22
P. Tett
(c) aims at enhanced protection and improvement of the aquatic environment, inter alia,
through specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses
of priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out of discharges, emissions and losses
of the priority hazardous substances;…. and thereby contributes to:… the protection of
territorial and marine waters, and… achieving the objectives of relevant international
agreements, including those which aim to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine
environment,… with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for
man-made synthetic substances.
The first part that I have underlined refers to transitional waters (those substantially
influenced by river flow, hence, typically, estuaries) and coastal waters (extending at
least to 1 nautical mile from a coastal baseline, to 3 nautical miles in Scotland). These
are the waters relevant to marine aquaculture as considered in this chapter. In addition, however, the Directive’s protection of rivers, lakes, and their catchments, should
improve the quality of discharges to estuaries and coastal waters, and so improve the
background conditions here, to the advantage of aquaculture.
The third group of underlined words concerns the reduction of environmental
pollution. In this respect, the WFD may be seen simply as intensifying earlier legislation, such as that of the UK’s COPA or the Dangerous Substances Directive; but
it goes beyond the use of experimental toxicology to set values for EQS. Notice the
distinction between the “man-made synthetic” substances, and “naturally occurring” substances that are enhanced in wastes. The former are to be, ultimately,
excluded from seawater; the latter should not be allowed to exceed “background”
values by very much. The distinction can be made from the Indicative list of the
main pollutants provided in Annex VIII of the WFD:
Man-made synthetics: 1. Organohalogen compounds and substances which may form such
compounds in the aquatic environment. 2. Organophosphorous compounds. 3. Organotin
compounds. 4. Substances and preparations, or the breakdown products of such, which
have been proved to possess carcinogenic or mutagenic properties or properties which may
affect steroidogenic, thyroid, reproduction or other endocrine-related functions in or via
the aquatic environment. 5. Persistent hydrocarbons and persistent and bioaccumulable
organic toxic substances. 6. Cyanides. 7. Metals and their compounds. 8. Arsenic and its
compounds. 9. Biocides and plant protection products.
Naturally-occurring substances: 10. Materials in suspension. 11. Substances which contribute to eutrophication (in particular, nitrates and phosphates). 12. Substances which
have an unfavourable influence on the oxygen balance (and can be measured using parameters such as BOD, COD, etc.).
Of course, it may be necessary to be a little more subtle than I have been. For example, some copper compounds occur naturally in seawater, whereas others, such as
copper pyrithione, are synthetic.
The second underlining, referring to the status of aquatic ecosystems, highlights
the ecosystem approach. In fact, the WFD implements the approach in two main
ways: through the management of river basins (and their coastal waters) as a whole,
including the joint consideration of point and diffuse sources of nutrients; and
through the ecological component of quality status. Quality status is defined in
article 2 in the following terms:
P. Tett
(c) aims at enhanced protection and improvement of the aquatic environment, inter alia,
through specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses
of priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out of discharges, emissions and losses
of the priority hazardous substances;…. and thereby contributes to:… the protection of
territorial and marine waters, and… achieving the objectives of relevant international
agreements, including those which aim to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine
environment,… with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for
man-made synthetic substances.
The first part that I have underlined refers to transitional waters (those substantially
influenced by river flow, hence, typically, estuaries) and coastal waters (extending at
least to 1 nautical mile from a coastal baseline, to 3 nautical miles in Scotland). These
are the waters relevant to marine aquaculture as considered in this chapter. In addition, however, the Directive’s protection of rivers, lakes, and their catchments, should
improve the quality of discharges to estuaries and coastal waters, and so improve the
background conditions here, to the advantage of aquaculture.
The third group of underlined words concerns the reduction of environmental
pollution. In this respect, the WFD may be seen simply as intensifying earlier legislation, such as that of the UK’s COPA or the Dangerous Substances Directive; but
it goes beyond the use of experimental toxicology to set values for EQS. Notice the
distinction between the “man-made synthetic” substances, and “naturally occurring” substances that are enhanced in wastes. The former are to be, ultimately,
excluded from seawater; the latter should not be allowed to exceed “background”
values by very much. The distinction can be made from the Indicative list of the
main pollutants provided in Annex VIII of the WFD:
Man-made synthetics: 1. Organohalogen compounds and substances which may form such
compounds in the aquatic environment. 2. Organophosphorous compounds. 3. Organotin
compounds. 4. Substances and preparations, or the breakdown products of such, which
have been proved to possess carcinogenic or mutagenic properties or properties which may
affect steroidogenic, thyroid, reproduction or other endocrine-related functions in or via
the aquatic environment. 5. Persistent hydrocarbons and persistent and bioaccumulable
organic toxic substances. 6. Cyanides. 7. Metals and their compounds. 8. Arsenic and its
compounds. 9. Biocides and plant protection products.
Naturally-occurring substances: 10. Materials in suspension. 11. Substances which contribute to eutrophication (in particular, nitrates and phosphates). 12. Substances which
have an unfavourable influence on the oxygen balance (and can be measured using parameters such as BOD, COD, etc.).
Of course, it may be necessary to be a little more subtle than I have been. For example, some copper compounds occur naturally in seawater, whereas others, such as
copper pyrithione, are synthetic.
The second underlining, referring to the status of aquatic ecosystems, highlights
the ecosystem approach. In fact, the WFD implements the approach in two main
ways: through the management of river basins (and their coastal waters) as a whole,
including the joint consideration of point and diffuse sources of nutrients; and
through the ecological component of quality status. Quality status is defined in
article 2 in the following terms: