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The size of the object is only 0.13 % of the Earth’s ocean. To scientists, the Black Sea is a fascinating "miniature ocean" complete with intermediate layer ventilation and deep water formation [1] while the status of the marine biosphere has been little else but deplorable for years. The ecological system is in a crisis while some parts are approaching catastrophic dimensions [2]. Anthrophogenic stress affects the structure and function of sea and oceanic system, but not alone. Nature itself did much to create an unfriendly sphere for marine life. The Black Sea is the largest water basin in the world contaminated with hydrogen sulphide.

Thus, 90% of the sea water is anoxic. The marine biosphere living in oxic water stay in the surface layer of 200 meters. Recently the layer has been becoming thinner and thinner. A jellyfish Mnemiopsis largely replaced common fish sources less than a decade ago. The marine plankton blooms, red tides, becomes more and more frequent every year. "Nobody really knows why all this is happening", said a oceanographer recently. "It may be a combination of overfishing, pollution, climate change and shifts in the food chain"[3]. A miniature sea with oceanic problems. What qualifies for a model case?

No doubt, the Black Sea is a case and requires commitment by all concerned, but it is not alone in this respect. Problems with the marine environment exist around the globe. Everywhere politics, science and the laws have a long way to go to understand and to manage the marine environment. Ocean consciousness is still rare and ocean management has not proved to be effective. Exploring management tools from monitoring to responsibilities and impact assessment to liabilities in a small confined continental sea therefore seems worthwhile. After all, nobody knows how stable the oceans are, how anthropogenically immune they are, or how much time is left until the oceans could run ‘out of order‘, depriving humanbeings of their entitlement to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature (Principle 1, Rio Declaration [4]).

A model case must embrace general objectives, important beyond regional constraints of a sea area. The word ‘model‘ covers a number of meanings, example, sample, pattern, specimen, standard, prototype. In the legal field one would speak of a precedent, a test case or a test action and of a model law. Here it is meant as a special case to serve as a test in marine affairs for the global community. The question is whether the feature of a regional sea provides conditions which could serve as a prototype to tackle many unknown and unsolved ocean problems more quickly, more vigorously and more efficiently. The criteria applied must be convincing to other players facing similar questions.

What counts is a picture for comparison and evaluation of facts, circumstances and constraints. The case in question must be of a kind that alternatives are neither fully convincing, much more costly or, solutions may arise too late. Indicating a special case requires gathering differences, tracking issues of importance and discussing their value to be used as a ‘model case‘. The test area to discuss, "offers unique opportunities for observing and testing various mechanisms related to convective and double diffuse processes and interaction of basin scale with the shelf regions"[5]. But a model case should go even further to reach wide applicability and interests.

MODELING MODEL CASES
General Direction.

The main target is accelerating progress in the field of marine science and the law of the sea. 15 years ago, the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea addressed the ocean issue clearly and plainly: states have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment. The text derives from Article 192 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), The obligation to protect and preserve is unconditional. The oceans have been given a status per se. UNCLOS is international law since 1995. Five years ago, more than 100 world leaders attended the international Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro [6] promising to collaborate on common environmental challenges for the needs of present and future generations [7].They acknowledged in the Rio Declaration 1992 and Agenda 21 [8] that the marine environment is an essential component of the global life‑support system [9].

They urged for law regarding liability and compensation [10] to be developed and called for marine environment impact assessment, systematic observations and support for data collection and distribution through a "Global Ocean Observing System"[11] and commitments in many other ocean related issues as well [12]. In June 1997 when the United Nations convened a review conference ‘Earth Summit Plus Five‘ in New York [13], most felt there was little to celebrate on major commitments in 1992 as atmospheric warming and deforestation, while the ocean issue received little attention if any, although the situation of the marine environment got worst instead of better. The reason is simple. Until now the oceans are too big to understand their processes well enough to formulate responsibilities and to act accordingly.

To protect and preserve the marine environment the oceanic system must be understood [14]. Understanding means the ability to establish in one or the other way, monitoring, observation, or modeling, a comprehensive status of all oceanic waters frequently in such detail that all changes can be evaluated in regard to their cause, natural or anthropogenic, as well as the impact on the global oceans, its biosphere, water movements, the atmosphere, continents or polar regions. Only than the requirements of Article 192 UNCLOS would emerge clearly enough on how to sustain the oceans and to identify anthropogenic forcing. There is nothing in sight to reach that stage in the near future. The Earth Summit 1992 did little to meet the requirements of Article 192 UNCLOS or vigorously attempt to reach the knowledge required. Based on this background, objectives to accelerate progress are chosen and the intended presentation and discussion are given.

