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Michael Waldichuk, Control of Marine Pollution: An
Essay Review, 4 Ocean Dev. & Int'l L. 269 (1977)
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Introduction
The world's oceans cover 71% of the surface of our globe. Indeed, earth can be
considered the water planet, since its watery mantle, if seen from space through
the cloud cover, is obviously its most distinctive characteristic. At one time, the
oceans were felt to provide infinite dilution for man's refuse, and society tended
to regard them as the final sink for all its wastes, without concern for the
consequences. In the early concepts of international law with respect to the
oceans, little thought was given to marine pollution, and Hugo Grotius, the
learned Dutch jurist of the 17th century, was prompted to refer to the oceans
as: "that expanse of water which antiquity describes as the immense, the
infinite, bounded only by the heavens, parent of all things; the ocean which the
ancients believed was perpetually supplied with water not only by fountains,
rivers, and seas, but by clouds, and by the very stars of heaven themselves; the
ocean which, although surrounding this earth, the home of the human race, with
the ebb and flow of its tides, can be neither seized nor enclosed; nay, which
rather possesses the earth than is by it possessed."
He further stated: "The vagrant waters of the seas are . . . necessarily free.
The right of occupation . . . rests upon the fact that most things become ex-
hausted by promiscuous use and that appropriation, consequently, is the condi-
tion of their utility to human beings. But this is not the case with the sea; it can
be exhausted neither by navigation nor by fishing, that is to say, in neither of
the two ways in which it can be used" (Grotius, 1916).
At the time Grotius made his pronouncements, it was appropriate for the
needs of his country, with a vast fleet, to treat the oceans as entirely free for
navigation. During the period of the Grotian conception of "freedom of the
seas," an English jurist named John Selden, little known except for some of his
obscure writings, favored a closed sea. His stand supported the English position,
since England was still a comparatively small naval power at the time. As it
became a dominant naval power, however, England espoused the concept of
*Michael Waldichuk is Program Head at the Pacific Environment Institute, West Vancouver,
British Columbia.
Ocean Development and InternationalLaw Journal,Volume 4, Number 3
Copyright D 1977 by Crane, Russak & Company, Inc. 269
270 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
freedom of the seas. Selden concluded that since Grotius made an exception for
bays, inlets, and coastal waters, considering these to be traditionally part of the
mainland, one could logically extend this concept to the high seas. Selden argued
that these coastal waters are open, just like the high seas; therefore, if coastal
waters are subject to national domination, certainly the high seas could also be
nationally controlled. However, Grotius' arguments for Mare Liberum prevailed,
and it is almost impossible to locate a copy of Selden's Mare Clausum in any law
library.
In today's approach to the international control of marine pollution, we are
beginning to move toward Selden's concept of the closed sea. Clearly the oceans'
capacity to absorb wastes is now recognized as being finite and the freedom to
allow unlimited introduction of wastes and other matter into the seas can no
longer be tolerated. Since 90% of the pollution of the ocean originates from
land-based sources (Hargrove, p. 214, notes that estimates range to over 90%), it
would seem appropriate also for coastal states to limit input of substances into
the sea and thereby help to control marine pollution. Surely by protecting its
coastal resources against encroachment by pollution, a coastal state will also
reduce the amount of pollutants entering the world's oceans.
The world's oceans are not static. They are in a continuous state of horizontal
and vertical flux, a dynamic system of water movements through currents and
diffusive processes. Marine pollution knows no political boundaries. A pollutant
may be carried by currents from the coast of one state to that of another, or it
may be transferred through turbulent diffusion. There is a need for some
uniformity in standards of effluent discharges and water quality from one
country to another, so that the pollutants discharged by one nation will not
pollute the waters at the doorstep of another.
