there the young move about in the shallow water until, finally,
the adults, the fully-grown fishes, migrate to the open sea. In the case of
the codfish (Fig. 4), already the eggs are part of the plankton; they float
freely and, like the larvae, are exposed to many predators, including their
own parents.
The position of the fishes in the ecological system must normally
be illustrated as a complex nutrient and energy-flow diagram. The concept
of a linear food chain is not sufficient for this purpose.
The influence of the environment
What kind of influence, then, may environmental changes exert on
the stocks? First, there is the climate which, by way of turbulence and
light supply, affects the phytoplankton, and from there also the zooplankton
and the higher links in the food chain. It is a fact that the climate of the /273
North Atlantic has changed in the last decades. We do not know whether these
changes are cyclic or noncyclic--at any rate, it has been observed since
the late forties that the climate over the arctic and subarctic seas has
become worse. Only since 1970, have we again had milder winters.
The North Sea is situated at the southern edge of these developments;
it does not afford us a uniform picture. But we know the effects of turbulence
on the primary production, on the phytoplankton. The spring "bloom" of
the plankton fluctuates from one year to the next, and was three weeks late
on the average in the sixties.
On this spring bloom of the phytoplankton depends that of the
zooplankton which is the most important food of the fish brood. The
spawning time of the fishes, however, is much more strictly fixed than the
development of the plankton.
0 Phythoplankton' Phytoplankton Organodetritus•
Organodetritus•, Organodetritus
Copepoda
Hering
Dorsch
Diastylis
V
1 ..::
' Gohius .
feSà .1.
Witting
.........-- :-.-...D .
I
Dorsch .
Me .lofaurm
Nephthys
Crandon
Wittling
Dorsch
Diastylis
Dorsch
3 4 5
7 , .
Figure 2: Food chains of varied length which lead from the phytoplankton and the plant and animal waste products (organic detritus) to the codfish. Example: Kiel Bay. (According to Arntz.)
phytoplankton copepods herring codfish
phytoplankton cyprinids codfish
2
organic detritus Diastylis codfish
organic detritus Dias tylis Gobius whiting codfish
organic detritus meiofauna Nephthys Crangon Whiting codfish
0 westliche Nordsee
((:::::.) .....e--'--
î 12 bis 20 cm
s*--------------7. • . /4i.':,-.
Eier
Deutsche Bucht
ElEure_21 The various stages of life of the North Sea herring as linked to various habitats. (The measureniênts in cm refer to the length of the fishes.)
(1) larva
(2) eggs
(3) western North Sea
(4) German Bight (5) shallows
(6) to
3 Jahre/50 cm •
(ID Krusteptiere
4-77--
ering-Sandspierling Ruderfakrebse
/ •
1 1/2 bis 1 t■Acinat/5 mrn 4 bis 5 Monate/4 bis 6 cm '
tie.re
•.•/
Qabben ee eAll SC hein
e
9
Figure 4: The North Sea codfish: the shifting in the thoice of food with increasing age. The adult fishes eat large bottom-dwelling animals as well as fishes from sdhools. (According to Moller-Christensen.)
(1) crustaceans (2) herring - sand lance (3) copepods Jahr(e) year(s) (4) small crustaceans Monat(e) month(s) (5) crustaceans, worms bis - to (6) shrimps, clams
10
Thus, it can happen that the larval stage of some fish species does
not coincide favorably with the development of the plankton.
In this case, good production years are missing. The chances of survival
of the fish brood decis vely determine the production of a good hatch in
a particular year. Due to shiftsin climate and fish stocks, the zooplankton
has also changed, and therewith the food for most young fishes. As compared
with the climate, the influence of pollution is still relatively light
(Fig. 5).
The phosphate load of the Rhine has increased tenfold in the last
two decades.
The situation is similar in other rivers, almost all of which flow
into the shallow southern North Sea. The shallows* serve as a mud trap for
fine organic material. The Dutch shallows alone accommodate approximately
one third of the phosphate carried by the Rhine. Much of it is not effectively
converted into living organic matter, but is stored in the sediment. The
primary production of phytoplankton in the German Bight and in the diatom
layers on the tidal mud-flats has increased greatly. This seems to have
benefited the common mussel more than the fishes. In the open North Sea,
especially in the northern North Sea, this eutrophication still has a minor
effect. Another point, which is relevant especially for Schleswig-Holstein
is the reclamation of land (compare UMSCHAU 1978, issue 6, page 163).