MODEL I
Testing computer models or how many real data are required.

Ocean observing is rudimentary at most. Only sea surface temperatures have been collected by merchant ships during the last 100 years. Thirty years ago ocean scientists assumed that the bulk of the ocean was in a steady state, while unexpected values were thought to be due to instrumental errors, navigational errors, or random fluctuations [15]. This view has changed. To discover to what extent climate is predictable the First World Climate Change Conference in 1979 asked for more ocean data. The age of computer modeling weather and climate had started. According to United Nation Environment Program (UNP.)[16] a general framework for environmental studies could be structured,

1.         Description ( field survey and monitoring)
2.         Explanation ( analysis and modeling)
             Steps 1 & 2 are iterative. Better models lead to improved monitoring   systems).
3.         Prediction (modeling), (requires explicit assumptions about externalities).
4.        Management (environmental engineering & policy making),
            (may be designed to reduce the predicted environmental impacts or to protect society   from these impacts).

Not with regard to the oceans but with the view on climate change and the role of oceans as carbon sink, Agenda 21 [17] supported the organization of the collection, analysis and distribution of marine data and information from oceans and all seas which have been collected by national institutions, international programs or otherwise. Subsequently a panel of experts prepared a report for the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission (IOC) called: "The Case for GOOS" (GOOS)[18] defining it as a scientifically designed permanent, interna tional system for gathering, processing, and analyzing oceanographic observations on a consistent basis, and distributing data products. The report outlines that the sampling strategy for GOOS is dictated by the processes in the ocean which must be detected, and the need of the computer models which assimilate the data to make descriptions and predictions. This interrelation between observed data in number and frequency required and the reliability of computer models for filling gaps in actual or short term assessments (e.g. up to max. seven days) and in long term prediction (e.g. oneyear and more) is one of the principle subjects to be discussed. As the most important data in this respect are temperature, salinity and, if possible, the direction and speed of the flow of water (current) a test side on ocean observing is to concentrate on these data primarily. The concept for a model case on ocean dynamics is as follows:

Firstly: what is required is a reliable image of the ocean form the surface to the sea floor at a frequency and over time periods detailed enough to trace changes back to the cause, natural or anthropogenic. The principle aim is to establish a true ocean image or description. The question is, how many data have to drop in every day (week or month) until computers are capable to draw an image of the oceans at any time, e.g. comparable to the present state of art in meteorology.

Secondly: It is necessary to prove that computer models can produce reliable predictions and to what extent and over which time period.

Thirdly Ocean modeling would have to take into account atmospheric conditions, thus extending the objective to coupled ocean‑atmospheric modeling.

MODEL II
Assessment ‑ Compensation: A Search for Standards.

The subject of concern are the waters of the oceans and the responsibility of States. But there is limited willingness to apply latter and even to define in detail rules necessary. One is tempted to ask, whether it is possible to imagine a legal order without sanctions, or even without the first step towards sanctions [19]. The present standards and rules in this field which are discussed later are hardly sufficient to meet the requirements of Art. 192 UNCLOS. It is a huge field for consideration, as it covers practical and legal questions, quite often depending on each other. The community of states seems to be reluctant to address this subject more forcefully and this may have its reasons more in a lack of information than by intention. The fields requiring attention are ocean dynamics, marine biota and sea‑bed sediments. The paper focuses particularly the ocean dynamic issue.

Oceans do not take account of boundaries, legal systems do. The present legal approach is based on the condition, human activity and impact on human, as defined by the term 'pollution'. The concept derives from managing territories on the continents. While they are static, the oceans are in permanent move. Although prohibiting sea pollution is a paramount condition, the days to leave the oceans ‘to its own‘ are not coming back. Not only pollution but many other direct or indirect 'activities by man' might have an impact on ocean processes. In other words what humans regard as serious the oceans may keep their status in line with Article 192 UNCLOS or vice versa. What is important and what is not, what can be managed and what not is impossible to answer today. As the processes in the complex ocean world are poorly understood, the search for standards and rules is a task difficult to achieve or requires a different approach for closing the gap.The opportunity is to conduct a test‑side while using the best possible ocean

observing system (Model I) to develop rules and standards on anthropogenic impact assessment and if deemed necessary to define monetary redress. This will be the second field to discuss the usefulness of the Black Sea as field for developing management and legal tools by giving an overview of the present situation which may force on its own to show the need for a model case.

