UAE

-- The Gulf waters are turning murkier day by day with illegal waste being dumped by ships in sea, mak ing it unfit for marine life. Wastes from large vessels, which sail through the Gulf or anchor there, find their way into the sea in violation of local rules. The sea is being continuously polluted by oil-contaminated water, bunker oil and a variety of other liquid and semi-liquid wastes. Lots of plastics are also dumped into the sea.

uae has banned the discharge of wastes within its territorial waters, but environmentalists complain that the law is scarcely enforced. Largescale dredging and reclamation works are des-troying the sea life on the 90 km eastern coast of uae . Many fish species are no longer found in these waters and the remaining ones have become smaller and lighter in weight. The use of non-biodegradable gear also endanger the marine ecology when they are abandoned in the sea alongwith dead fish which rot and contaminate the surrounding water.