We know that the shallows are the "nursery" of quite a number of fishes. For
the plaice, for instance, the shallows are the decisive factor for the size
of the population. The diking of large tracts of the tidal mud-flats limits
the living-space of the young.
*Wattenmeere
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: **northernmost"Land" ( equivalent to 'province' in Canada) of the Federal Republic of Germany.
o 0 Klima Sc.hmutz
Figure 5: The directions in which the three large variable external factors of climate, eutrophication and fishing exert an influence on fish stodcsandfishing yields. Figures = annual production in million tons. (According to Moller-Christensen.)
(1) climate (2) pollution (3) fishing
11
Overfishing
In the last decades, herring and sole have been overfished. The
fishing of codfish, plaice and haddock is more favorable at the moment,
and for Norway pout, sand lance and sprat exploitation has only just begun.
12
/274
Commercial fishing with clos eshed nets, by the way, destroys large numbers
of young haddocks, herrings and other food fishes.
However, indirect effects of fishing are probably even more important. -
Fishing interferes with the complex predatoIt prey relations. The mackerels
are important predators for fish broods and young fishes; the herring eats
the larvae of codfish and haddock, and the codfish is generally the most
important predator in the North Sea. He keeps the herring, mackerel and
haddock populations small (Fig. 6).
When mackerel and herring ceased to prey on fish broods the opportunistic
species, such as sand lance and sprat.) benefited from it. The haddock,
also, produced more offspring per year (Fig. 7).
The codfish, whose population has increased very much, now eats
approximately half a million tons of young fishes per year.
Results of a Danish mathematical model seem to indicate that we
could further increase the total yields of North Sea fishing by extensive
exploitation of codfish, mackerel and herring, i.e. exactly the opposite
of our normal fishing policy which says that these resources must not be
strained.
But this model is based on data about the food relations which are
as yet inadequate. No fishery biologist, at this early date, dares to
suggest more intensive fishing, at least not to the extent as recommended
by the model.
13
Even if we do not draw any practical conclusions from these model
calculations, it does become clear that fishing interferes with the ecosystem
of the North Sea by influencing the predator-prey relations and--to a lesser
extent--the food competition between the populations. The future management /275
of marine regions must take into account such complex relations, and balance
various forms of exploitation against each other.
Schellfisch Makrele Herihg Kabeliau
><%:1 •:0 Larva ta '<V", \\\:: •
Ei 1;1
Figure 6: Predator-prey relations of four North Sea fishes in the various stages of development: the haddock only collects herring eggs from the bottom; the three other species devour broods in the plankton; mackerel and codfish also eat young fishes.
(1) haddock ' (5) adult
( 2 ) mackerel (6) juvenile
(3) herring (7) larva
(4) codfie (8) egg
t
20001-
10a0 -
total .
/ .St intdor 'sr:.1€
500 Sandaal
Sprott Makrel
100 Hering
Industriefischereien
0 Nordsee
60
20
, . I „ , , ,t, , ,t, , , ,
1950 55 60 65 70 . 1975
14
Figure 7: Commercial fisheries catch the raw material for fish meal and fish oil. At the beginning, their efforts were directed toward the herring, then toward the mackerel. Nowadays, chiefly small fishes are caught which are hardly suitable for direct consumption.
(1) commercial fisheries, North Sea (4) sprat
(2) Norway pout (5) mackerel
(3) sand lance (6) herring •
With the same model, it can be shown that a certain increase in the
phosphate input has practically no effect on the fish stocks. The exchange
with the open North Sea and with the open Atlantic is too large for this.
The model cannot predict the annual climatically induced changes in
the number of offspring which are superimposed on all the changes due to
fishing and pollution. Indeed, it is not possible for anyone to know what
changes will take place naturally in the oceanic circulation, and in the
biological system of the seas at some future time and, much less even, what /276
the consequences will be when the increasing CO2-load of the atmosphere
makes its hot-house effect felt, and warms up the seas in the northern
hemisphere.
