Sustainable development and marine environment protection in Albanian coastal areas

AuthorShkëlqim Sinanaj
PositionUniversity 'Ismail Qemali' of Vlora - Albania
Pages140-147
Vol. 2 No. 2
June, 2018
European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences
IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria
ISSN 2519-1284
Acces online at www.iipccl.org
140
Sustainable development and marine environment protection in Albanian
coastal areas
PhD Shkëlqim Sinanaj
University "Ismail Qemali" of Vlora - Albania
Abstract
Oil spills through operational or accidental discharges are common in the activity of ships,
especially in protected areas and in the Albanian coastal area. Due to the activity of f‌i shing
vessels and the presence of marine pollution, ecosystem development in the area is among the
lowest in the region. The ecosystem along the coast is being threatened by constant erosion
due to over f‌i shing and the crude oil tanker tra c. Besides oil spills, ships activity emit other
types of hazardous materials such as marine waste, hazardous and harmful substances
that are sources of marine pollution. With increased shipping tra c, the current regime for
environmental protection may not be su cient to protect the marine environment of the area.
With more ships traversing the area, safety and environmental concerns will become more
acute for Albanian state. Fishing vessels usually do not comply with the rules of navigation and
do not meet the standards required for the conservation of the marine environment.This paper
examines this situation and proposes possible legal measures for coastal states to increase their
regulatory power and enforcement that is limited by the application of the LOSC Convention.
The proposed legal measures provide a platform to strengthen their power and to ensure that
the marine environment can be protected from pollution and damage. An available option
to assist in the protection of the coastal zone is to propose additional safeguards within the
IMO competency such as the designation of separate areas under MARPOL 73/78. In adi ion
it is recommended that e orts be made to further promote the development of cooperation
mechanisms between state and private institutions in the e cient management of the coastal
zone. The coastal area is a navigational area, especially for cargo and f‌i shing vessels, the
proposed measures will not be fully applicable if their crews are unaware of them. Therefore,
it is important for users of these tools to continue supporting existing plans for the protection
and development of this area.This will ultimately promote a situation which maintains a be er
balance between the rights of navigation and the protection and preservation of the marine
environment of the coastal area.
Keywords: maritime transportation, f‌i shing vessels, marine environmental, coastal areas, oil
spills.
Introduction
The Republic of Albania is a country in South-Eastern Europe. It is bordered
by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. Albania
has a coastline 427 km long with 273 km of coast in the West facing the Adriatic Sea
and 154 km of coast in the South West on the Ionian Sea. Internal waters represent 735
km2 and the territorial waters (extending from the internal waters to 12 nautical miles

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