During the last two decades, an effort has been made to bring international
control to pollution from specific sources, such as ships. Control measures have
been directed largely to specific types of pollution, such as radioactive wastes
and oil. But there is no successful overall convention covering the control of
discharges of all types of pollutants from all sources. Certainly, the London
Ocean Dumping Convention of 1972 (United Kingdom, 1972) makes an im-
portant advance in controlling the dumping of wastes and other matter into the
world's oceans. The 1973 International Convention on the Prevention of Pollu-
tion from Ships (Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, 1973)
endeavored to update the 1954 International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Sea by Oil. The 1973 IMCO Convention attempted to take into
account other ship-generated wastes, such as sewage and garbage, and an attempt
was made to control the release of noxious substances other than oil from
vessels. However, the environmental release of substances through more diffuse
land-based sources, such as the atmospheric emissions of gaseous products and
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 271
the release of water-borne industrial effluents through coastal outfalls and into
rivers, eventually discharging into the sea, did not come under control. More-
over, the wastes and environmental disruption associated with the exploration
and exploitation of the sea bed are still generally uncontrolled internationally.
The present essay review deals with three books and a report on the ocean
environment with emphasis in the books about the Third UN Conference on the
Law of the Sea,' where some of the remaining problems of marine pollution are
being considered in a new overall Convention or set of Conventions. As this
review is being prepared, the national delegates are moving into the fourth
substantive session of Law of the Sea III, being held from August 2 to Septem-
ber 17, 1976, in New York. A negotiating text with draft articles for the new
Law of the Sea Convention has been prepared and was discussed in committee at
the third substantive session held in New York during March-April 1976.
Chapter I of Part III of the negotiating text of this draft Convention, entitled,
"Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment," contains 47 articles
dealing with all aspects of marine pollution. This part of the draft Convention
for the Law of the Sea has been given high priority by many states at the
Conference. However, the more general issues concerning the extent and char-
acter of coastal state jurisdiction and the regime for seabed mining appear to
have received the highest priority attention by most states.
The documents reviewed in this essay deal mainly with the scientific, eco-
nomic, legal, and sociopolitical aspects of international protection of the marine
environment. Each will be discussed under separate headings dealing with the
foregoing aspects of preservation of the marine environment, according to its
contribution to those aspects.
placed on it for all time. The number of uses of the oceans has grown extensively
from Grotius' time, when he regarded the sea as used only for two purposes,
navigation and fishing.
From time immemorial, the oceans served as a means of transport for man's
vessels and for the goods carried in them. With the energy of the wind, man
propelled his most primitive rafts in prehistoric navigation to distant places.
More modem armadas of sailing ships provided a means for transportation of
materials, exploration, adventure, and sometimes military invasion. The oceans
continue to serve as a means of transportation, now well advanced beyond the
old windjammer days, but still a medium for moving people and cargoes from
one point to another on their waters. The annual cargo, both dry and wet (oil),
moved by sea continues to increase. Ships still feature highly in international
deliberations on the navigation rights of nations, on pollution control and
compensation for pollution damage, on safety at sea, and on port state and flag
state jurisdictions.
The seas have provided a source of protein since prehistoric times. The
production of world marine fisheries continued to increase to 1971 as new
unexploited stocks were located and harvested. There has been a slight decline
since the peak production of 1971, because of the collapse of the large Peruvian
anchovy fishery. The percentage of world protein coming from the sea, now about
70 million metric tons per year, is not insignificant, amounting to about 10%
of the total protein produced. The protein production of the sea is expected to
continue to climb at a greater pace than protein production on land. It is
anticipated that the maximum production of fisheries from the oceans will level
off at approximately 120 million metric tons per year. Depending on what
trophic level is harvested-e.g., the krill from the Antarctic Covergence could
contribute a substantial amount of marine protein-the ultimate production
from the sea could become substantially higher. In a world hungry for protein
this can be an extremely important source of food supply for the growing
populations of the world.
The oceans are being used increasingly for other resources besides protein.
For example, seaweeds are an important part of the diet in certain parts of the
world. Sea salt is a vital marine resource in hot, dry areas without mined salt.
Pharmaceuticals are becoming an increasingly valuable item derived from the sea.
