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April 28, 2010: International Noise Awareness Day

Waedenswil, 26.04.2010

OCEAN NOISE POLLUTION: TIME TO FILL A REGULATORY GAP

Ocean Noise Pollution (ONP) is a source of marine pollution in the form of acoustic energy or sound waves that gained momentum in recent years. The international community acknowledged the importance of dealing with such a pollutant in various fora, including: United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), International Maritime Organization, Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas, Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area and International Whaling Commission.
 
Among the various sources of ONP, shipping and seismic airguns are particularly worthy of attention because of their impacts on the world’s fish stocks. Studies conducted thus far show that local noise generated by shipping produces behavioural deviations in bluefin tuna schools, affecting the accuracy of their migrations to spawning and feeding grounds, with potentially significant effects on their fitness and survivability (Sarà, 2007). Noise generated by seismic airguns can reduce catch rates by 40 to 80% for fish species such as cod, haddock, rockfish, herring, sand eel and blue whiting. The use of airguns near fish stocks severely affects their distribution, local abundance and trawl and longline catch rates. Many studies (Engas et alt 1996, Slotte et alt 2004) have concluded that catch rates do not return to normal even days after noise has abated.
 
Although the full scale of the consequences of ONP is difficult to quantify at present, ONP is definitively known to adversely affect several fish species considered to be important economic resources. There is thus a connection between ONP and the availability of and access to food within the context of food security as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life). Fish contributes significantly to the diets of people worldwide. As the world’s oceans experience a decrease in the catch of fish due to human factors such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and overfishing, the potential for ONP to exacerbate the decline of catch rates should not be overlooked.
 
Most recently, the UNGA “Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction” at its third meeting (1-5 February 2010) acknowledged the existence of regulatory gaps in the current legal framework. Some delegations, including the European Union, stressed in this forum that ONP requires the attention of the international community and needs to be addressed by those measures that States are expected to take in order to protect marine biodiversity on the high seas.
 
OceanCare has been working on the conservation of marine ecosystems for over 20 years and focuses on building awareness through public education and outreach programs. OceanCare is a founding member of the International Ocean Noise Coalition (IONC), which works to build public awareness and urge the international community to take steps to combat ONP. Along with other IONC partners, OceanCare also studies emerging marine conservation issues, such as ONP, in order to anticipate factors that might endanger the conservation of marine ecosystems. OceanCare is committed not only to warn, but also to work with, the international community on tasks such as preventing and reducing the impacts of ONP for the benefit of communities worldwide.

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