ATLANTIC COAST
Location	Concerns
St. Lawrence River and estuary	multiple industrial inputs contamination in species exploited by the fishery chlorinated organic compounds in whales
Chaleur Bay*	multiple industrial inputs ocean disposal/dumping
Restigouche estuary, Chaleur Bay	industrial contaminants ocean dumping degradation of fish (expecially salmon) habitat
Miramichi River estuary	pulp and paper contaminants dredging metals
Northumberland Strait	pesticides nutrient/sediment loadings natural toxins effect of proposed "fixed link" between P.E.I. and the mainland
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,Prince Edward Island coasts	bacteria/contaminants/paralytic shellfish poisoning
Lower Bay of Fundy: St. Croix estuary, Letang estuary, Annapolis basin	contamination of shellfish of fish migration, destruction of lobster habitat
Southeast coast of Newfoundland	Grand Banks oil and gas coastal shipping
Various harbours	municipal and industrial pollution conflicting uses

ARCTIC COAST
Location	Concerns
Tuktoyaktuk Harbour	contaminated sediment hydrocarbon spills disposal of municipal sewage
Western Arctic	industrial noise and cetaceans disposal of drilling mud long-range transport of airborne pollutants disposal of municipal sewage dredging/habitat disruption/turbidity oil spills
Lancaster Sound	habitat protection from ships impact of ice-breaking vessels industrial noise and cetaceans mine tailings/habitat disruption disposal of municipal sewage long-range transport of airborne pollutants
Hudson Bay	hydroelectric development/change in freshwater discharge cycle, mercury release toxic contaminants in wildlife

PACIFIC COAST
Location	Concerns
Lower Fraser River and estuary	discharge of municipal waste water PAHs and dioxins pulp and paper effluents contaminated fish
False Creek, Vancouver Harbour	contaminated sediment PCBs and PAHs
Vancouver Harbour	metals organotins and PCBs contaminated sediments
Victoria Harbour	disposal of municipal sewage contaminated sediments
Howe Sound	contaminated fish pulp and paper effluents contaminated emissions and effluents from industry ocean dumping mercury
Kitimat Arm	effluents from aluminum smelter contaminated fish contaminated sediments
Rupert Inlet and Alice Arm	disposal of mine tailings metal contamination of sediments and biota
Neroutsos and Alberni inlets	disposal of mine tailings sediment contamination pulp and paper contamination
Prince Rupert	dioxins and crab fishery metal contamination of foreshore disposal of municipal sewage

As a source of food, the world's oceans are suffering not only from poisoning through their use as a human waste disposal system, but also from the direct overexploitation of their resources. Our technological ability to harvest fish and shellfish from the sea now far outstrips the ability of the sea to produce them. In fact some recent technological innovations, such as drift nets, not only result in higher yields but also in significantly more waste of these resources. In many ways, the problem is similar to the degradation of agricultural land, where crops are harvested and no effort is made to limit the harvest or conserve the productive capacity of the soil. Unfortunately, the solutions to overexploitation in the world's oceans are more difficult to achieve because the productive capacity of the oceans is common property and because of the migratory nature of the stock. In the case of degraded land, the owner can decide to reduce the yield from his or her land for a period of time, thus restoring the soil capacity for future use. In the ocean, an individual can still decide to reduce his or her yield, but any fish not captured by that individual will likely be caught by another. Since reduced yields and conservation will not create any benefits for the conserver, voluntary, individual action to reduce harvesting and permit stock replenishment is unlikely to occur.

Canadians are beginning to see the effects of overexploitation in terms of depleted fish stocks off Canada's own Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and are also experiencing some of the difficulties associated with attempting to conserve a common property resource. The northern cod stocks off Newfoundland were closed to fishing in the summer of 1992 to give the cod population an opportunity to recover. Although many of the feeding grounds for northern cod are within Canada's territorial jurisdiction, some cod can still be caught in international waters beyond its 200 mile limit. If international agreements cannot be negotiated with other fishing nations, the rate of recovery for the northern cod population will be reduced.

What are the likely impacts on Canada and the world?

As human population increases and agricultural land becomes degraded the oceans will have to play, by necessity, a more dominant role in feeding humankind. Yet we continue to squeeze the productive capacity of our oceans through ocean pollution and overexploitation. Despite improvements in harvesting technology, the total global fish catch declined in 1990 for the first time in 13 years. Although some may argue that this was due to natural fluctuations in fish stocks and increased conservation efforts, others point to this downturn as a sign that overfishing and water pollution are beginning to have an impact upon productive capacity.

In addition to productive capacity, the quality of the fish and shellfish taken from the world's oceans is also a significant concern. The heavy metals and synthetic organic compounds that society dumps into the oceans are taken up into the food chain. As organisms consume other organisms, nutrients are processed but these metals and synthetic chemicals often accumulate in the organism's fat cells. Moving up the food chain toward the larger predatory fish and swimming mammals, the concentration of these chemicals multiplies in a process that is known as bioaccumulation or biomagnification. For example, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence river, dead beluga whales have been found washed up on shore. The pollution coming out of the river, along with the process of bioaccumulation, have so contaminated the flesh of some of those dead beluga that they were classified as hazardous waste and had to be disposed of accordingly. The seriousness of the situation becomes evident when one considers that beluga whales represent one of the top levels of the marine food web -- a level that is shared with fish eating humans.