A CASE FOR AN INITIATIVE IN OCEAN MANAGEMENT
Old frontiers

A few years ago the Black Sea countries met in Bucharest to consider steps to save the sea they share. While conscious of the importance of economic, social and health values of the marine environment and convinced that the natural resources and amenities can be preserved primarily through joint regional efforts, they drafted rules according to principles, customs and rules of general international law for regulating the protection and preservation of the marine environment. The commitment and aim was fully in line with previous regional efforts in coastal sea management. The object is to achieve progress. But as everywhere the subject of concern, the sea, was given attention only insofar as national sovereignty was not affected. Although the water body of the Black Sea is neither possessible nor can it be held in anyone‘s power, the parties agreed on the task "on the basis of full equality in rights and duties, respect for national sovereignty and independence, non‑interference in their internal affairs, mutual benefit and other relevant principles and norms of international law".

That is the way it is done everywhere. States are used to land territories. But the oceans are different. Sovereign rights, individual legislation, jurisdiction and management run contrary to the 'rules of the oceans'. More attention to them is the way to progress in marine environmental affairs. The Black Sea may need it soon and thus could initiate a new ocean management approach. In this respect navigation could play an important part and form the core of a ‘test‑side‘for a joint or new ocean management.

Black Sea Conference.

At the Bucharest Conference of 21 April 1992, the Black Sea received a legal framework on marine environment protection. Although the most central ocean of the European continent, it was the last major regional sea [20] to be covered by an international convention. The Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (BSPC)[21] was enforced together with three protocols:

     ‑Protocol on Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment
      against Pollution from Land‑based Sources,
    ‑Protocol on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Black
      Sea Marine Environment by Oil and other Harmful substances in
      Emergency Situations,
     ‑Protocol on the Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment
      against Pollution by Dumping.

The legal text comprises all principles included in other regional treaties but less programmatic, than, for example, the treaties regarding the Baltic Sea or North Sea. Although the preamble to the convention emphasizes the Black Sea‘s 'special hydrological and ecological characteristics and the hypersensitivity of its flora and fauna to changes in the temperature and composition of the sea water‘ the legal text pays little attention to "characteristic regional features", as urged by Art. 197 UNCLOS [22].

As the Bucharest Convention did not contain specific objectives, obligations or time‑frames the member states adopted on a meeting in Odessa on 7 April 1993 the Ministerial Declaration on the Protection of the Black Sea (Odessa Declaration)[23] to supplement the Convention with objectives and priorities. The document states: "the pollution of the Black Sea poses serious threats to the coastal states and is a source of concern to their peoples and the international community as a whole".

Black Sea Marine Science.

It seems the view could be heard not long ago, that the Black Sea is the best researched sea [24]. More recently many scientists have regarded the Black Sea as one of the least known regions of the world oceans [25]. During the last decade a number of expeditions have been conducted [26], symposiums held [27], and research programs implemented [28]. In June 1995 the Black Sea received endorsement

by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) establishing an IOC Regional Black Sea Committee as the management body for the IOC Black Sea Regional Programme (IOC‑Report/95)[29]. It urges the Black Sea coastal states to commit themselves to ensuring that the future Black Sea basin‑ wide operational oceanography is conducted to the maximum benefit of the region [30].

Black Sea Shipping

International transportation from the North Sea and the Baltic can reach the Black Sea via inland waterways Rhine/Main/ Danube or St.Petersburg/Volga/Don/ Avon Sea and by ocean shipping from the Mediterranean Sea. Traffic will increase considerably. Only recently, a $2 billion pipeline contract from the Caspian Sea to the Russian port of Novorossisk on the Black Sea was signed. The pipeline will go into operation in 1999 and will initially carry 70,000 tons oil per day, and later 200.000 tons p.d.[31]. To avoid the transportation of this oil through the Turkish Straits, a pipeline is planned from Bulgaria to Greek. The reason is political. Transportation is not to be hampered by unilateral national legislation on shipping in the Straits. Navigating and access to the Black Sea has been a principle maritime topic ever since.

Thus the economic/political background of the Black Sea region can hardly be ignored. More than anywhere else enclosed seas require mutual attention by all ripuarian countries. Shipping, fishing and tourism are essential for regional development. The population density along the Black Sea coasts is high as is the degree of industrialization. Nevertheless, since the East‑Bloc economic system crumbled a decade ago the regional economy of the Black Sea countries Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania and Ukraine have required restructuring of trade and communication as well as adaptation to global competition. A healthy regional economy and a healthy state of the marine environment are mutual preconditions. To this end Art. 123 UNCLOS urges these states to co‑operate as it derives from the principle concept of UNCLOS that the protection and preservation of the marine environment will contribute to the realization of a just and equitable international economic order [32]. And in this respect, Black Sea problems and communication on mutual understanding are particularly demanding.