The above article is chiefly based on the manuscript of a lecture
delivered on the occasion of the annual meeting of the provincial
board of trustees for Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein at the Founder's
Association of Germain Science on September.14, 1977, in Kiel.
Literature
1. Arri tz, - W.- E.: The ,,upper part" of the benthic
food web: The role of macrobenthos in the
western Baltic. Rapp. Froc. Verb. Raw. CIEM 1
174 (im Druck). 2. Andersen, K. P.; Ursin, E.: A multispecies ex-1
tension to the Beverton and Holt theory of-'
fishing, with accounts of phosphorus circura-
tion and primary production. Meddr. Danm.
• Fisk. og Havunders. N.S. 7(1977), S. 319-435.
3. Cushing, D. H.: Marine Ecology and Fisher- 11
les, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1975. !
4. Hempel, G. — Nordsee — eines der ertrag-
. reichsten Meere der Welt. UMSCHAU 75 , : (1975) S..768.
5. Hempel, G.: Fischerei in marinen pkosyste-1 men. Verh. Disch. Zoo:. Ges. (1977) S. 67-85.
. 6. Hempel, G.: North Se.a lisharies '.and fish ;
. stocks -- a review of redent Changes. Rapp. 1 Proc.-Verb.Rékm. C1EM 174 (1 m Druck)..
7. Lundbeck, J.: Biologisch-statistische Unter- ' suchungen über die deutsche Ilochsaefi scherei. IV. 4. Bar. dl. wiss. Kommn. tvleères-
forsch. 15(1963). S. 153-237. • 1 8. A45Iler-Christensen, J.: Nordseefische. Kos-
1 mos Feldführer. Franckh .sche Veriagshand-
lung, Stuttgart, 1977..
Translation of non-English bibliographic items
(1) (in the press)
(2) North Sea - one of the most productive seas of the world.
(5) Fishing in marine ecosystems.
(6) (in the press)
(7) Biologic-statistical investigations on the German deep-sea fisheries.
(8) North Sea fishes.
15
16
(The following text appears in the shaded sections of the pages carrying
Hempel's article)
Marine research in the Federal Republic of Germany
In the last few months, we have dealt with man's interference with
the ecosystem of the seas and their littoral zones in several articles
(compare UMSCHAU 1978, No. 2, pages 35 and 41, No. 6, page 163). The
utilization of the seas by mining industry and fisheries, as a waterway and
as a military assembly area, forms the background for the new phase of the
International Law of the Sea Conference in Geneva. Protection and utilization
of the seas are within certain limits compatible. For this, intensive
marine research is a prerequisite. On the occasion of the annual convention
of the German Society for the Encouragement of Scientific Research* in 1977,
Gotthilf Hempel, before an audience of politicians and journalists, reviewed
the state of German marine research activities. He made the following
statements, among others:
Marginal conditions of German arme research
Marine research to provide protein and minerals, marine research
for the protection of coasts, for navigation and for the marine environment,
are tasks which an industrial nation cannot ignore. Furthermore, there exists
a legitimate scientific curiosity about the oceans and their inhabitants.
Interest in the seas and in marine research has grown faster in the German
population than it has in the government. But the funds available for marine
research have risen, in particular new research ships for the North Sea and
the Baltic have been put into commission. To reduce the funds and to direct
them toward projects of immediate applicability is especially shortsighted /275
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: *referred to as 'DFG' on the following pages.
/274
17
in marine research, because this is an area where it is only a short step
from newly acquired fundamental knowledge to its practical application.
Labor legislation with its overtime regulations etc. means a
humanization of work at sea, but it reduces the effectiveness of the operation
of research ships. More automation in research equipment, and more sea-going
personnel are required to close these gaps.
The worldwide limitations o the freedom of marine research force
German oceanographers partly to withdraw to the European coastal regions and
to conduct theoretical and experimental work in institutes, and partly
to advance, more than hitherto, into the open ocean and into the Antarctic
region.
Focal points of research.
