Pollution Monitoring: Its Role in Marine Environmental Management

Abstract

I n 1980-1961 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set o u t t o d e t e r m i n e t h e p o t e n t i a l r o l e o f t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t i n o c e a n p o l l u t i o n monitoring. A series of monitoring workshops w e r e c o n d u c t e d a n d t h e r e s u l t s are b e i n g a n a l y z e d t o determine a s u i t a b l e r o l e f o r t h e F e d e r a l Goverment .By u s i n g t h e p r e l i m i n a r y f i n d i n g s f r o m t h e workshops, a summary of p r i o r a n d o n g o i n g p o l l u t i o n E o n i t o r i n g a t t e m p t s , o v e r a l l g o a l s a n d o b j e c t i v e s f o r a n a t i o n a l m o n i t o r i n g scheme a r e p r e s e n t e d . Recommended as a f i r s t s t e p i s t h a t a n a g r e e dupon set of sediment sampling measurements be adopted and serve as t h e n u c l e u s o f t h e p r o p o s e d n a t i o n a l monitoring network. This data w i l l serve as a n i n t e g r a t i n g e l e m e n t t o w h i c h o t h e r l o c a l a n d reg i o n a l m o n i t o r i n g e l e m e n t s c a n relate. The r es u l t a n t m o n i t o r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n m u s t s u b s e q u e n t l y b e t r a n s l a t e d i n t o a form which assists d e c i s i o n m a k e r s h a v i n g a u t h o r i t y t o manage oceanic resources.