 | CIFA TECHNICAL PAPER 25 Review of pollution in the African aquatic environmentedited by  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
COMMITTEE FOR INLAND FISHERIES OF AFRICA (CIFA)
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PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT
This document is the collective presentation of the findings of the Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries, established in 1985 by the Committee for Inland Fisheries of Africa. The Working Party met in 1986 in Accra, Ghana, in 1989 in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1991 and 1993 in Accra, Ghana. Their Reports have been published as FAO Fisheries Reports No. 369, 437, 471 and 502.
| DEFINITION OF MARINE POLLUTION |
| Pollution means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities. |
| IMO/FAO/Unesco-IOC/WMO/WHO/IAEA/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) |
Cover photo: Small water body, Mbalmayo, Cameroon. Photograph by H. Naeve, FAO.
Distribution
Members of CIFA
Mailing List CIFA
Mailing List Inland Water Pollution (Africa)
FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Regional Fisheries Officers
Authors
© FAO 1994
| Calamari, D.; Naeve, H. (eds.) Review of pollution in the African aquatic environment. CIFA Technical Paper. No. 25. Rome, FAO. 1994. 118 p. |
| ABSTRACT |
| This document summarizes the findings of the CIFA Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries. It gives advice on strategies for aquatic pollution control, including the establishment of environmental quality standards, emphasizing the use of risk assessment methodologies for arriving at site-specific environmental protection measures. The document further reviews the state of the African aquatic environment in respect of pollution by organic loads, by heavy metals and by organochlorine substances. It concludes that contamination of African inland waters, with the exception of some hot-spot areas, is still relatively low. Pollution by organic matter, causing eutrophication and anoxia, however, is identified as a major threat to fisheries. Although contamination with metals and organochlorines is still low, with the expected increases in urbanization and socio-economic activities, it is imperative to identify the sources and quantify the discharges of such material into the aquatic environment. The occurrence of synthetic micropollutants like organochlorine substances in different compartments of the aquatic environment, even at trace and ultra-trace levels, is of ecological and environmental health concern. Pollution control strategies should be formulated in all countries, covering legislation, environmental standards and criteria, waste minimization, effluent treatment, pollution monitoring, training, education and public awareness campaigns. |
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Anthony T. AMUZU
Water Resources Research Institute, P.O.Box M.32, Accra, Ghana
Charles BINEY
Institute of Aquatic Biology, P.O.Box 38, Achimota, Ghana
Davide CALAMARI
Institute of Agricultural Entomology, University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Anthony M. IMEVBORE
Institute of Ecology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife-Ife, Nigeria
Nasséré KABA
Centre de recherches océanologiques, B.P. V18, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Thomas W. MAEMBE
Division of Fisheries, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, P.O.Box 2462, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Israël L. MBOME
Institut de recherche médicale et d'études des plantes médicinales, B.P. 6163, Yaoundé, Cameroun
Heiner NAEVE
Fisheries Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 00100 Rome, Italy
Boniface NYAKAGENI
Département des eaux et forêts, Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'élevage, B.P. 631, Bujumbura, Burundi
Peter B.O. OCHUMBA
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, P.O.Box 1881, Kisumu, Kenya
Oladele OSIBANJO
Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Vivian RADEGONDE
Technological Support Services Division, Department of Industry, Mahé, Seychelles
Massoud A.H. SAAD
Department of Oceanography, University of Alexandria, Moharrem Bay, Alexandria, Egypt
TOWARDS MANAGEMENT OF THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT
2. Experiences from the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
3. The risk assessment approach
4. The CIFA Working Party on Pollution and Fisheries
SCIENTIFIC BASES FOR POLLUTION CONTROL
by C. Biney, D. Calamari, H. Naeve, T.W. Maembe, B. Nyakageni and M.A.H. Saad
2. Problems in the definition of water quality criteria
3. Problems in the application of water quality criteria
4. An African experience: The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa
5. Relevant aquatic pollution research programmes sponsored by the UN system
6. Scientific research: Traditional and non-traditional trends
7. The risk assessment approach
DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC LOADS
by M.A.H. Saad, A.T. Amuzu, C. Biney, D. Calamari, A.M. Imevbore, H. Naeve and P.B.O. Ochumba
3. Sources and transport of organic loads
4. Parameters for measuring organic pollution
5. Calculation of organic and nutrient load
6. Selected African experiences
7. Control of organic pollution
3. Distribution pathways and fate of heavy metals in the aquatic environment
4. Effects of and quality criteria for metals
6. Selected African experiences
7. Levels of heavy metals in different environmental compartments
CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON SUBSTANCES
by O. Osibanjo, C. Biney, D. Calamari, N. Kaba, I.L. Mbome, H. Naeve, P.B.O. Ochumba and M.A.H. Saad
2. Sources and pathways of chlorinated hydrocarbons
3. Fate of CLHCs in the aquatic environment
4. Ecological and public health impact of CLHCs in the aquatic environment
5. Analytical methods for CLHC analysis in aquatic environmental samples
6. Overview of chlorinated hydrocarbon distribution in Africa
7. Levels of CLHCs in different environmental compartments
8. Regional comparison of CLHC levels
9. Comparison of CLHCs in the African aquatic environment with other parts of the world
10. Regulatory control measures