The effects of mankind's activities on the coastal areas are mostly negative and often destructive. So far, land-based emissions (via river or atmosphere) of industrial, agricultural or domestic effluents are concerned; mitigation measures are rather simple in conception since it mostly consists in sanitation procedures.
Mitigation
This refers to the options for reducing or removing negative environmental impacts and consists of three basic options: Remove the problem by the use of alternative sites, locations or operating conditions; reduce the problem by similar methods; or compensate for the problem by remediation, replacement or payments in cash or kind. Recommended mitigation may also include the provision of additional specific measures or inputs, which may be funded or implemented independently of the main project.
See Glossary for a complete list of all terms. |
When fishery activities are suspected to negatively alter the ecosystem, the mitigation procedures are more complex to define, as we need to know the level of reduction required to reach sustainability. In a long time perspective, the fishing fleet must be managed, so that its capacity matches the production of fish. One aspect of this is to keep the fishing mortality at a sustainable level, i.e. that today’s fishing capacity/intensity must not be so high that it will reduce the spawning stock biomass to such an extent that it would force to reduce or ban fishing in the future.
Beside the risk of stock collapse, fishing activities may have destabilizing effects on ecosystems by changing the biomass of specific components from the food web. These effects will depend on the nature and size of the catch and on its relation with the rest of the ecosystem.
As a consequence a consistent assessment of the sustainable levels for fishing pressure will require knowledge (and prediction capacity) on the food web functioning. | 