Marine geoscience has, in the last decade, fundamentally changed our
knowledge of the development of today's configuration of continents and
oceans. German scientists contributed to this; they, for instance, cleared
the way for the deep-sea drilling program of the "Glomar Challenger"
off NW Africa. This kind of research contributes to the understanding of
shifts in marine currents, and to the understanding of the plankton
populations therein which are finally converted into organic sediments. The
history of the climate of the last few million years was pieced together
by studying conventional drilling cores. "Sand movement in coastal areas",
was the name given to a research program of the DFG in which,besides geologists,
also physical oceanographers and hydraulic engineers participated. Changes
in the sediment--this was shown by research in the past year--are probably
not the result of aggregate flow conditions, but of short-lived storms.
Patient long-t measuring on the bottom is required in order to accidentally
capture such an event.
18
Marine biologists, in the last decade, have frequently engaged in
the study of ecological interrelations in the plankton and on the bottom
of shallow parts of the sea. Quantitative statements, however, were mostly
limited to the lowest and highest levels of the food chain, i.e. to the
relation between phytoplankton, microorganisms, and the supply of nutrient
salts and light on the one hand, and the feeding of the fishes on bottom-
dwelling animals and plankton, on the other. Now, more attention is being
paid to the intermediate links, and to the matter of seasonal adjustment of
the cycles of development.
German marine chemistry still suffers from a shortage of personnel;
it has a good reputation with regard to the extreme refinement and automation
of analytical procedures. It has lately become possible to carry out
detailed chemical analyses of heavy metals, sugars and amino acids at
sea parallel with biological observations. This development permits the
study of the "marine ecochemistry" of the organic substances which are
excreted, incorporated, metabolized and broken down by marine organisms.
lrThey act as inhibitors, growt romoting substances or indicators, and are
probably influenced in their effectiveness by industrial substances.
Scientists engaged in physical oceanography have, over the last years,
intensively studied the problems involved in the interactions between the
atmosphere and the surface water masses. Models of the motion of the sea,
and of the internal waves as well as of the water level fluctuations were
calculated, and the correspondingmeasurements were taken at sea, frequently
through the internationally coordinated employment of several research
ships, airplanes and current meters anchored in place. Joint meteorological-
oceanographic programs were carried out at the equator, off NW Africa, in
the North Sea and Baltic, and in the Norwegian Sea. While German marine
19
geologists and biologists work chiefly in the shallows, and at the foot of
the continental slopes, physical oceanographers frequently prefer the upper
500 m of the open ocean to the complicated conditions of the continental
shelves.
Multidisciplinary projects, which bring together physicists, chemists,
geologists and biologists, play a large role in German marine research;
they get the special support of the DFG. The interactions on the sea-floor
(Kiel Bay, Bermuda), the effects of the upwelling of nutrient-rich waters
off northwest Africa, and the development of the plankton bloom in the
northern North Sea were very intensively studied.
Ocean pollution: international conventions and organizations
It is true that the world's oceans, by way of the atmosphere, are
being polluted practically everywhere by anthropogenic products and particularly
by wastes; yet, there are regions of the sea which are exposed to pollution to
an especially great extent namely the areas where sea traffic is concentrated,
and the heavily industrialized coastal regions.
In September, 1977, Hans Walden of the German Hydrographie Institute,
at a convention of the Founder's Association of German Science in Kiel,
presented a survey of international conventions and organizations.
There are, by now, a considerable number of international agreements
which aim at avoiding shipping accidents, and the massive pollution of the
sea caused by them. Reliable navigation, clear acoustical signals and the ,
positioning of navigation lights, regulation of traffic (for instance, the
introduction of "one-way streets" at sea), and last but not least a high
standard of training for naval officers may very well help to avoid accidents
at sea. In addition to that, ships must be built in such a sturdy and safe
/276
20
way that the cargo is not discharged into the sea every time even minor
damage is suffered.
Tables 1 and 2 contain a selection of international organizations
and committees which deal with the pollution of the seas and its dangers.
Governmental organizations are those of which the governments of the respective
countries are official members; also listed are most of the non-governmental
groupings of experts, as a rule marine scientists, the majority of whom
belong to universities or colleges. Some of the committees were founded
through private initiative, or by industrial circles, for instance, the
AEO named at the bottom of Table 1.
