Report of the ICES Working Group On Pollution of the North Sea

There is growing concern regarding the possibility of lasting damage being done by pollution to the marine environment and its living resources. An essential preliminary to the development of rational protective or ameliorative action is the assembly of factual information regarding pollutants and their effects. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea decided in 1967 to begin this task by setting up, under my Chairmanship, a Working Group to cover the North Sea and adjacent waters; the results of our efforts are to be seen in this report, which we believe provides a sound basis for an

appreciation of the situation and for the development of the necessary additional research programmes.The selected bibliography is likely to prove of lasting value.

I wish to place on record my appreciation of the great efforts made by my colleagues to assemble factual information from national sources. As Editor of the Report I have taken care to ensure, so far as possible, the accuracy of the data given, but final responsibility must rest with the national sources from which they were derived. The greater part of the work of compiling the Report fell upon Dr. J.E. Portmann, the Secretary to the Committee, and we are very much in his debt. The Report was presented to the 1968 Statutory Meeting of the Council and the resolutions passed on that occasion are reproduced below.