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Increasing protection: Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas
Why are PSSAs needed?
Shipping can cause a lot of damage to marine ecosystems. Some of the busiest shipping routes pass across or near important and sensitive habitats such as coral reefs, seamounts, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests.
Coastal nations have only a limited ability to impose and enforce their own environmental and navigation regulations on foreign ships passing through their waters - even in marine parks and reserves.
PSSAs are a mechanism for strict control on international shipping activities within designated areas through the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Countries can declare such areas, and then establish rules for their protection.
Coastal nations have only a limited ability to impose and enforce their own environmental and navigation regulations on foreign ships passing through their waters - even in marine parks and reserves.
PSSAs are a mechanism for strict control on international shipping activities within designated areas through the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Countries can declare such areas, and then establish rules for their protection.
What is a PSSA?
A Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) is an area of the marine environment that needs special protection through action by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) because of its recognized significance for ecological, socio-economic, or scientific reasons, which may be vulnerable to damage by international shipping activities.
More information
- Factsheet: Safeguarding sensitive habitats and species (pdf)
- Brochure: PSSAs (pdf)
- News: New hope for sensitive marine areas
- News: Europe’s last unspoiled sea needs better protection
- List: Current PSSAs
As part of our work to lessen the impact of shipping on marine ecosystems, WWF's Global Marine Programme advocates for the designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs).
PSSAs do not prevent shipping within the designated area, but rather place specific controls to limit potential damage. These can include avoiding certain areas, the use of compulsory routes, bans on discharging waste, and compulsory reporting of shipping activities.For example, Australia requires all ships to use local pilots when transiting through difficult reef passages in its Great Barrier Reef PSSA. Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands have made certain shipping routes compulsory for ships carrying hazardous goods in their joint Wadden Sea PSSA. The US has established no-anchoring areas in its Florida Keys PSSA to protect coral reefs. And Cuba has banned discharges from ships in its Sabana Camaguey Archipelago PSSA.
Useful management and publicity tool
PSSAs are a useful management tool to protect nationally designated Marine Protected Areas from shipping impacts. They also allow protection of other ecologically, economically, or socially significant marine areas that are vulnerable to shipping.
In addition, the global publicity generated through the creation of a PSSA can sometimes benefit the area further. For example, it may stimulate efforts to protect it from other potentially harmful maritime activities such as oil drilling, dredging, overfishing, or land-based operations that cause pollution or habitat destruction.
Campaign successes
WWF has been advocating for several PSSAs over the past few years. Our campaigns contributed to the designation of the Baltic Sea, Canary Islands, and Galapagos Islands PSSAs in 2005, and the Western European Waters PSSA in 2004.
We are continuing our efforts to persuade the Russian Federation to add its waters to the Baltic Sea PSSA, and for the Norwegian and Russian governments to declare a PSSA within the Barents Sea. In addition, we are working to develop PSSA proposals for the Mediterranean Sea and the Sulu Sulawesi Sea in the Philippines.
We are also working on the implementation of the new PSSAs. For example, we are encouraging Baltic Sea states to develop effective measures to strengthen the safety of shipping in the Baltic Sea, such as establishing strictly separated shipping traffic lanes and setting up compulsory pilotage systems.
Better protection for the Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos Islands lie 1,000km off the coast of Ecuador. Free of humans and many other predators for almost all of their history, the islands have developed unique forms of life, highly adapted to their harsh surroundings and ecological isolation from the rest of the world.
But the islands are no longer so isolated. Today this focal marine ecoregion lies in the path of busy shipping routes to and from the western coast of Central and South America.
Recent years have seen several oil spills, the worst of which was from the Jessica tanker in 2001. Further spills will only further threaten the islands' 5,000 species - almost half of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
The recent designation of the waters of the Galapagos Islands as a PSSA provides much need protection against further spills and other impacts from shipping.
Further information:
Recent years have seen several oil spills, the worst of which was from the Jessica tanker in 2001. Further spills will only further threaten the islands' 5,000 species - almost half of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
The recent designation of the waters of the Galapagos Islands as a PSSA provides much need protection against further spills and other impacts from shipping.
Further information:
- Profile: Galapagos Islands
- News: New hope for sensitive sea areas