North Sea strategies

Abstract

The North Sea environment has to be protected. It is widely recognised that functions and uses of the North Sea system should be balanced. The North Sea has the most intensive traffic of any sea in the world. Every year fishermen land three thousands million kilograms of fish, a quarter of the total North Sea fish stock. On the Dutch coasts we may find the most valuable wetlands in the world. On the other hand, the North Sea is an enormous garbage bin. Thousands of tonnes of heavy metals and chlorinated compounds are emptied into it every year. It is obvious, the North Sea has an environmental problem. The only way out is via “Sustainable Development”, which garantees sustainable uses as well. Not so long ago, ships steaming out of Rotterdam harbour at the start of their voyage to the Dutch East Indies or the New World were escorted by schools of porpoises and had dolphins sporting in their wake. These days you won't see a single dolphin or porpoise off Rotterdam, however hard you look. A retired captain asked how many there used to be, answered with the wisdom of an Eastern sage: “Well, these days you don't count the seagulls in the crow's nest either, do you?”! Except for a few strays, sea mammals like the porpoise and the dolphin have vanished from Dutch coastal waters. Very occasionally, one is washed up on the beach. Dead. The North Sea offers a thousand uses to the people living nearby. Fishing, nature reserves, shipping, raw materials and recreation. We even can dump a certain amount of waste in it. If mankind is to greedy to harvest, these uses come into conflict with nature. It seems that this is the nub of the problem of the North Sea. Because of overfishing, overlaoding with waste and too much recreation and shipping the North Sea is no longer able to accommodate a fully-fledged, sustainable ecosystem. Animals at the top of the food chain, such as dolphins, sharks and certain fish-eating birds, have disappeared from the coastal waters. To solve the North Sea problem, we have to base our future policy on Sustainable Development.