Volume 8/Number 9/September 1977
bad as the Mediterranean unless action was taken to
reduce the estimated 11.25m tons of industrial waste and
10m tons of sewage going into the sea off the Northumber-
land, Durham and Yorkshire coasts. Samples of fish and
seawater in the area are regularly taken by Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries scientists and a spokesman said
that if serious evidence of pollution damage was found,
dumping would be curtailed.
USSR
Soviet scientists have begun experiments to discover
whether it will be possible to breed whales in captivity.
They are currently attempting to domesticate a small
school of baleen whales in the Okhotsk Sea. Commercial
hunting of this species was halted when the danger of their
becoming extinct was imminent and total stocks in the
Okhotsk Sea is thought to be about 1500.
France
A national testing programme to assess the level of sea
pollution off French bathing beaches has resulted in 25
being given a D grading indicating that they have water of
'insufficient quality' and are considered permanently
unsafe for swimming.
The beaches are in areas near Boulogne, Dieppe, St.
Malo, Brest and Antibes in the South of France. Almost
100 other beaches have been given a C grading indicating
that they are temporarily unsafe. Included in this
category are beaches around Calais and Boulogne,
twenty areas in Brittany and nearly 30 between Menton
and Marseilles.
On the most seriously affected beaches a violet warning
flag will be flown to warn bathers and at a number of the
temporarily unsafe beaches on the Mediterranean, local
authorities will issue daily bulletins giving a detailed
analysis of bacterial levels.
Mediterranean
The first workshop meeting of Mediterranean nations to
set about tackling their shared sea pollution problem
reached agreement on a code of practice to be applied by
each state over the next three years.
Sixteen countries were represented at the meeting with
only Albania and Syria absent. The workshop follows
last year's signing of the Barcelona agreement which set
out an overall anti-pollution convention, and protocols
on dumping chemicals and a coordinated action plan for
dealing with oil spills.
Straits of Malacca
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have signed an
agreement to coordinate an anti-pollution policy in the
Straits and methods of coping with pollution incidents.
The tripartite agreement also includes guidelines
concerning navigation for the Straits of Malacca and
Singapore.
Maldive Islands
The government of this chain of coral atolls in the Indian
Ocean--650km south west of Sri Lanka--has introduced
a law banning underwater hunting and controlling
catches of turtles and tortoises.
The use of spear guns, spears and explosives for fishing
has been completely prohibited and a ban has been put on
catching tortoises smaller than 61cm and turtles of less
than 76cm in any part of the Maldives.
Trinidad
With 340 oil-producing wells lying offshore, the govern-
ment of Trinidad and Tobago is drawing up an oil spill
contingency plan that will set down the minimum
equipment and dispersants which should be held by
operating companies.
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