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The Growing Need for Sustainable Ecological Management of Marine Communities of the Persian Gulf

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Abstract

The Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed marine system surrounded by eight countries, many of which are experiencing substantial development. It is also a major center for the oil industry. The increasing array of anthropogenic disturbances may have substantial negative impacts on marine ecosystems, but this has received little attention until recently. We review the available literature on the Gulf’s marine environment and detail our recent experience in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) to evaluate the role of anthropogenic disturbance in this marine ecosystem. Extensive coastal development may now be the single most important anthropogenic stressor. We offer suggestions for how to build awareness of environmental risks of current practices, enhance regional capacity for coastal management, and build cooperative management of this important, shared marine system. An excellent opportunity exists for one or more of the bordering countries to initiate a bold and effective, long-term, international collaboration in environmental management for the Gulf.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Water, Environment and Health, United Nations University, 175 Longwood Rd. S., Hamilton, ON, L8P0A1, Canada

    Peter F. Sale & Hanneke Van Lavieren

  2. URS Corporation—Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 43855, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    David A. Feary

  3. Faculty of Science (Biology), New York University—Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 129 188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    John A. Burt

  4. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Andrew G. Bauman

  5. URS Qatar LLC, Al Sadd Street, P.O. Box 22108, Doha, Qatar

    Geórgenes H. Cavalcante

  6. Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    Kenneth G. Drouillard

  7. World Maritime University, 201 24, Malmö, Sweden

    Björn Kjerfve

  8. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77845, USA

    Björn Kjerfve

  9. Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77845, USA

    Björn Kjerfve

  10. Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, No. 1 Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Elise Marquis

  11. Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A5B7, Canada

    Charles G. Trick

  12. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A5B7, Canada

    Charles G. Trick

  13. Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii, 2538 The Mall, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Paolo Usseglio

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  1. Peter F. Sale
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  2. David A. Feary
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  3. John A. Burt
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  4. Andrew G. Bauman
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  5. Geórgenes H. Cavalcante
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  6. Kenneth G. Drouillard
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  7. Björn Kjerfve
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  9. Charles G. Trick
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  10. Paolo Usseglio
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  11. Hanneke Van Lavieren
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Correspondence to Peter F. Sale.

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Sale, P.F., Feary, D.A., Burt, J.A. et al. The Growing Need for Sustainable Ecological Management of Marine Communities of the Persian Gulf. AMBIO 40, 4–17 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0092-6

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