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China’s Ocean Ecology
Gets Mixed Report Card A
December 2002 report from Embassy Beijing. NGO’s and government officials give China’s
ocean ecology mixed marks.
Land-based pollution, red tides and biodiversity loss all plague
China’s seas. Perhaps the best
news is that China’s increasingly capable NGO’s and government agencies are
paying more attention to China’s seas and that problems are focused in a few
locations, thus manageable with concentrated efforts. International cooperation is an
important factor in strengthening China’s capabilities in this area. Mixed Marks for China’s Coastal Waters
Marine-related
NGO’s, academics and officials delivered a mixed report card on the ecology
of China’s seas during an October 23-25 Workshop on Marine Conservation
organized by the U.S. NGO Pacific Environment in Dalian, Liaoning
Province. The bad news includes
the dramatic worsening of red tides over the past few years, the almost
certain near-term extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, and the loss of
winter sea-ice as a breeding platform for seals. Good news includes tighter controls on fishing, better
research capability, more institutional support for marine issues and a
drop-off in some particularly damaging land-based pollutants such as heavy
metals. A survey by the State
Oceanic Administration (SOA) in 1998 concluded that the overall condition of
China’s marine environment is still deteriorating, but not as quickly as
before. Strengthened Institutions and Laws
Perhaps the
most important good news is that China’s legal and institutional structure
for marine protection is improving: ·
The country’s first Marine Environmental Protection
Law was passed in 1982 (and revised in 1999). ·
The National Marine Environmental Monitoring Net was
established in 1984, and a series of related specifications and standards
followed. ·
Centrally-administered Marine Supervision Teams were
established in 1999 to coordinate marine law enforcement and marine
management. ·
The Chinese government approved the Bohai Blue Sea
Action Plan, China’s first integrated coastal management plan, in 2001. ·
Finally, the new Sea Use Management Law, which will
“zone” China’s seas for different uses, entered into force on January 1 of
this year. Meanwhile, China’s marine reserve
system is expanding. The system
only started in 1988, but it now has 21 national marine reserves and 50
local-level marine reserves with a total area of 23,805 square
kilometers. On the
technical side, SOA has expanded its network of monitoring stations. Its ability to provide baseline data
on, for example, water quality, has vastly improved during the past few
years. SOA now has an enlarged
set of monitoring tools at its disposal, including new satellites, airplanes,
and more boats. (See the Beijing
Environment Science and Technology Update of November 1, 2002 for an
article on China’s remote sensing capabilities: <http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt>
) Another
positive development is the increasing number of international and domestic
NGO’s that work on marine issues.
These include the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildlife
Conservation Society, Pacific Environment, and Friends of Nature (a domestic
NGO.) While these organizations
certainly make a contribution, they work best in an advisory or
attention-drawing capacity. Further official information on China’s marine
system can be found on the web at http://www.soa.gov.cn/(in
Chinese) and at http://www.coi.gov.cn/eindex.html(in
English). International Cooperation Has Helped
International
cooperative programs have helped China develop the capability to protect its
marine environment. The U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a long history of
working with marine authorities in China and is currently focusing on the
ARGO buoy program, the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project, and on
developing reserves to protect mangroves in Guangxi Province. The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
has a multi-million-dollar program to protect marine biodiversity in the
South China Sea. Other GEF
projects in the last few years have applied tens of millions of dollars to
marine protection in China. Pollution: Heavy Metals Down, Non-Point
Chemicals Up
Marine
pollution is heavily focused in a several areas, and is worst around the
mouth of the Yangtze River, in the Pearl River Delta, and at the mouth of the
Liao River in Liaoning Province.
Officials from SOA estimate that 60% of China’s marine pollution comes
flows out of rivers. SOA did its
first survey on land-based pollution sources in 1996. In SOA’s view, the ocean pollution
problem has “bottomed out,” despite continuing economic development. SOA experts say that non-point
pollution in estuarine areas from phosphorus and nitrogen is their biggest
pollution problem now, particularly near Shanghai and Hangzhou Bay. Prevalence
levels of some other land-based pollutants show improvement, particularly
heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic. SOA attributes this improvement to higher production
standards and stricter environmental regulations at industrial sources. While there are some “hot spots,” overall
the situation is “not so bad,” SOA says. One problem
that is likely to hurt marine water quality is decreasing fresh water flows
from China’s rivers into its estuaries.
