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A
NONGOVERNMENT organization has expressed alarm over the
proposed ocean fertilization project at the Sulu Sea,
saying that such large-scale operation is unjustified
for a mere experiment that aims to test a new
technology.
The
Kilusang Mangingisda, a federation of 14 fishermen’s
groups, opposed the plan and urged the Philippine
government to adopt a precautionary approach and, at the
same time, investigate the Australian firm Ocean
Nourishment Corp. (ONC) for its plan to dump some 500
tons of urea at the Sulu Sea.
“This
large-scale operation is unjustified for a mere
experiment that aims to test the effectiveness of ocean
fertilization as a technology to sequester carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and to increase fishery
stocks,” the group said in a statement.
The
group noted the danger posed by what it described as
“untested technology” in producing “unintended
consequences,” especially in a large-scale operation.
“These
consequences may include toxic algal blooms, food-chain
disruptions and an increase—ironically, not a
decrease—in the amount of carbon dioxide released into
the atmosphere,” the group said.
Kilusang
Mangingisda said an increase in the amount of carbon
dioxide would occur if urea induces the production of
more biomass, thus resulting in higher food consumption
and increased respiration.
The
group also cited the technical difficulty involved in
coming up with a scientific measurement or verification
of the purported benefit of ocean fertilization—that is,
in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that is
actually sequestered by phytoplankton and remains under
the ocean over the long term.
The
claim by Ocean Nourishment Corp. that ocean
fertilization is able to sequester significant amounts
of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is not yet
scientifically proven, Kilusang Mangingisda said.
The
group agreed with the statement issued on November 16 by
the parties to the London Convention and London
Protocol, two international agreements that regulate the
dumping of waste and other matter at sea.
“Consistent with this statement, we urge the Philippine
government to adopt a precautionary approach to the
proposal of ONC for large-scale urea fertilization in
Sulu Sea because of inadequate existing knowledge
regarding this matter. Ocean fertilization in general
needs further study from both scientific and legal
perspectives with a view to regulating its operations,”
the group said.
Kilusang
Mangingisda also urged the government to investigate the
recent activities of ONC on Philippine waters, including
the dumping of one ton of urea in Sulu Sea earlier,
without securing a permit from the Department of
Agriculture or the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources, as required both under national law and the
London Convention and London Protocol.
Earlier,
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said the DENR will
not issue an environmental clearance certificate to
Climate Research Ltd., which is funding the project,
unless it submits sufficient data on the possible
negative effects on the ecosystem of a similar
ocean-fertilization project in the area.
Atienza
had asked Climate Research to also submit data regarding
the safety measures to be implemented in the event of
algal bloom, and a study on the speed and direction of
the sea current on the site together with a computer
simulation.
He said
there is a need for the project proponent to present a
scenario on the effect of the northeastern monsoon on
the speed of dispersal of nutrient-rich water inasmuch
as corals do not thrive in nutrient-rich waters.
Climate
Research applied for a certificate of noncoverage for
its Ocean Nourishment Research Project to be conducted
on the Sulu Sea south of Anini-y in Antique.
In the
application filed before the Environmental Management
Bureau (EMB) in Western Visayas, Climate Research Ltd.
said it plans to “introduce nutrients to the photic zone
of the ocean to increase the sustainable fish stocks and
mitigate climate change by capturing and storing carbon
dioxide in the deep ocean.”
The
“nutrients” turned out to consist 1,000 tons of
nitrogen-rich urea, which the company said will
stimulate the growth of phytoplankton that will absorb
carbon dioxide, the chemical that drives global
warming. According to news reports, Climate Research
had already dumped a ton of urea into the Sulu Sea.
Without
such crucial information, Atienza said, the DENR-EMB
could not issue a clearance to Climate Research, which
is funding the Ocean Nourishment project to be jointly
conducted by the
University of
Sydney
and the University of the Philippines in the Visayas.
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