10 Laws Against the Pollution of the Oceans
It is legitimate that everyone expresses his opinion about the problems connected
with the pollution of the oceans according to his own interests. A conservationist who
is concerned with preservation and tending of the variety of species will have a different point of view than an environmentalist who wants to maintain the quality of
living for mankind in the long run; a farmer has a different opinion about the problems resulting from residues than a fisherman. The head of a chemical plant has to be
concerned with the productivity of the plant, the local politician with the maintenance of tax revenues and jobs. Within a government, too, the positions of the
different ministries are not identical.
A scientist ought to be free from such preoccupations, but this is only seldom the
case: instructed by authorities, through economic stimulus to cooperate in coordinated research programs, or through personal commitment to environmental protection, he chooses from among the variety of possible research projects the one which
suits him best. When, from the obtained data, he draws such conclusions which fit
into his concept, this is legitimate as long as the scientific truth is not disturbed
by it.
Every law against marine pollution develops from the preparatory work of science,
from individual activities, and from the work of civil activist groups, but before it is
passed, the confrontation of contracting opinions must be ended and the formation
of democratic will completed.
The problem here is that the assessment of problems associated with marine pollution and of possible countermeasures depends on the actual progress of science and
the formation of scientific opinion. By the time a law has finally been passed, science
has usually advanced. This is why laws against marine pollution will also be changed
again in the future, partly because restrictions will be tightened and new dangers
must be taken into account, and partly as there will also be relief when dangers have
initially been overestimated.
In the regional and national field every state is responsible for its own coastal waters,
meaning, in the past, that it is responsible for a 3-nautical mile zone of sovereign
power and a 12-mile fishing zone. At present there is a tendency to enlarge the zone
of sovereign power to 12 nautical miles, and the zone of commercial interest to
either 200 nautical miles, or the entire shelf off-shore.
On August 15, 1967, the Third Law for the Modification of the Water Regulation
Law was passed in the Federal Republic of Germany; from that time on this law has
applied to coastal as well as inland waters. Waste water treatment plants have to be
built if disadvantages for the public are to be expected from the discharge of untreated
or poisonous waste water. The four coastal states Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg,
184
It is legitimate that everyone expresses his opinion about the problems connected
with the pollution of the oceans according to his own interests. A conservationist who
is concerned with preservation and tending of the variety of species will have a different point of view than an environmentalist who wants to maintain the quality of
living for mankind in the long run; a farmer has a different opinion about the problems resulting from residues than a fisherman. The head of a chemical plant has to be
concerned with the productivity of the plant, the local politician with the maintenance of tax revenues and jobs. Within a government, too, the positions of the
different ministries are not identical.
A scientist ought to be free from such preoccupations, but this is only seldom the
case: instructed by authorities, through economic stimulus to cooperate in coordinated research programs, or through personal commitment to environmental protection, he chooses from among the variety of possible research projects the one which
suits him best. When, from the obtained data, he draws such conclusions which fit
into his concept, this is legitimate as long as the scientific truth is not disturbed
by it.
Every law against marine pollution develops from the preparatory work of science,
from individual activities, and from the work of civil activist groups, but before it is
passed, the confrontation of contracting opinions must be ended and the formation
of democratic will completed.
The problem here is that the assessment of problems associated with marine pollution and of possible countermeasures depends on the actual progress of science and
the formation of scientific opinion. By the time a law has finally been passed, science
has usually advanced. This is why laws against marine pollution will also be changed
again in the future, partly because restrictions will be tightened and new dangers
must be taken into account, and partly as there will also be relief when dangers have
initially been overestimated.
In the regional and national field every state is responsible for its own coastal waters,
meaning, in the past, that it is responsible for a 3-nautical mile zone of sovereign
power and a 12-mile fishing zone. At present there is a tendency to enlarge the zone
of sovereign power to 12 nautical miles, and the zone of commercial interest to
either 200 nautical miles, or the entire shelf off-shore.
On August 15, 1967, the Third Law for the Modification of the Water Regulation
Law was passed in the Federal Republic of Germany; from that time on this law has
applied to coastal as well as inland waters. Waste water treatment plants have to be
built if disadvantages for the public are to be expected from the discharge of untreated
or poisonous waste water. The four coastal states Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg,
184