From the 1960s marine pollution was one of the main drivers of the growing awareness of the need to protect the marine environment. Dumping waste at sea, high profile oil spills, sewage pollution and variety of toxic chemicals like methyl mercury and TBT were the drivers. The fashion now is ‘plastic pollution’ but the reality is that other sources of pollutants never went away. Marine pollution needs to be looked at afresh whether it be sewage from storm drains pouring into coastal waters, or the organic waste and chemical cocktails from intensive salmon farming or the wide range of toxic chemicals accumulating in our top predators. This new report raises the profile of marine pollution once again. Bob Earll
Guardian ‘Increasing chemical and plastic pollution are “significant” contributors to the decline of fish and other aquatic organisms, yet their impact is being missed by regulators, according to a report by environmentalists.
The report, Aquatic Pollutants in Oceans and Fisheries, by the International Pollutants Elimination Network and the National Toxics Network, draws together scientific research on how pollution is adversely affecting the aquatic food chain. It catalogues the “serious impacts” of “invisible killers” such as persistent organic pollutants and excessive nutrients on the immunity, fertility, development and survival of aquatic animals. In it, scientists argue the regulation of fisheries does not always take into account biologically or scientifically relevant data on all contributors to the health of fish populations, leading to a “narrow view” of declining numbers based on quota catch rates and efforts. “Regulators have yet to grasp the impact of pollution,” the report says.
“Many people think fish declines are just the result of overfishing,” said Dr Matt Landos, the report’s co-author and a director of Future Fisheries Veterinary Service, a consultancy based in New South Wales, Australia. “In fact, the entire aquatic food web has been seriously compromised, with fewer and fewer fish at the top, losses of invertebrates in the sediments and water column, less healthy marine algae, coral and other habitats, as well as a proliferation of bacteria and toxic algal blooms.”
Read the Report – two key findings
Chemical pollutants have been impacting oceanic and aquatic food webs for decades and the impacts are worsening. The scientific literature documents man-made pollution in aquatic ecosystems since the 1970s. Estimates indicate up to 80% of marine chemical pollution originates on land and the situation is worsening. Point source management of pollutants has failed to protect aquatic ecosystems from diffuse sources everywhere. Aquaculture is also reaching limits due to pollutant impacts with intensification already driving deterioration in some areas, and contaminants in aquaculture feeds affecting fish health. • Pollutants including industrial chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, plastics and microplastics have deleterious impacts to aquatic ecosystems at all trophic levels from plankton to whales. Endocrine disrupting chemicals, which are biologically active at extremely low concentrations, pose a particular long-term threat to fisheries. Persistent pollutants such as mercury, brominated compounds, and plastics biomagnify in the aquatic food web and ultimately reach humans.
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