1998 Year of the Ocean Perspectives on Marine Environmental Quality 



Habitat may be directly affected by development and water control efforts, but 

 degradation due to toxic chemicals, excessive nutrients, sediments, and oil can be just as 

 devastating. Habitat alterations from these causes range from physical smothering to changes in 

 population structure associated with exposure to chemicals in the water and sediments. Pollutants 

 such as pesticides and herbicides threaten living resources by contaminating the food chain and 

 eliminating food sources. Contaminants in runoff and toxic releases can alter aquatic habitat, 

 harm animal health, reduce reproductive potential, cause disease, and contribute to behavioral 

 abnormalities that may affect organism survival and suitability for human consumption."^ 



There is evidence that suggests certain pollutants or changes in marine water quality (e.g., 

 increased nutrients) may initiate, maintain, and extend the duration of toxic algal blooms and 

 further impact human health and marine organisms. These blooms are thought to be initiated 

 from offshore patches of organisms that are transported to coastal waters where high nutrient 

 levels sustain the bloom conditions. For example, in 1996, 149 manatees died in Tampa Bay, 

 Florida, after exposure to a toxic red tide that remained behind the barrier islands well into the 

 spring migrating season. In another case, high phosphorus levels are thought to be one of the 

 conditions required to trigger Pfiesteria blooms such as occurred in North Carolina and 

 Maryland, and resulted in associated fish kills and human health concerns (U.S. EPA, 1997). 



RESPONSES TO CHANGES IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 



Three decades ago, water quality was at an all time low, with rivers catching on fire, 

 harbor areas of cities being deserted, great numbers of shellfish beds closing on an armual basis, 

 and people getting sick from swimming. In the 1970s, Congress passed several laws to address 

 environmental problems, of which the most significant for the protection of marine waters were 

 the Clean Water Act, the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act, and the Coastal Zone 

 Management Act. However, laws alone do not suffice to cleanup, prevent, improve, or protect 

 water quality — people must become actively involved. Among the many means to protect marine 

 and coastal waters are: 



• the traditional regulatory approach which includes the permitting of specific 

 discharges; 



• risk prioritization and pollution prevention; and 



• the watershed approach which looks at the sources of pollutants as well as the system 

 to which they are discharged. 



Whether voluntary or as a result of regulations, actions taken to improve water quality should be 

 based upon sound science, consider the needs of all users of marine environments, and take into 

 account technological and economic constraints. 



28 In Sarasota Bay, Florida, the alteration and degradation of juvenile fish habitats, seagrass beds, and wetlands are the most 

 likely causes of the 50 percent decline in commercial landings of sea trout over the past 30 years. Over the past 50 years, bird 

 populations in the Tampa Bay area have dramatically decreased due to water quality impacts on their natural habitats (U. S. 

 EPA, 1997). 



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