Chemicals such as bromine and magnesium have long been extracted from ocean
water because of their high concentrations as major constituents in this medium.
Cooling water for thermal and nuclear power plants located on or near the coast
is becoming an increasingly important resource as we strive to increase our
anergy supply to meet the growing demands in every nation. Desalination of
seawater is being practiced in many parts of the world as a solution to freshwater
shortages for domestic purposes and irrigation of agricultural lands.
274 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
Of course, the ocean bottom has long been recognized as a rich resource for
fossil fuels. A large proportion of oil is now taken from the oil wells on the
continental shelves of the world. Gas supplies are also abundant in certain
regions, such as the North Sea and the Mackenzie Delta. There is a great
potential for metals from manganese nodules, particularly nickel and copper.
Phosphorite deposits have already been exploited in certain parts of the world.
Gravel resources are dredged in certain regions where they are required for
building material. No doubt eventually deposits will be found sufficiently rich in
certain base or precious metals to make mining and extraction profitable from
non-nodule sources.
A major use of the oceans, particularly in coastal zones, is for recreation.
Beach areas, especially in the warmer climes, are frequented by many visitors at
almost all times of the year. Water contact sports, such as bathing, snorkeling,
scuba diving, and surf riding, are popular in many parts of the world. Sailing,
motorboating, and other aquatic activities are a valuable asset for most coastal
communities. Beachcombing, sightseeing along the seashore, and other noncon-
suming recreations such as photography and seascape painting are recreational
outlets for many people everywhere. But clean water and clean beaches are
prerequisites for such use. Picnicing along a clean beach, for example, is far more
attractive than picnicing on an oil-polluted, sewage-contaminated, foul-smelling
beach. Marine parks and ecological preserves are being established in many
coastal areas of the world for both recreational purposes and scientific investiga-
tion. This ensures some degree of protection against environmental degradation.
The dollar value of recreation is sometimes underestimated. The well-being of
body and spirit in human beings is difficult to estimate in terms of currency. The
strength of a nation sometimes depends on such attributes as the recreational
outlets it has to offer.
The foregoing are some of the resources the ocean has to offer that must be
protected. Once we allow pollution to take hold, we are curtailing our options
for utilization of marine resources. We may still be able to navigate our ships on
a polluted sea, but even then, vessel operation can be adversely affected by
polluted waters and some of the pleasures associated with a coastal cruise may
be gone if the aesthetic quality of the marine environment is seriously impaired.
If we cannot harvest oysters and clams in waters that have been polluted by
sewage, we have essentially destroyed a resource that was once available for
commercial exploitation. Certainly, the shellfish could have been available for
recreational use if pollution had not been allowed to take place.
Nevertheless, as an interim need at least, whether intentional or inadvertent,
the ocean can serve for assimilation of a limited amount of man's domestic and
industrial wastes. Some consider this a legitimate resource of the sea. Over the
course of time, no doubt, the amount of polluting substances introduced into
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 275
the sea will be diminished through deliberate national and international control.
In the meantime, it is essential that irreversible damage is not done to the
capacity of the marine environment to fulfill the other needs.
Ocean resources, in the context. of ocean policy and environmental controls,
are discussed by Pearson in his chapter "Interpreting Ocean Environment Con-
trols." He begins with the thesis of Demsetz (1967), who argues that "a primary
function of property rights is guiding incentives to achieve a greater internaliza-
tion of externalities" 3 and that "property rights develop to internalize ex-
ternalities when the gains from internalization become larger than the costs of
internalization."
Pearson observes that for a demonstration of the full thesis as applied to the
marine environment, examination of four sequential elements is required:
(1)-the historical property rights regime, while once appropriate, does not
now inhibit activities that create external diseconomies;
(2)-the relative value of ocean resource services, and hence the costs asso-
ciated with external diseconomies, has been increasing;
(3)-the international response has been to develop a system of user rights
that either forces the internalization of previously external costs, or curtails
the activities that give rise to these costs;
(4)-the techniques for intervening and limiting rights to ocean resources have
evolved toward those that minimize information costs and maximize the
efficiency of the instruments themselves.
