Various Conventions on Marine Pollution

Spread of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise or the invasive organisms in the marine is the Marine Pollution. Toxins bioaccumulate in Zooplankton and phytoplankton and then get biomagnified in the ocean food chains. They cause Eutrophication, ocean acidification etc. leading to problems such as algal bloom, hypoxia and anoxia.  There are four main types of inputs of pollution into the ocean:

• Direct discharge of waste into the oceans such as rivers
• Runoff into the waters due to rain
• Pollutants that are released from the atmosphere
• Ship Pollution which includes many ways including the oil spills.

London Convention on Marine Pollution

The London Convention or LC-72 is a non-binding treaty which seeks address the problem of deliberate disposal at sea of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, and platforms. But it does not cover discharges from land-based sources such as pipes and outfalls, wastes generated incidental to normal operation of vessels, or placement of materials for purposes other than mere disposal, providing such disposal is not contrary to aims of the Convention.

One regional type of convention is Barcelona Convention, which covers the same problems in the Mediterranean sea.

International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling

International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is an international environmental agreement which governs the commercial, scientific, and aboriginal subsistence whaling practices of fifty-nine member nations. It was signed in 1946. By this convention, International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up to “provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”.

This organization has been active against the commercial whaling. In 1986, it  adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling . This ban still continues.  In 1994, it created the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary surrounding the continent of Antarctica. Here, the IWC has banned all types of commercial whaling.  Only two such sanctuaries have been designated by IWC till date. Another is Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the tiny island nation of the Seychelles.

Wadden Sea Agreement

Wadden Sea is located between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands. It is a World Heritage site (Dutch and German part) which forms a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands, thus very rich in biodiversity. Wadden Sea is famous for its rich flora and fauna, especially birds such as waders (shorebirds), ducks, and geese. Wadden Sea is protected in cooperation of all three national parks, and cooperation between three countries as follows:

• Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park
• Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park
• Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park

The three countries viz. Netherlands, Germany and Denmark concluded the Wadden Sea Agreement for protection of the Wadden Sea in 1990.

ACCOBAMS

ACCOBAMS refers to  “Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area”. So, it is a cooperation for the protection of Cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. It was concluded on the sidelines of Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, in 1996 and came into force in 2001. Currently 21 countries in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area are parties to this convention.

MARPOL 73/78

MARPOL refers to Marine Pollution. MARPOL 73/78 is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978. It entered into force on 2 October 1983 and it has 169 parties. It is one of the most important environment conventions on marine pollution and prevents the pollution from Oil Spill, Noxious Liquid Substances carried in Bulk, Harmful Substances carried in Packaged Form, Sewage , Garbage and Air Pollution.

It centers around minimizing the pollution of the seas, including dumping, oil and exhaust pollution. There are 150 countries party to this agreement.

India is a party to MARPOL 73/78. India’s enshrined the obligation to inform contravention of provision of MARPOL 73/78 in the Sec 356 (H) of Merchant Shipping Act 1948.