In many coastal regions (e.g. parts of the North Sea, northern Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea, Great Barrier
Reef lagoon, wider Caribbean, coastal areas of the USA) there is large-scale, and in some cases chronic,
eutrophication. In some regions, the link between eutrophication and the destruction of an ecosystem
is obvious, with excessive algal growth and water-column anoxia. In other cases, particularly in more
fragile ecosystems such as coral-reef and seagrass areas, the links are not so obvious, yet the impacts
of eutrophication in such regions can be devastating. Eutrophication can have more insidious effects
such as contributing directly to the mortality of fish, marine mammals and sea birds and indirectly to
disease or death in humans owing to the accumulation of biotoxins in seafoods.
Increased development and changes in land-use patterns in the coastal zone have increased the
loading of diffuse or non-point nutrients. In areas subject to runoff and soil erosion, most of the
nutrient load is transported in particulate form. In such cases, the loads of nutrients discharged from
cropping lands are typically an order of magnitude greater than those discharged from pristine forested
areas. Nutrient export from pasture lands, whether these are fertilized or not, is also significantly greater
than that from pristine areas, and in many cases the total loads from such areas are far higher than
those from intensively farmed areas. A reduction in nutrient discharges to coastal waters will require
careful land-use planning. The importance of the particulate fraction in the nutrient load necessitates
effective control of soil erosion. The hydrological and nutrient linkage between terrestrial and marine
ecosystems must be emphasized. Collective management of hinterland and coastal-zone resources could
initiate remediation of a serious and growing problem.