Pearson examines five major resources of the sea with respect to externalities:
fisheries, offshore oil production, marine transport, mining of the seabed for
manganese nodules, and waste disposal. Fisheries are internationally controlled
through some 22 regulatory bodies concerned with conservation of the living
resources of the sea whereby limits are placed on activities giving rise to external
costs. Concerning waste disposal, Pearson notes:
Pearson feels that the third proposition of the expanded Demsetz thesis is
supported in part by his (Pearson's) review of existing international conventions
276 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
Users of the environmental resource for waste disposal purposes create costs
that are external to themselves but are borne by others and are called ex-
ternalities or external diseconomies. It is the existence of externalities that
drives the wedge between private and social costs. Although externalities are
not confined to environmental deterioration, some familiar examples from
this literature illustrate the concept.
... Uncontrolled automobile emissions damage the health of urban resi-
dents, and overhead transmission lines reduce scenic qualities and produce
amenity losses. In each of these examples the costs that are external -to one
party-the petrochemical firm, the commuter, the power company-are ab-
sorbed elsewhere in society.
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 277
Types of Contaminants
A wide variety of pollutants enters the marine environment. Some of these may
be highly biodegradable and have only a local unfavorable effect, while others
may be quite persistent and have long-term effects not only on the local marine
environment but on the global one. We may have highly visual effects, such as
those created by plastics, wood debris, and foam, or the effects may be very
subtle and insidious, such as the bioaccumulation of metals and chlorinated
hydrocarbons. For convenience, classifying the known pollutants into five dis-
tinctive categories could serve as a useful means of examining the problems they
pose: (1) metals, (2) synthetic chemicals, (3) petroleum hydrocarbons, (4) radio-
nuclides, and (5) solid wastes. All have particular effects on the marine environ-
ment and marine organisms, but (1), (2), and (4) are persistent and bioac-
cumulate in aquatic organisms, which makes them especially hazardous. These
substances are regarded as having an impact in all marine waters, but are
particularly significant on a global basis. All demand a different approach for
quantitative analysis as well as for evaluation of dose-response relationships. A
useful document on this subject is the "Review of Harmful Substances" pub-
lished in reports of GESAMP Sessions V to VII (GESAMP, 1973-1975).
Goldberg and Menzel, in the chapter on "Oceanic Pollution" of Who Protects
the Ocean?, discuss marine pollution by halogenated hydrocarbons, mercury,
and petroleum in a global sense. They are unable to provide compelling scientific
arguments based on existing data, either on the ecological threat of these
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 281
Various problems need to be resolved before one can develop a good baseline
survey and follow this with a sound monitoring program. We must know what to
measure, where to measure it, how often, and by what means. Year by year
improved techniques provide increasing sensitivity for measurements with high
precision of substances in various media. Only recently, for example, have we
been able to measure with the necessary accuracy the concentrations of mercury
in water, in the biota, and in sediments to enable us to follow the movement and
bioaccumulation of this metal in the marine environment and to implement
control. As recently as 1966 we were first able to identify and to measure by
sophisticated liquid-gas chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques the
concentrations of PCBs in water, in sediments, and in organisms. Other sub-
stances may be entering the marine environment through so-called ecoleaks, in
the same way that PCBs entered, but we have not yet developed screening
techniques to identify these substances.
It has been extremely difficult to obtain unequivocal interpretations of the
effects of inputs of pollutants into the marine environment even from the few
scientific sources available. There are often large differences of scientific
opinions on interpretations of data, assuming that the data are all comparable in
the first place. In many cases, adequate data are lacking. Laboratory results
cannot always be translated to field conditions. The field situation is extremely
variable. Costly, long-term data collections are required to obtain statistically
valid means of the measured variables.