The international measures taken to protect the oceans include
scientific symposia, conventions and politically oriented major events,
such as the United Nations Conference in Stockholm in 1972 about the
"Environment of Man" or, before that, the major convention of the World
Food Organization "Pollution of the sea and its effect on animal life and
fisheries" in 1970 in Rome.
Furthermore, the international organizations have set up research
and work programs and, finally, there is also international contact between
scientists on a smaller scale.
If man is to come to the aid of the sea, more action than that
shown so far is urgently required to progress beyond the many starts that
have been made. International science has approached the problem resolutely.
ocean regions
worldwide, at present preferentially Baltic Sea
objectives
scientific information on ocean pollution
scientific knowledge worldwide
scientific knowledge worldwide
pollution prevention worldwide
control, prevention, scientific knowledge
worldwide
evaluation techniques
scientific knowledge
maximum pollution tolerance of the sea
worldwide
Baltic Sea
worldwide
Table 1
Non-governmental international organizations and working groups which deal with the pollution of the sea. (Selection)
21
Name of organization
Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research = SCOR, in the Internat. Council of Scientific Unions = ICSU
Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment - SCOPE in the ICSU.
Internat. Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean = IAPSO in the ICSU
Internat. Association of Medical Oceanography = IAMO in the ICSU
Engineering Committee on Oceanic Resources = ECOR
Conference of Baltic Oceanographers = CB0
International Commission on Radiological Protection = ICPR
International Association for Pollution Control (Washington) = IAPC
Association Européenne chiefly European exchange of information, Oceanique (Monaco) = AEO waters pollution prevention
objective with regard to conservation of the sea
protection of fish and fisheries _
protection of marine organisms and man
scientific knowledge, observation, monitoring
observation, information on pollution
prevention, information on pollution
prevention, information on pollution
worldwide
worldwide
worldwide
eastern part of North Atlantic with minor seas
N-Atlantic western part
North Atlantic region
Table 2
22
Important governmental international organizations and which deal with the pollution of the sea. (Selection)
Name of organization ocean regions
Food and Agriculture worldwide Organization = FAO in UN
World Health Organization worldwide 7, WHO in UN.
Intergovernmental Oceanographic worldwide Commission = IOC in UN
World Meteorological worldwide Organization = WMO in UN
International Atomic Energy worldwide Agency = IAEA in UN
Intergovernmental Maritime worldwide Consultative Organization = IMCO in UN
International Civil Aviation Organization = ICAO in UN
working groups
prevention, information on pollution
United Nations Environment Programme = UNEP in UN
Global Investigation of Pollution in the Marine Environment = GESAMP in UN
Inter-Secretariat Committee on Scientif. Programmes Relating to Oceanography = ICSPRO in UN
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea = ICES
International Commission for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries = ICNAF
Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission = NEAFC
(support of measuring activities)
scientific knowledge
scientific knowledge
scientific knowledge, coordination
protection of fisheries
protection of fisheries
further development of treaty
Baltic Sea
ocean regions
European oceanic regions, Atlantic
European oceanic regions
European oceanic regions
European oceanic regions
objective with regard to conservation of the sea
is ocean disposal possible?
limitation/prevention of pollution
disposal of radioactive wastes in the sea (check possibility)
monitor, prevent pollution
observation, monitoring
European oceanic regions
Atlantic with minor seas
worldwide
protection of inter-national watercourses
scientific knowledge
further development of treaty
eastern North Atlantic, North Sea, Norwegian Sea
further development of treaty
eastern North Atlantic, North Sea, Norwegian Sea
controls
Baltic Sea Helsinki Convention = WGTO
among other things, control, scientific knowledge
Table 2 (continued)
Name of organization
Nuclear Energy Agency = NEA in OECD
Environmental Council EG
European Atomic Energy Community = EURATOM in EG
Coopération Scientifique et Technique = COST
European Space Agency = ESA
Council of Europe
North Atlantic Treaty Organization = NATO
Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties
Oslo-Commission = OC
Interim Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, Scientific Technical Working Group = STWG
Paris Agreement
23