Management of Marine Environment ENVS 590. Instructor Dr. Assad A. Al-Thukair

Transcription

1 Management of Marine Environment ENVS 590 Instructor Dr. Assad A. Al-Thukair

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3 Marine Environment Marine environment covers oceans, seas and coastal areas (including shores and estuaries). Estuary: is the locale where a river reaches the ocean. It is the inertial zone containing party fresh and party sea water.

4 Marine Environment Introduction to Marine Environment Challenges facing marine Environment Important cycles for marine Ocean profile Marine habitats Marine Ecosystems

5 Challenges Marine and Coastal Areas Oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth. Seventy-five percent of all sea pollution is from land-based human activity. People abuse the coastal marine environment by destroying habitats, by over-fishing and pollution. Crowded Coasts More than 37% of the worlds population lives within 100 km of a coast and this percentage is rising! Land prices are rising too, forcing change in economic activity and forcing out local fishing villagers.

6 Over-Fishing World fish catches peaked in 1987 and are now falling. Why? Because modern fishing techniques suck up too many fish, large and small so there are not enough young fish left to breed. Coral Reefs Coral reefs are like the rainforests of the sea, supporting many fish. But 60% of them are dying, mainly as a result of pollution from human activity. Dead coral reefs mean dead seas, no fish and fewer tourists who pay to visit the reefs.

7 Mangroves Coastal mangrove forests are major breeding grounds for many fish and crustaceans but they are being wiped out for housing and fish-farming. In Asia. home to 87% of the world's fish farms. huge areas of mangrove swamps have disappeared and along with them, the fish nurseries. Fish farms are dangerous in themselves because diseases spread from the farmed fish and affects the wild fish. Sea Mammals Save the whales! This slogan made Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, famous, and it still applies. Whales, dolphins and many big sea mammals have been hunted to the point of extinction. They need our protection.

8 Sea pollution Most countries use the sea as a sewer. For example, coastal cities in Africa dump hundreds of millions of liters of sewage and industrial waste into the sea a year. This will continue as they cannot afford sewage treatment plants. As sewage, fertilizers and other. Nutrients are poured into the seas, sea weeds and algae spread like a horror movie, using up all the oxygen that fish need to stay alive. In the past, the Soviets dumped nuclear waste in the shallow seas of the Arctic circle. As these began to leak, the marine life became endangered.

9 Important Cycles for Marine Water Cycle (Hydrological Cycle) Carbon Cycle (C)

10 Water Cycle (Hydrological cycle) Water Cycle: Movement of water between Earth s surface and the atmosphere. % of Total water 96.5% Oceans, Seas and Bays. 1.74% Ice cap, Glacier and permanent snow. 1.7% Ground water. 0.94% Saline. 0.76% Fresh Biological water. See table

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12 Water Cycle Teachers' Domain The Hydrologic Cycle.htm Components 1. Evaporation 2. Condensation 3. Precipitation 4. Infiltration 5. Run off

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14 Important Elements to Marine Environment Phosphate (Land, and seabed) Nitrate (Nitrogen fixation) Silica ( Land, seabed). Other less important elements (Fe, S)

15 Carbon Cycle (C) In Earth Atmosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere Lithosphere

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17 MARINE ENVIRONMENTS Categories 1. Estuaries: semi-enclosed coastal water bodies that have a free connection to the open ocean, where seawater enters and mixes with freshwater. 2. Coastal waters: Overlie the inner continental shelf, typically within 4.8 km of shore. Oceanic processes affect coastal waters much more greatly than estuaries. 3. Open ocean: waters overlying the outer continental shelf, continental slope and beyond constitute of the open ocean. Open ocean systems have considerable capacity to dilute, transport, and disperse wastes and associated pollutants due to their large volume and free exchange of water and, hence, are less vulnerable to the impact of waste disposal than other marine waters.

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19 5) The hadal zone: the waters found in the ocean's deepest trenches. Oceanographers divide the ocean into five broad zones according to how far down sunlight penetrates: 1) The epipelagic, or sunlit, zone: the top layer of the ocean where enough sunlight penetrates for plants to carry on photosynthesis. 2) The mesopelagic, or twilight, zone: a dim zone where some light penetrates, but not enough for plants to grow. 3) The bathypelagic, or midnight, zone: the deep ocean layer where no light penetrates. 4) The abyssal zone: the pitch-black bottom layer of the ocean; the water here is almost freezing and its pressure is immense.

