Chapter VI: The Marine Environment 
The Ocean and the Marine Environment 
The marine environment includes the coastal zone, 
estuaries, shelf waters, and open ocean. These 
oceanic regions are environmentally related and im- 
pacts in one region can have profound effects on the 
waters of another. The coastal environment and 
land-based activities directly affect the health and 
productivity of coastal waters. 
Offshore waters are common property resources. 
Unlike land, they belong to no individual. As such, 
the ocean has suffered the “Tragedy of the Com- 
mons.” ! Without the vested interests of property 
owners, a resource can be depleted or the environ- 
ment can be degraded for present benefits without 
regard for the future. Protection of the environment 
and preservation of natural resources held in com- 
mon by the public are secondary to immediate profit 
since there is no assurance that other exploiters will 
not reap the benefits. International cooperation and 
government regulation and contro] can be effective 
tools for protection of common property resources. 
It is this feature that sets the ocean apart from land- 
based, privately owned property. 
Environmental Pressures 
Pollution problems did not originate with the 20th 
century, but the accelerated discovery of new sub- 
stances and consumption of energy in this century 
have added to both the abundance and kinds of 
wastes that must be disposed. With the increasing 
need to dispose wastes from human activities has 
come the realization 
© that not only the amount, but the nature and be- 
havior (fate and effects) of pollutants are cause 
for concern; 
® that the ocean does not have an infinite capacity 
for waste assimilation; and 
© that the problem of pollutants and their deriva- 
fives. which are brought about by technological 
and economic development and demographic 
change, is likely to worsen rather than improve. 
The absence of alternative methods for land-based 
disposal of wastes from human activities has forced 
man to turn to the ocean with increasing frequency. 
With the discovery and expanded use of derivatives 
of organic compounds, such as halogenated hydro- 
carbons and synthetic organic chemicals resistant to 
degradation, modern society has the potential to in- 
flict more lasting effects on the marine environment. 
The use of toxic materials in industrial processes, 
and their presence in consumer products, continues 
to expand. Many of industries’ newly developed syn- 
thetic and organic chemicals, or their byproducts, 
will reach the sea. A 1975 report of the National 
*Garrett Hardin. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 
162: 1243-1248, 1968. 
Academy of Sciences—Assessing Potential Ocean 
Pollutants—identified transuranic elements and hexa- 
chlorobenzene as potential problems, but did not 
consider substances now being developed. It is un- 
certain what the nature of newer compounds will be, 
but, based on past experience, it seems likely they 
will be more complex and will involve organic 
species not previously used in commercial products. 
The expanding use of nuclear power for the pro- 
duction of energy and the use of radioactive materials 
in industrial processing pose other problems. The 
disposal of nuclear wastes, as use of nuclear power 
expands, is a growing problem. Recent proposals in- 
clude disposal of encapsulated nuclear wastes in the 
sediments of the deep seabed. 
Oceanborne transport of petroleum in increasing 
quantities holds greater potential for acute pollution 
from discharges of oily ballast waters and tank wash- 
ings and from oil spills caused by vessel accidents. 
Added to these are the chronic cumulative effects of 
smaller operational and accidental discharges to the 
marine environment. In 1960, the United States im- 
ported about 1.7 million barrels of oil each day. The 
amount doubled by 1970, and doubled again by 
1976 to 7.3 million barrels of oil per day. Projec- 
tions for 1985 indicate the United States will receive 
an average of 12 million barrels of foreign oil per 
day. The marine transportation industry is shifting 
to fewer, but larger, carriers. Recent estimates indi- 
cate that ship casualties account for about 5 percent 
of the oceans’ petroleum hydrocarbons. This could 
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