Development of water quality criteria, which can be used to control the
pollution created by various substances, often has to be based on inadequate
information consisting of fragmentary knowledge of effects on marine
organisms, extrapolation from toxicity measured in fresh water, and data ac-
quired with improperly controlled and measured experimental conditions. Some-
times no information whatsoever is available on which sound recommendations
can be based. This was sometimes true, for example, in developing water quality
criteria for the marine environment in the document, "Water Quality Criteria,
1972" (NAS-NAE, 1973). The lack of suitable scientific information from
which to develop criteria could eventually pose a hazard. Too lenient a standard
could be imposed on the discharge of a particular constituent into the sea. At
the other extreme, an economic burden may develop when too large a safety
factor is required to cover the uncertainty in the absence of good data.
The oceans are the "last frontier" in terms of the ultimate buffer zone against
man's abuses of his global environment. Once undesirable trends occur in the
oceans they will be difficult to reverse. The deep sea has a turnover rate
measured in thousands of years. National, regional, and international (global)
legislation is required to control pollution in the marine environment. However,
environmental legislation is of little value without sound scientific backing. The
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 283
They see that the industrialization of the developed countries has largely
contributed to pollution. As noted by Robert L. Friedheim in his chapter,
"Ocean Ecology and the World Political System," in Who Protects the Ocean?:
In his chapter, "The Economic Milieu of the Ocean," in Who Protects the
Ocean?, Meredith 0. Clement concludes:
In short, the market system, with its wondrous pricing mechanism, is per-
forming poorly-if at all-in allocating the oceans' functioning among its
several crucial alternative uses.
... under the principles of international law . . . no State has the right to use
or permit the use of its territory in such a manner as to cause injury by fumes
in or to the territory of another or the properties or persons therein. . . . It is
therefore the duty of the government of the Dominion of Canada to see to it
that this conduct should be in conformity with the obligation of the
Dominion under international law as herein determined.
The result of this case was that the Trail Smelter had to find means of
stemming the emissions of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere in order to stop
286 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
the destruction of Washington State farmers' crops. As it turned out, the sulfur
dioxide was recovered from the stacks and converted into ammonium sulfate,
which was later sold to the eastern Washington farmers as fertilizer. This il-
lustrates another point. Legislation may, in effect, force a company to convert
wastes that had formerly been released into the environment into a useful
by-product.
What is often disconcerting to scientists is that agreements are sometimes
reached between states on the basis of a political bargaining position that has
little to do with the scientific background of the particular problem to be solved.
As Friedheim put it in the chapter "Ocean Ecology and the World Political
System" of Who Protects the Ocean?:
Table I
International Conventions and Other Agreements for Control of
Marine Pollutiona
Conventions, Treaties, Status,
Protocols,Regulations, Responsible September
and Standards Pollutant Body 1976
General Marine Pollution
Convention on the Territorial Various UN In force
Sea and Contiguous Zone,
1958
Convention on the High Seas, Oil, wastes from UN In force
1958 exploration and
exploitation of
the seabed and its
subsoil, and radio-
active wastes
Convention on the Continental Any harmful agents UN In force
Shelf, 1958
Convention on Fishing and All deleterious UN Not yet in force
Conservation of the Living substances
Resources of the High Seas,
1958
Convention on the Prohibition Biologically hazardous UN Not yet in force
of the Development, and other toxic
Production and Stockpiling of substances
Bacteriological (Biological)
and Toxic Weapons and on
their Destruction, 1972
Protocol Relating to Other substances IMCO Not yet in force
Intervention on the High Seas than oil
in Cases of Marine Pollution
by Substances Other Than Oil
Convention on the Protection All substances Norwegian Not yet in force
of the Marine Environment of government
the Baltic Sea
Convention for the Prevention Wastes from land- French Not yet in force
of Marine Pollution from based sources government
Land-Based Sources
Convention on the Protection Environmentally Swedish Not yet in force
of the Environment between harmful activities government
Denmark, Finland, Norway
and Sweden
Oil Pollution
International Convention for Oil United Kingdom In force
the Prevention of Pollution of until establish-
the Sea by Oil, 1954 ment of IMCO
in 1958
Amendments to the Oil IMCO In force
International Convention for
the Prevention of Pollution of