Northern China is already critically water-short. (See our November
15, 2002 Beijing Environment, Science and Technology Update at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandtfor
details.) With diminishing water
supplies due to drought and increasing demand from municipal and industrial
users, China’s rivers are literally being drained dry. Maintaining in-stream flow is a low
priority. As a result, estuarine
water quality is deteriorating, with negative effects on estuarine
biodiversity and productivity. The Tide is Red
Another
measure of water quality, red tides, clearly shows deterioration. Red tides occur more frequently and
are larger than before, and the trend is worsening. The number of reported red tides shot up to 77 in 2001
from 28 in 2000 and 19 in 1999, more than tripling in two years. The expert who presented a paper on
red tides at the Dalian conference said that 2002 figures will be “a little
better.” She added that the
science of red tides is not clearly understood, so determining exactly when
and why red tides occur is a topic that is ripe for research. The only mitigating factor is that
red tides are concentrated in relatively narrow areas, primarily around
Zhejiang and Liaoning Provinces.
Those two areas account for 50% of the number of China’s red tides,
and about two-thirds of the affected area. In 2001, China established a Red Tide Monitoring
Network. Due to the very real
economic damage stemming from red tides, it is a topic that will doubtless
continue to receive strong attention. The Worst Worsens But Overall, Pollution
Diminishes
The overall
2001 report card for China’s ocean water quality shows polarized
results. While overall marine
water quality showed an improving trend (fewer total polluted square
kilometers), the area of severe pollution increased. As of the end of 2001, China reported
that 173,390 square kilometers of its seas had some level of pollution, down
from 2000 levels. However, the
measured area of “heavy” pollution rose from roughly 28,000 square kilometers
in 2000 to 32,590 square kilometers in 2001. One researcher, Mr. Han Jiabo, said there has been “an
improving trend” in the water quality of the Yellow Sea. Controls on Fishing Help Fish and Some Marine
Mammals
SOA
officials say that fishing bans implemented during the annual breeding season
have boosted fish stocks. These
bans, begun in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in 1995, have recently
been lengthened, and also expanded to include the South China Sea and Yangtze
River (and also Qinghai Lake in western China). SOA says that fish stocks could rapidly rebound if a
complete moratorium were put into effect for two years. Given the need to maintain the
livelihood of Chinese fishermen, that is more an expression of hope than a
realistic policy option. SOA
researchers have also noted an increase in numbers of fish in China’s
mangrove areas, a very good sign for future fish stocks. Finally, Chinese authorities in the
Ministry of Agriculture, which has responsibility for fisheries, have
undertaken a multi-year program to retire 30,000 fishing boats, 12% of
China’s fishing fleet. In the area
of marine mammal protection, measures such as controlling the number of
trawlers, setting quotas, and creating protected areas have triggered a
modest recovery in largha seals (Phocidae phoca largha). A local researcher also mentioned
strengthened research and a “breed and release” program as positive
influences. On the downside,
warmer weather has diminished the size of winter pack ice, the preferred
breeding location for these seals. Dugongs and Dolphins Disappearing from Chinese
Waters
Dugongs (Dudongidae
dugong dugon), a homely marine mammal similar to a manatee, have
virtually disappeared from Chinese waters during the past few years. Previously found in China’s
southernmost seas near Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan, a recent survey near
Hainan reported no sightings.
One researcher estimates fewer than 50 dugong now live in Chinese
waters. Causes include loss of
the species’ seagrass food source because of pollution and aquaculture, and
deaths from collisions with boats and dynamite fishing. There is a Dugong Reserve in Guangxi
Province. Meanwhile,
two species of indigenous Chinese dolphin -- the Yangtze dolphin or Chinese
river dolphin (Lipotidae lipotes vexillifer) and the finless porpoise
(Phocoenidae neophocaena phocaenoides) -- are almost certainly
doomed. The only bright note is
the presence of a semi-captive group of finless porpoises in China, and
populations of wild finless porpoises outside China. The Yangtze dolphin will likely be
extinct within a few years, a victim of dams, ships, and pollution. The last Yangtze dolphin in captivity
died recently. Comment: With Effort, Marine Problems May Be
Manageable
Compared to
China’s immense and intractable problems with land degradation, water
pollution and air pollution, the outlook for China’s marine environment seems
(relatively) bright. The
problems are serious, but not critical, and the tools to cope with those
problems are increasingly evident.
With more financial and policy effort, China’s mixed marks on marine
ecology could improve to higher grades. |