The coast cannot be left to nature to determine its fate. Wealth, property, economic interests, recreation, tourism and wildlife are all threatened. Coasts are an administrative battle ground and one of the most important and widely examined topics in environmental management. Coastal and Estuarine Management examines the issues surrounding the human use and abuse of estuarine and coastal environments. Emphasising the importance and significance of this natural resource, the uses and conflicts which occur and the results of human activity, this book explains the ways in which conservation and management policies and practices can protect this productive and diverse ecosystem. Examples and real-life case studies illustrate the effect of human intervention, both from an historic and contemporary perspective. Exposing the environmental consequences of estuarine pollution, Peter French highlights the need for management strategies to promote a sustainable development ethic for estuaries.

Examines the issues surrounding the human use and abuse of estuarine and coastal environments and explores ways in which conservation and management policies can protect this diverse and productive eco-system.

The study of estuaries and coasts has seen enormous growth in recent years, since changes in these areas have a large effect on the food chain, as well as on the physics and chemistry of the ocean. As the coasts and river banks around the world become more densely populated, the pressure on these ecosystems intensifies, putting a new focus on environmental, socio-economic and policy issues. Written by a team of international expert scientists, under the guidance of Chief Editors Eric Wolanski and Donald McClusky, the Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, Ten Volume Set examines topics in depth, and aims to provide a comprehensive scientific resource for all professionals and students in the area of estuarine and coastal science Most up-to-date reference for system-based coastal and estuarine science and management, from the inland watershed to the ocean shelf Chief editors have assembled a world-class team of volume editors and contributing authors Approach focuses on the physical, biological, chemistry, ecosystem, human, ecological and economics processes, to show how to best use multidisciplinary science to ensure earth's sustainability Provides a comprehensive scientific resource for all professionals and students in the area of estuarine and coastal science Features up-to-date chapters covering a full range of topics

Estuarine and coastal waters are acknowledged points of anthropogenic impact. For practitioners, academics and students in the field of coastal science and policy, this book examines and exemplifies current and future challenges: from upper estuaries to open coasts and adjacent seas; from tropical to temperate latitudes; from Europe to Australia.

Management of artisanal fisheries in coastal lagoons and estuaries is treated in three broad categories -- regulatory management, non-regulatory management, and interactions between fisheries or fishery interests. Regulation of artisanal fisheries in coastal lagoons and estuaries by government authority is hampered for several reasons. Technical and financial constraints on government severely limit enforcement capabilities. Socio-economic considerations, chiefly the lack of alternative employment opportunities for fishermen, preclude the adoption of many of the classical regulatory management techniques. As a means to complement or supplement management by central government authority, revitalization of local traditional authority is advocated. Non-regulatory management, the application of methods which increase capture and culture fishery potential through manipulation of the environment, is illustrated by various kinds of hydraulic engineering, predator control, stocking, artificial nursery areas, and brush-park fisheries. Interactions between fisheries or fishery interests is treated at several levels. Considered are competition between groups of fishermen of different ethnic and economic backgrounds, interactions between artisanal capture fisheries and aquaculture, and competition between artisanal fisheries of coastal lagoons and estuaries and off-shore shore industrial fisheries which fish the same stocks.