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The dead seas: why the waters around us are being destroyed
ANYONE looking for an antidote to the onslaught of bad news is unlikely to find it in the latest report from the Marine Conservation Society.
While recent weeks have seen the world preoccupied by the global banking disaster and desperately unpredictable share prices, British seas are facing an equally precarious time as we pay the price for years of over-fishing and unregulated pollution.
After 25 years of quiet campaigning and gentle persuasion, the MCS last night launched its Silent Seas report in the hope the shocking statistics will finally jolt the powers-that-be into action and force the inclusion of a Marine Bill in the next Queen's Speech.
"Put simply, too many fish are taken from the sea, too much rubbish is thrown into the sea and too little is done to protect previous marine life and habits," says Dr Simon Brockington, the organisation's head of conservation. "In the next few years, we're going to start seeing the effects of climate change; the first effects are already there, such as migration of fish and plankton types. Unless we build a healthy ecosystem, the impacts of climate change will be far worse. Inaction is not an option."
Backed by Prince Charles, the society is calling for a raft of measures, from the creation of new protection areas to the tightening of regulations to ensure the fines paid by those guilty of pollution reflect the damage they cause and improvement to water treatment facilities to limit the amount of untreated sewage discharged into the sea.
The issues raised shouldn't come as any particular surprise, but, according to the MCS, without immediate action a major environmental disaster will be both unavoidable and irreversible.
Fishermen on Yorkshire's East Coast have long battled against stringent fishing quotas and the threat of foreign competition, but fresh data shows their troubles may have only just begun.
According to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, just eight out of Britain's 47 fish stocks are in a healthy state, with damaging fishing practices blamed for the declining numbers of the now-inappropriately named common sturgeon as well as the angel shark and Atlantic halibut.
"In the past, it was thought our fisheries were inexhaustible, but during the last 150 years the original sail boat has been superseded," adds Dr Brockington. "Modern technology has allowed us to fish more efficiently in previously inaccessible waters for longer periods of time, but with little consideration for the environmental impact.
"The European Commission has described 88 per cent of EU stocks as being overfished and it's not just the total amount of adult fish that has decreased. The average size of fish has also reduced and the loss of big fish is bad news. Not only do they produce many more offspring than smaller fish, but supermarkets and consumers don't like small fish which means in order to meet minimum standards, large numbers are then discarded. Estimates for the North Sea show that almost half the cod and haddock caught are thrown back dead or dying into the sea."
One solution to falling wild stocks has been a growing reliance on farmed fish – 45 per cent of all fish consumed comes from farms – but as the report points out, the industries are interlinked and the delicate balance between them is becoming ever harder to keep.
"Most species of farmed fish are carnivorous and require a proportion of wild fish in the their diet in order to remain healthy," says Dr Brockington. "It currently takes an average of 3kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon. A growing population means that if we are to maintain current levels of consumption, by 2030 we will need an additional 37 million tonnes of fish a year. It shows just how quickly the situation could become critical and why we can't close our eyes to the problems we are stocking up for the future."
Among its previous victories, the MCS cites a successful 10-year campaign to win protection for the basking shark and its work with supermarkets on sustainable fish resources. However, the organisation's ultimate aim is to see the creation of marine reserves, which would allow Britain's vulnerable marine life to recover not just from the effect of over-fishing, but also from pollution. According to the MCS, 30 per cent of Britain's estuaries and 15 per cent of its coastal waters are at risk of pollution – and the increasing effects of climate change could well see that figure grow.
This summer, Whitby witnessed the problems unseasonal rainfall can bring. Following a series of downpours in August, the town's storm drains were unable to cope, causing sewage to gush out of manholes and forcing the beach to be sealed off.
"While Britain may no longer be the dirty man of Europe, we have little reason to rest on our laurels and the level of pollution in our coastal waters is still a major concern," says Dr Brockington. "Bathing water quality has declined from a high in 2006 as a consequence of two of the wettest summers on record, but unfortunately there is no monitoring of what exactly is being discharged from overflows so the degree to which they are affecting coastal water quality is not known.
"Despite 20bn of investment, a third of tested bathing sites still only meet European standards and swimmers have a one in seven change of contracting a gastro-intestinal illness. With many predicting the UK will have warmer wetter winters and hotter drier summers, punctuated by violent storms and flash floods in the future, the situation is likely to become even more serious."
Over the years, the MCS has managed to draft in more than 20,000 volunteers to help clean Britain's beaches, but even such large numbers have failed to stem the tide of empty crisp packets, plastic bags and other debris washing up on our shores.
Conservative estimates have shown plastic litter, which affects 267 species worldwide, has increased by 126 per cent since the first annual survey in 1994.
"On land, litter is an aesthetic problem, but at sea it is a potential catastrophe," says Dr Brockington. "It has become a global trend with the sea transporting plastic bags and other rubbish thousands of miles around the world's oceans.
"In the North Sea, 96 per cent of birds autopsied had plastic fragments in their stomachs
and turtles often mistake the floating debris for jellyfish. In
one of the worst cases, a turtle was found to have six plastic bags and a bin liner blocking its alimentary tract.
"Also, certain seabirds collect marine litter for nest building, but when that includes plastic it can result in serious injury to both adults and chicks which become entangled while simply sitting on the nests.
"There has been a high profile campaign to make the public aware of the problem of excess packaging, but at sea it can be even worse. The cold temperature slows down the breakdown process and means plastic never fully degrades. It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and ultimately into microscopic dust. This dust absorbs toxic pollutants and when it is ingested passes into the food chain with potential damaging consequences."
The MSC knows that making itself heard in the present climate, when everyone is focused on the country's financial future, won't be easy. However, when it comes to pleading the case for marine life there are few organisations who are more persuasive.
"We gain so much from the sea," says Dr Brockington. "At some point in most of our lives it has worked its magic on us, but we don't seem to be giving it very much in return.
"In 1962, Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, about the effect pesticides were having on the world's bird population, launched a major environmental movement. In 2008, we are determined to afford that same protection to our marine life."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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