Environmental Protection Of The North Sea

Environmental Protection of the North Sea focuses on measures and initiatives for the protection of the North Sea. The book first discusses the physical features, North Sea resources, and biological considerations. The compilation then takes a look at the distribution of anthropogenic organic compounds in the North Sea, including analytical aspects and reporting format for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); transport of PCB in abiotic phases in rivers, estuaries, and the North Sea; and PCB in biota. The text examines the environmental impacts of organic chemicals. History of pollution; environmental effects of chemicals; effects of chemicals on marine biota; and chemicals of potential concern are described. The compilation also underscores the sources of pesticides in the North Sea; environmental impacts of PCBs in the marine environment; and contamination of the North Sea by the production and utilization of organic chemicals. The book also looks at environmental protection strategies for organic chemicals; assessment of environmental impacts of nutrients in the North Sea from the perspectives of the fertilizer and detergents industries; and pathology of fish diseases in the North Sea. The compilation is a good source of data for readers interested in environmental protection.

The North Sea, one of the most intensively used sea-areas in the world, may well be one of the most intensively regulated sea-areas as well. As human activity developed in the North Sea national & later international regulations followed these developments. The result has been what is commonly called a piecemeal approach. The legal regime of the North Sea has developed in an incremental manner. Thus one conventional instrument after the other, covering different user-functions like vessel-source pollution, fisheries, ocean dumping & land-based pollution, was adopted. In contrast to more modern approaches these legal instruments have their own framework. The result is that the instruments are scattered in many different documents, & even for the more well informed North Sea watcher it is difficult to obtain a comprehensive overview of the regulatory instruments. The North Sea: Basic Legal Documents on Regional Environmental Co-operation offers a comprehensive view of the instruments dealing with all sources of marine pollution in the North Sea, be they ocean dumping, land-based pollution or vessel-source pollution. The book contains many legal documents, including maps & tables. It also contains non-conventional instruments such as the texts of the declarations of the International North Sea Conferences, held between 1984 & 1990, & recommendations & decisions of e.g. the Paris Commission on Land-Based Pollution & the Oslo Commission on Dumping. Furthermore the book contains documentation on relatively new areas of environmental concern in the North Sea region, i.e. nature conservation & management of living resources. The book supplements The North Sea: Perspectives on Regional Environmental Co-operation also edited by David Freestone & Ton IJlstra which contains 26 essays on legal & policy aspects of environmental protection in the North Sea.

The North Sea, one of the most intensively used sea-areas in the world, may well be one of the most intensively regulated sea-areas as well. As human activity developed in the North Sea national and later international regulations followed these developments. The result has been what is commonly called a piecemeal approach. The legal regime of the North Sea has developed in an incremental manner. Thus one conventional instrument after the other, covering different user-functions like vessel-source pollution, fisheries, ocean dumping and land-based pollution, was adopted. In contrast to more modern approaches these legal instruments have their own framework. The result is that the instruments are scattered in many different documents, and even for the more well informed North Sea watcher it is difficult to obtain a comprehensive overview of the regulatory instruments. "The North Sea: Basic Legal Documents on Regional Environmental" "Co-operation" offers a comprehensive view of the instruments dealing with all sources of marine pollution in the North Sea, be they ocean dumping, land-based pollution or vessel-source pollution. The book contains many legal documents, including maps and tables. It also contains non-conventional instruments such as the texts of the declarations of the International North Sea Conferences, held between 1984 and 1990, and recommendations and decisions of e.g. the Paris Commission on Land-Based Pollution and the Oslo Commission on Dumping. Furthermore the book contains documentation on relatively new areas of environmental concern in the North Sea region, i.e. nature conservation and management of living resources. The book supplements "The North Sea: Perspectives on Regional" "Environmental Co-operation" also edited by David Freestone and Ton IJlstra which contains 26 essays on legal and policy aspects of environmental protection in the North Sea.

This preface is being written at a time of exceptional public interest in the North Sea, following media head lines on toxic algal blooms, the mass mortality of common seals, and concern over pollution levels. These headlines may suggest that pollution of the North Sea is a recent event. This is not the case. Although no data are available (methods simply did not exist), it is safe to assume that emission (both into air and water) of heavy metals already started to increase in the 19th cen tury. The growth of cities and introduction of sewer sys tems led to the discharge of raw sewage and sewage sludge. The introduction of man-made (xenobiotic) organ ic chemicals and their subsequent emission into the North Sea commenced before the second world war. The shallower and coastal areas of the North Sea receive the highest concentrations of these pollutants. Not unexpectedly, these areas - some Norwegian fjords, the Dutch coast, the German Bight - show signs of ecosystem deterioration and eutrophication. A certain percentage of the pollutants does not remain in the North Sea but is "exported" to the Atlantic. The North Sea therefore con tributes to the global input of pollutants to the world's oceans. The major part of the pollutants accumulate in the North Sea and are incorporated in the bottom sediments. Although they are "out of sight", they should not be "out of mind".

This is the first book to examine the link between international and national environmental institutions. It examines this link in depth by analyzing the making and implementation of North Sea pollution commitments. The author develops two models generating different propositions aimed at distinguishing the significance of institutions from other explanatory factors. The key to understanding the success of international institutions in the North Sea cooperation lies in the balancing of hard legally binding and soft politically acting institutions in the same issue-area. He goes on to show the extent to which different national institutions in Norway, the Netherlands and the UK are suited to implement the North Sea commitments.

This volume offers a review of measures taken at different levels to prevent oil inputs to the North Sea from sources such as shipping and oil installations. A range of data from satellites, remote sensing, aerial surveillance, in-situ monitoring, oil spill sampling and beached bird surveys presents a comprehensive portrait of trends in oil pollution over many years. Topics include Bonn Agreement-based actions to eliminate illegal and accidental pollution from ships, OSPAR monitoring of oil installations, EMSA CleanSeaNet activities, and an internationally approved common standard for oil spills presented by the Bonn-OSINet. A chapter on the role of the IMO in preventing oil pollution from ships provides an international context, while others discuss efforts being made at the national level. A decadal review of the state of the North Sea prepared by OSPAR supports the view that there has been a significant reduction of oil inputs to the sea. This thorough review addresses national and international agencies and government bodies, as well as policymakers and practitioners in the fields of shipping, ports and terminals, oil extraction and marine management. Further, it provides researchers with essential reference material on tools and techniques for monitoring oil pollution and offers a valuable resource for undergraduate and post-graduate students in the field of marine oil pollution.

This books offers a comprehensive and innovative picture of the Community's implementation of its international obligations in the field of the marine environment, looking at the participation of the EC and its member states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant agreements.