Collected Contributions of Invited Lecturers and Authors to the 10C/FAO/U N EP International Workshop on Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions
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.- -/ce,9e6L1 420■4 • 3/L•Ikrf: 7 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Workshop report no. 11 - Supplement/ IIBLIOTECik KACIONES HOS MEXICO Collected contributions of invited lecturers and authors to the 10C/FAO/U N EP International Workshop on Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 13-17 December 1976 Unesco . Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Workshop report no.11 Supplement Collected contributions of invited lecturers and authors to the IOC/FAO/UNEP International Workshop on Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, 13-17 December 1976. UNESCO 1977 SC-78/WS/1 Paris, January 1978 Original: English CONTENTS pails 1 INTRODUCTION INFORMATION PAPERS Preliminary review of problems of marine pollution in the Caribbean and adjacent 2-28 regions. by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. A review of river discharges in the Caribbean and adjacent regions by Jean-Marie Martin 29-46 and M. Meybeck. INVITED LECTURES Regional oceanography as it relates to present and future pollution problems -79 and living resources - Caribbean. by Donald K. Atwood. 47 Regional oceanography as it relates to present and future pollution problems 80-105 and living resources - Gulf of Mexico. by Ingvar Emilsson. Pollution research and monitoring for by Enrique Mandelli. 106-145 heavy metals. Pollution research and monitoring for hydrocarbons: present status of the studies of petroleum contamination in by Alfonso Vazquez 146-158 the Gulf of Mexico. Botello. Pollution research and monitoring for halogenated hydrocarbons and by Eugene Corcoran. 159-168 pesticides. Pollutant transfer and transport in by Gunnar Kullenberg. 169-205 the sea. Health aspects of coastal water 206-216 pollution. by Eric W. Mood. Political aspects of marine pollution and development of political awareness 217-235 of marine pollution problems. by Lennox Ballah. 236 AUTHORS' AND LECTURERS' ADDRESSES 1 INTRODUCTION The International Workshop on Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions was held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, from 13 to 17 December 1976 under the sponsorship of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (through its Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission), and the United Nations Environment Programme. Eight invited lectures were given at the Workshop so as to provide a common framework for discussion amongst the participants, who were mainly, but not entirely, scientists actively studying marine pollution problems in the region. The marine science infrastructure in the Caribbean region is not yet strong and it was not possible to ensure the participation of marine pollution experts from all the countries of the region. In some cases technical people concerned indirectly with marine pollution, particularly fishery experts, were invited. The report of the Workshop (IOC Workshop report no.11) has been published separately and previously, in response to a request from the participants that it should be issued as soon as possible. At the same time, the participants wished to have the texts (or extended abstracts) of the eight lectures, as well as those of two information papers, also published. Since this would have delayed the publication of the report, the texts of the lectures and information papers have been published in the present supplement. All invited participants, including the lecturers, took part in the Workshop in their individual capacity as experts in marine pollution or related fields. In collecting these information papers and lectures in a supplement, some editorial changes have been made to provide a greater degree of uniformity of style and presentation, and to take account of the fact that they were prepared several months ago, before the Workshop, but are now being published after the Workshop. PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF PROBLEMS OF MARINE POLLUTION IN THE CARIBBEAN AND ADJACENT REGIONS This information paper was prepared by FAO. IOC/FAO marine pollution questionnaires answered by Member States were the main source of information for this paper. