Assessing the environmental condition of ports and harbours: Can minimum monitoring specifications be developed?

Ports and harbours are centres of numerous human activities. While many ports and harbours have been developed to take advantage of natural features, many have also undergone major human-induced changes supposedly to improve their operating conditions. In some cases these changes have necessitated ongoing work to maintain port efficiency. Requirements to enhance the assessment of the environmental quality of ports are increasing globally. An interesting question that needs addressing is - what is the minimum monitoring requirement that will provide an adequate information base for assessment port environmental quality? Given the wide diversity in port size, settings and operations, the expectation is that no single set of information or parameters would be acceptable in all situations. Nevertheless, some guiding principles with wide application can be provided. This paper looks at some of the issues in assessing port and harbour environmental quality and discusses mechanisms for identifying the key parameters that should be included in environmental assessments of these areas where human impacts will be ever-present.