Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment Bill

WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa), in collaboration with Oceans Not Oil, submitted comments on Parliamentary Bill B5-2022: Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment Bill.  

This Bill is a highly technical set of new regulations, principally concerning sewage, general waste and air emissions from ships and floating platforms/barges. The Bill is specifically excluding mining related noise. WESSA and ONO, believing there is an urgent need for ocean noise reduction*, have argued for the inclusion of ship-based noise, including mining related to be included in the Bill.

*Stress in marine mammals related to anthropogenic noise exposure has been conclusively proven (Wright et al., 2007), and prolonged exposure to noise stressors is known to cause significant impacts in a number of species (Finneran et al., 2002; Romano et al., 2004;  Eckert et al. 1998; McCauley et al. 2003; Rolland et al. 2012). According to Singh et al. (2022) these studies indicate that chronic elevations of stress to the organisms in the ecosystems may cause metabolic maladaptation, suppressing growth, immune system function, thermoregulation and reproduction with implications for individual and population fitness.– taken from ONO submission to the Searcher Bock 1518