the Sea by Oil, 1962
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 289
Table 1, continued
Radioactivity
Convention on Third Party Radioactive materials UN, IAEA In force
Liability in the Field of
Nuclear Energy, 1960
Convention Supplementary to Radioactive materials UN, IAEA Not yet in force
the Paris Convention on Third
Party Liability in the Field of
Nuclear Energy, 1963
Convention on the Liability of Radioactive materials UN, IAEA, Not yet in force
Operators of Nuclear Ships, IMCO
1962
Convention on Civil Liability Radioactive materials UN, IAEA Not yet in force
for Nuclear Damage, 1963
Treaty Banning Nuclear Radioactive materials UN, IAEA In force
Weapons Tests in the
290 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
Table 1, continued
Ocean Dumping
Convention for the Prevention All wastes and other Instruments In force
of Marine Pollution by substances dumped placed with
Dumping from Ships and at sea Norwegian
Aircraft government
Convention for the Prevention All wastes and other IMCO (Instru- In force
of Marine Pollution by matter dumped at ments had been
Dumping of Wastes and sea placed with
Other Matter government of
Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland until
September
1976)
August 1975, and some of the ratifying states have brought their national
legislation into harmony with the International Convention.
Four conventions were signed in 1958 at the First Law of the Sea Con-
ference. Some of these had a pollution component, but how any control is to be
maintained internationally under these particular conventions is very vague
indeed. A summary of international conventions and other agreements to con-
trol marine pollution is given in Table 1, with an attempt to classify the types
and sources of pollution.
Concluding Remarks
In its "Annual Report-1975," the Council on Environmental Quality (1975)
states concerning the oceans:
The oceans, which cover two-thirds of the earth's surface, make it habitable.
They are the primary source of water vapor, which returns to the land as rain.
They moderate climate throughout the world, cool islands in the tropics, and
bring warm currents to parts of the far north and south that would otherwise
be frigid. They are the earth's main filtering system, first receiving our debris,
then decomposing and recycling it.
The oceans furnish oxygen for the planet's atmosphere and food for its
inhabitants. The world fisheries provide some 10 percent of mankind's animal
protein, and phytoplankton through photosynthesis produce about one-third
of the world's oxygen supply.
As important as the oceans are to human life, it seems irrational that mankind
would abuse them. Yet abuse is common enough, and serious enough, to
bring into question the future of marine ecosystems on which man depends.
These abuses may be summed up in three main categories-using the ocean as
a sewer, overexploiting marine resources, and polluting the oceans with oil.
The importance of the oceans needs little emphasis as this planet's last great
economic frontier, the potential source for enormous food supplies, the final
buffer against ecological catastrophe, and a recreational outlet for restoration of
body and spirit of man.
Barbara Ward, in the "Introduction-The Quantum Jump" of Towards an
Environmentally Sound Law of the Sea, displays a remarkably perceptive insight
into the emerging problems of the ocean environment, associated with the
current activity to exploit the oil and gas resources under the continental shelves
of the world in order to supply the growing energy requirements. She foresees a
similar rush to extract the hard mineral resources of the sea bottom, potentially
available at least in manganese nodules of the deep sea. Hallman recognizes the
problems associated with the burgeoning use of the oceans for various purposes
and introduces his part, "Law of the Sea and the Environment," with:
292 MICHAEL WALDICHUK
This body may have no more power than to issue licenses to exploit seabed
resources on a first-come, first-served basis. But the risk of polluting the
oceans from uncontrolled mining demands, in logic, that the Seabed Au-
thority should have the right to impose, according to the nature of each
seabed activity, strict standards against pollution, to grant licenses for ex-
ploitation to states or enterprises but only against evidence of ability to
comply with the required standards, to monitor the results and impose
penalties for non-compliance not only on enterprises but on their parent
governments-a provision which would excludL "ocean sovereignties of con-
venience": in the last resort, the licenses of offenders should be withdrawn.
ing through narrow passages such as the Strait of Malacca, control pollution
from exploitation of the seabed and subsoil thereof, and achieve some agreement
in principle for stemming land-based sources of pollution. Much of the success
achieved in these areas will depend on support from developing countries, and
particularly from the disadvantaged inland states. One way to help ensure this
cooperation is to transfer technology to developing countries for pollution
assessment and control.
