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FAO FISHERIES TECHNICAL PAPER 349


Effects of riverine inputs on coastal ecosystems and fisheries resources


CONTENTS


Marine Resources Service
Fishery Resources Division
FAO Fisheries Department

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M-43
ISBN 92-5-103634-9

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© FAO 1995


PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

It has become apparent that anthropogenic influences are beginning to have major effects on coastal marine habitats and particularly on the ecosystems and populations of bodies of water that are largely enclosed by surrounding landmasses. The Mediterranean Sea, for example, is a semi-enclosed sea. But the Mediterranean sea itself is separated into several semi-enclosed subareas. On an even smaller scale, the near-coastal areas directly adjacent to sources of freshwater input are subject to various processes that tend to contain the affected water masses in a rather local area. On yet a smaller scale, estuaries and coastal lagoons may constitute crucially important nursery areas which are particularly affected.

The set of papers contained in this document is intended to provide conceptual background and documented experience that may be useful to those involved in the scientific, management, or political issues related to utilization and protection of coastal ecosystems.

Distribution:

FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Regional Fishery Officers
Directors of Fisheries
Regional and International Fisheries Organizations
Authors

FAO Marine Resources Service, Fishery Resources Division.
Effects of riverine inputs on coastal ecosystems and fisheries resources.
FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No.349. FAO, Rome. 1995. 133p.
ABSTRACT
Five chapters are presented which address a number of aspects of riverine and runoff effects on coastal marine systems. Examples are presented and documented in which the apparent effects of runnoff-related nutrient enrichment and consequent eutrophication have been important. Various other aspects, such as sedimentation, etc. are explored. The purpose is to advance the scientific, policy, and political dialogue on issues related to utilization and protection of coastal marine ecosystems.
The “Marine Catchment Basin” or “MCB” appears to be the logical scale of policy and management interest wherever terrestrial runoff has substantial impacts on a marine system. The MCB expands the “marine ecosystem” concept to include not only the marine aquatic system, but also the adjacent land areas that drain into it. The MCB concept has been identified primarily with semi-enclosed seas, where effects have been particularly dramatic and where the “catchment basin” retains an easily visualized geological context. However, even along open ocean coasts, hydrodynamic processes act to retain coherent masses of water, together with their contained organisms and materials, against the coast. Thus open coastal areas may exhibit MCB features similar to those of enclosed or semi-enclosed basins.

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CONTENTS

1.PRODUCTIVITY ESTIMATES FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN:
EVIDENCE OF ACCELERATING ECOLOGICAL CHANGE
(J.F. Caddy, R. Refk and T. Do-Chi)
2.THE IMPACT OF THE NILE AND THE SUEZ CANAL
ON THE LIVING MARINE RESOURCES OF THE
EGYPTIAN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS (1958–1986)
(Y. Halim, S.A. Morcos, S. Rizkalla and M.Kh. El-Sayed)
3.CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF TERRESTRIAL RUNOFF
AND RIVERINE OUTFLOW ON BRACKISH/COASTAL
MARINE FISHERIES ECOSYSTEMS IN THE NORTHERN
MEDITERRANEAN REGION
(A.J. Crivelli, M.-C. Ximenes, B. Gout, G. Lasserre, P. Freon and T. Do-Chi)
4.THE INFLUENCE OF RUNOFF AND FLUVIAL OUTFLOW
ON THE ECOSYSTEMS AND LIVING RESOURCES OF
WEST AFRICAN COASTAL WATERS
(D. Binet, L. Le Reste and P.S. Diouf)
5.MARINE CATCHMENT BASINS AND ANTHROPOGENIC
EFFECTS ON COASTAL FISHERY ECOSYSTEMS
(J.F. Caddy and A. Bakun)