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21 Marine habitat types Seagrass beds, coral reefs, coastal lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, and associated wetlands are functionally connected in many areas creating a mosaic matrix system. There are also functional relationships within the coastal zone that Integrate land and sea ecologically.

22 Marine Ecosystems Salt Marsh Kelp forests Tidal Creeks & Mud Flats Mangrove forests Seagrass Wetlands Oyster reef

23 Marine Resources Natural Resources Arabian Gulf Marine Resources Arabian Gulf sea water characteristics Challenges facing Arabian Gulf Marine Resources.

24 Natural Resources Water Resources Biological Resources Energy Resources Mineral Resources Oil and gas contribute about 90% of the value of mineral mined from the ocean. Socio-economic Resources

25 Arabian Gulf Resources Water Resources Biological Resources Energy Resources & Mineral Resources Socio-economic Resources

26 Water Resources Source of water Over 45 desalination plants in GCC ( ~ 50% of global desalination capacity). Effect of desalination plants Thermal effect Brine (high salinity) Bio-fouling, and scaling (chemical) Antifoaming agents (heavy metals). Biological effect (BOD) Estuaries Rivers

27 Fisheries Aquaculture Pearl Biological Resources Coastal resources Mangrove Coral reef Others (Sea grass and Sea weed, Medicinal)

28 Location of Fishery Resources In Arabian Gulf (MEPA, 1987)

29 Energy & Mineral Resources Oil (oil reserves in the Gulf represent 65% of the world s total) Gas Wave and Tidal power* Socio-economic Resources Recreational Tourism

30 Facts about the Arabian Gulf Semi-enclosed body of water High salinity and evaporation. Shallow depth (average depth 36m). A counter-clockwise current. Low fresh water flow. Circulation is mainly driven by wind. Gulf sea bottom is mainly fine gain sediments. Stressful conditions to marine organisms

31 Indicators for Arabian Gulf

32 Coastal shoreline for GCC 2003 Country Bahrain Oman Kuwait Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirate Total Shoreline (km)

33 Common types of Shorelines See presentation for types Shoreline Types Objectives: Familiarity with Shoreline Types Encountered in Coastal Environmental Management.

34 Challenges facing Arabian Gulf Marine Resources. Sewage and Industrial discharges Oil pollution (example will be discussed) Land reclamation (Dr. Al-Thukair s paper ) Over fishing Destruction of Coastal Habitats Dredging Others (Thermal, Heavy Metals)

35 Coastal and Marine Uses and Major environmental pressures

36 Facts about oil activities in the Gulf Shipping: about 0.6 billion metric tons of oil carried by some tankers per year. For example in 1994, about 15 collisions involving oil tankers were reported near UAE shores. Offshore productions: about 34 offshore gas and oil field with around 800 oil wells. Major marine incidents: 1983 Nowruze oil spill (2-4 million barrels) 1991 Arabian Gulf oil spill (10 million barrels)

37 Case Study 1991 Arabian Gulf Oil Spill Incident

38 1991 Oil Spill Incident Facts Volume of spill was 10.8 million barrels. 60% of spilled oil has found its way to marine and coastal environment, 10% was recovered, and the rest was volatilization and un-recovered. Coastal impacts: 650 km of Saudi Arabia s 765 km Gulf coastline was oiled (85%) Degradation of Gulf inter tidal communities, seriously affecting algal mats, mangroves, salt marshes, sand beaches, sea grasses, and corals. Wild life impacts, affecting sea birds, turtles, and other sea mammals.

39 Arabian Gulf impacted Areas by the 1991 spill

40 Ecosystem Recovery Time after a Pollution Event

41 Land reclamation (Dr. Al-Thukair s paper )

42 Effects of dredging and Land reclamation Damage to Spawning grounds of marine species. Damage to Seagrass beds and coastal habitats. Damage to Substrata in which fish live Removal or alteration of benthos (source of food for fish). Increased turbidity locally (Clogging fish gills, and damaging coral) Increase in silt and alteration in sediment (interference with egg development). Release of toxic compounds

43 Management of Marine Environment Marine Ecosystem-Based Management Approach &Tools Integrated Coastal Zone Management Management of Protected Areas

44 MANAGEMENT OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT Human activities on land and in the ocean are changing coastal and marine ecosystems and threatening their ability to provide important benefits to society, such as healthy and abundant seafood, clean beaches, and protection from storms and flooding. Effective utilization of resources of the marine environment (Open Sea-Coastal area) by considering sustainable and non-damaging approaches. Ecosystem approach in general : A strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way.