What are the relative merits of the documents reviewed as an aid to under-
standing the global issues involved in protection and preservation of the marine
environment in the context of the Law of the Sea? A good summary of the
international background to global environmental protection is given by
Towards an Environmentally Sound Law of the Sea. A rational approach is
taken to provide a framework on which a convention for protection of the
marine environment can be constructed. Who Protects the Ocean? provides the
best background material for a general understanding of the whole spectrum of
issues involved in global marine environmental protection, including scientific,
political, socioeconomic, and legal matters. Hargrove's book might be con-
sidered the "handbook" for understanding. International Marine Environ-
ment Policy: The Economic Dimension is very definitely slanted to economics
and policy on marine environmental protection in international maritime affairs.
It is quite academic. Some of the points discussed are interesting and thought
provoking, but it is doubtful if they would help much in formulating an
acceptable convention on protection and preservation of the marine environ-
ment. Finally, a few scientific uncertainties in marine pollution are given in
Disposal in the Marine Environment. It makes a plea for more research on
particular aspects of the marine pollution problem where the unknowns are most
serious. The document would be of little help in developing a convention, but it
does point to the need for investigation if measurement and assessment of
marine pollution for better control are to be effective.
In appraising the documents, I should point out that I had to look at their
relative contributions in terms of practical application to development of work-
able conventions on the Law of the Sea. There is a need to develop explicit
strategies to provide for more rational marine environmental management.
Professional and scholarly activity, even along theoretical and academic lines,
should continue to contribute to this objective. However, the development of
better or more complete knowledge by marine scholars and professionals is not
enough. Decision makers, and ultimately the public, will need better understand-
ing of the complex issues of marine environmental management. Much is left to
be done in this regard. But the documents reviewed have in their own way
contributed substantially to fill the gap.
CONTROL OF MARINE POLLUTION 295
Notes
'John Lawrence Hargrove (ed.), Who Protects the Ocean?, 1975), 233 pages; Charles S.
Pearson, InternationalMarine Environmental Policy: The Economic Dimension, 1975), 127
pages; Robert M. Hallman (with an Introduction by Barbara Ward), Towards an Environ-
mentally Sound Law of the Sea, 1974), 83 pages; and Ocean Disposal Study Steering
Committee, Ocean Affairs Board, Ocean Science Committee, Commission on Natural Re-
sources of the National Research Council, Disposal in the Marine Environment-An Oceano-
graphicAssessment, 1976), 76 pages.
'Meredith 0. Clement, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College; Anthony D'Amato,
Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law; Robert L. Friedheim, Director
of the Law of the Sea Project at the Center for Naval Analyses; Edward D. Goldberg,
Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; L. F. E. Goldie, Professor of
Law at Syracuse University College of Law; and David Menzel, the Skidaway Institute of
Oceanography.
'Externalities are defined as the direct imposition of costs or benefits on one economic
agent as the incidental result of the activities of another economic agent. For example, if a
chemical plant discharges toxic effluents into a river that is a common property resource
and produces a downstream fish kill, the costs of the fish kill are external to the plant, but
represent direct costs to others.
References
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and 7th Sessions of GESAMP. London: Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative
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Goldberg, Edward D. 1976. The Health of the Oceans. Paris: The Unesco Press.
Grotius, Hugo. 1916. The Freedom of the Seas. Translated by Ralph Van Deman Magoffin.
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