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction 2. Description of the Region and Some 5 Hydrographic Aspects 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 Surface-water circulation 6 2.3 Sea-surface temperature: areas of upwelling 6 3. Sources and Effects of Pollution 7 3.1 Introduction 7 3,2 Mexico 8 3.3 United States 10 3.4 Colombia 16 3.5 Cuba 17 3.6 Jamaica 18 3.7 Trinidad and Tobago 19 3.8 Bahamas 19 3.9 Belize 20 3.10 Guatemala 20 3.11 Nicaragua 21 3.12 Panama 21 4. Summary 22 Table Figures 1. Introduction The International Co-ordination Group (ICG) for the Co-operative Investigations of the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CICAR) at its sixth session in Cartagena, Colombia, in 1973 noted the increasing concern about marine pollution matters in the CICAR area. The meeting therefore recommended that FAO and IOC immediately take the necessary steps to obtain from countries in the CICAR area the basic information needed to hold a workshop on marine pollution. A questionnaire on marine pollution in the Caribbean region was sent out by IOC in April 1974 to member countries of CICAR and by FAO to member countries of FAO not members of CICAR, and the Operations Co- ordinator of CICAR visited the CICAR member countries to obtain additional information on marine pollution in the region. At the seventh session of the ICG for CICAR (Mexico, April 1975), it was recognized that the response to the questionnaires, so far, was unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, the CICAR National Co-ordinators were of the opinion that there existed a distinct urgency regarding marine pollution problems in the CICAR area, and therefore recommended that the Workshop on marine pollution be convened in 1976. A Steering Committee was established to organize the "International Workshop on Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions"; the Committee first met in Trinidad in October 1975. The Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) of FAO recognized at its first session in Trinidad (October 1975) the importance of this Workshop, and agreed that it should be a joint WECAFC/CICAR effort. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed to co-sponsor and financially support the Workshop, and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago generously offered to host it. The present report is a preliminary one. Originally it was intended to prepare a more complete review of the state of marine pollution, as was done for the two international workshops on marine pollution that were organized by IOC, FAO and UNEP for the Mediterranean Sea (Monaco, September 1974) and East Asian Waters (Penang, Malaysia, April 1976). However, the scarcity of information on pollution problems in many countries of the region, which was reflected in the replies to the questionnaires, did not allow such an extensive review to be prepared in advance of the Workshop. This preliminary review therefore only provides some background information for the deliberations at the Workshop which will identify the main pollutants and the most urgent problems to be solved through regional co-operation. It is hoped that the experts who participated in the Workshop will complete as much as possible the information on the pollution problems in their respective countries so that a "Review on the State of Marine Pollution in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions" can be prepared at a later date to assist in any action to follow up the Workshop. 5 The information contained in this preliminary report was received from: (i) Replies to the questionnaire on marine pollution from the following CICAR and FAO member countries: Bahamas, Belize, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. (ii) Papers presented at the FAO Technical Conference on Marine Pollution and its Effects on Living Resources and Fishing. Rome, 9-18 December 1970. (iii)United Nations and FAO publications; e.g., UN Statistical Year- book 1974, FAO Production Yearbook 1974. (iv) Papers presented by Colombian, Cuban and Mexican participants at various FAO/SIDA Training Courses on Marine Pollution concerning pollution problems in their respective countries. The present paper was prepared by Mr A. Wenblad, FAO Technical Secretary of the Workshop, and Dr G. Tomczak, FAO Fishery Resources and Environment Division (Chapter 1). 2. Description of the Region and Some Hydrographic Aspects 2.1 Introduction The area under consideration for the purpose of the Workshop encompasses the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and is bordered on the north, west and south by the American continent and on the east by the islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. 6 2 The total area of this region is 4.31 x 10 km . As the mean water depth is 2,174 m.1 the total volume of the water masses in the region is 9.37 x 106 km- 3. The greatest water depth is found in the Cayman trench (6,895 m) to the west of Jamaica. The Caribbean Sea can be subdivided into various basins which are bordered by submarine sills. Thus, a sill of mostly less than 200 m between Jamaica and Honduras separates the Yucatan Basin in the north of the Caribbean Sea from the main part of this sea; several sills with depths of less than 3,000 m also divide this main body of the Caribbean Sea into three different basins: the Colombian Basin in the west, the Venezuelan Basin in the middle of the area, and the small Grenada Basin to the west of the Leeward and Windward Islands.