45 Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) : is a management approach to restore and sustain the health, productivity, and biological diversity of ecosystems and the quality of life of humans who depend on them. It considers all ecosystem components, including humans and the environment, rather than managing one issue or resource in isolation. It is an innovative science-based approach that address various challenges. EBM tools are software or other processes that can help implement EBM by: Providing models of ecosystems or key ecosystem processes. Generating scenarios illustrating the consequences of different management decisions on natural resources and the economy. Facilitating stakeholders involvement in planning processes.

46 focuses on all of the organisms living in a given place as well as their interactions with each other and their physical environment, and is committed to understanding ecosystem processes and how ecosystems respond to environmental perturbations; Integrates ecological, social, and economic goals and recognizes humans as key components of the ecosystem; Defines the management regime based on ecological boundaries - not political boundaries, and the different spatial and temporal scales that accompany them; Addresses the complexity of natural processes and social systems and uses an adaptive management approach in the face of resulting uncertainties; Engages multiple stakeholders in a collaborative process to define problems and find solutions; Concerned with the ecological integrity and sustainability of the coupled human-ecological system; and In coastal-marine systems, incorporates the dynamic interplay between terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems.

47 EBM

48 EBM Handout for EBM Paper

49 ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT See Ecosystem Management for fish as example Acrobat Document

50 Coastal Zone Managements (CZM) Coastal Zone: The area of land-water interface and consists of varieties of ecosystems. (more than 50% of worlds population lives within 60 km of a coastline) Coastal Zone Management (CZM): Management of ecosystems within the coastal zone. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM): Holistic approach in managing coastal zone with consideration of ecosystems, sustainability, and socioeconomics.

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52 Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

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54 Case studies Adobe Acrobat Document

55 Marine Protected Areas Faced with widespread declines in ocean health and a growing interest in place-based ecosystem management, many nations are establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) to conserve vital marine habitats and resources. MPAs include national marine sanctuaries, national parks and wildlife refuges, many state parks and conservation areas, and a variety of fishery management closures. Over the past several decades, a variety of legal authorities and programs have been established at all levels of government resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of MPAs.

56 Marine Protected Areas any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein.

57 Classification system in USA as example In response, the National Marine Protected Areas Center, USA has developed a Classification System that provides agencies and stakeholders with a straightforward means to describe MPAs in purely functional terms using five objective characteristics common to most MPAs: Conservation Focus Level of Protection Permanence of Protection Constancy of Protection Ecological Scale of Protection

58 Conservation Focus (one or more) Natural Heritage Cultural Heritage Sustainable Production

59 Level of Protection Afforded (one attribute) Uniform Multiple-Use Zoned Multiple-Use Zoned with No-Take Area(s) No Take No Impact No Access

60 Permanence of Protection (one attribute) Permanent Conditional Temporary

61 Constancy of Protection (one attribute) Year-round Seasonal Rotating

62 Ecological Scale of Protection (one attribute) Ecosystem Focal Resource Belize National Protected Areas Policy and System Plan Case Study (Belize)

63 Management of Marine Protected Area (MPA) Identify MPA s in the area (e.g.. Gulf has over 55 MPA s) Establish legal and Institutional Framework for Managing/conserving them. Develop a master protective plan for MPA s management. Monitor and Evaluate. Updating MPA s management plan.

64 Monitoring Monitoring: Perform testing/observations overtime for a specific purpose. Reasons for Monitoring Types of Monitoring Tools for Monitoring

65 Reasons for Monitoring Generate a baseline Measure changes Meet Regulatory requirements Assess impact Select appropriate mitigation measures

66 Types of Monitoring Continues Measurements Periodical Measurements Onetime Measurement

67 Tools for Monitoring Sampling and Testing Remote sensing GIS Modeling Other instruments

68 Case Study Important of Environmental Monitoring Projects for Developing Ecosystem Indicators SC Marine Resources Charleston, SC Marine resources F:\Marine Conservation.ppt Using GIS Remote sensing (Arabian Gulf)

69 Cases of Managing Marine Resources Turtle Acrobat Document Red Tide for Shellfishes Fish Recreational fishing Acrobat Document Acrobat Document