It might be necessary to do more than international standards demand. Ocean water masses do not recognize legal boundaries, at most, physical ones. The same applies to the most remote ocean of the global ocean system only connected by the natural, narrow and shallow waters of the Dardanelles, Marmara Sea and Bosporus with the Mediterranean Sea, called either the Turkish Straits, or the Black Sea Straits.

Figure 1: The Straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean

The basin's bottleneck.

Access to and from the Black Sea [33] is one of the oldest regional subjects of concern. Fundamental strategic and political questions are connected with the Turkish Straits, an internal body of water within the territory of Turkey. While the Oman Empire exercised full national sovereignty until 1918, Turkey adopted the law of the sea principle "freedom of transit and navigation" for

merchant ships using the Strait. The legal regime is now governed by the Montreux Convention of 1936 [34]. Although the UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) provides a detailed legal framework for international straits, the Turkish Straits is, as a 'long‑standing international convention' applies, not covered by UNCLOS [35]. For this reason the Montreux Convention is widely separated from the main stream of legal developments and the UNCLOS system on solving international disputes. In the legal field of international straits' navigation non is as 'solitary' as the Turkish Straits.

Navigating the Turkish Straits is back to high politics. At stake is the unfettered upholding of the "freedom of transit and navigation" versus more management and discretionary powers for Turkey in regard of the safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment in the Straits. The prospect of huge oil transports from the Caspian Sea via the Black Sea and

through the Straits spurred the countries concerned into actions when Turkey promulgated new "Maritime Traffic Regulations for the Turkish Straits and the Marmara Region"[36] and proposed traffic separations schemes to the International Maritime Organiza tion (IMO). Some solutions have been found [37], but the legal debate on the Straits regime is likely to continue.

The Turkish Straits are excluded from the Bucharest Convention (BSPC) south of the line Capes Kelagra and Daylan but includes the area north of the line, thereby also the territorial sea (TS) and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ)[38]. The Montreaux Convention and the BSPC are fully separate legal subjects (Art.24 BSPC). This is confirmed in Art.3 BSPC whereby all conventional provisions are based on the "respect for national sovereignty and independence, non‑interference in internal affairs", but Art. 3 states also, that "The Contracting Parties take part in this Convention on the basis of mutual benefit" and are required to protect the Black Sea from pollution by vessels or dumping and to cooperate in combating pollution [39]. Navigating in, to and from the Black Sea, the state of the sea and marine pollution prevention are closely linked in this sea of just the size of 0.13 % of navigatable ocean. This circumstance could serve as a model case on the ground that the marine environment requires ‘new thinking‘.

MODEL III
One Ocean ‑ One System.

Model I & Model II alone would actually force one to consider also whether the Black Sea could serve as a case with a model character for a new stage of cooperation, or for developing more efficient ocean management concepts and frameworks for the application and enforcement of laws based on a 'one ocean ‑ one system' approach. On one hand it would greatly increase the results and make use of them from the model objectives on ocean observing and assessment/compensation, on the other hand it would make the whole model concept much more convincing, either in the case the Black Sea riparian countries wish to find support or vice versa third parties consider it worth to participate in one or the other way while the expected results could be useful to them. A number of subject can be addressed in this respect, the most important is related to navigating to, in, and from the Black Sea. Although the Black Sea is drifting to the edge of collapse through land‑based pollution ( 90% and more), the 'hottest' political issue is shipping. With regard to protection of the marine environment, the contrast could hardly be greater. While the latter is covered by a close international legal framework on control, liability and compensation, the former ‘goes free‘. Not only the dimensions seem to be out of any proportion, but they are of little help for the Black Sea situation and the region itself.

However, a new stage of cooperation is likely to touch sovereignty issues in one way or another thus is a extreme sensitive issue. Accordingly, one could argue right away that there are more enclosed seas to take the lead on this ground. On the other hand, a ‘one ocean ‑ one system‘ approach could seek for solutions in a rather old contentious political matter between Turkey and its neighbor around the Black Sea on navigation to and from the Black Sea through the Bosporos. After all, this paper only attempts to discuss the usefulness of using a model case for accelerating progress in marine science, ocean management and legal rules and standards and the place which could fit such undertaking.

CHAPTER TWO: THE BLACK SEA AS TEST GROUND
THE FEATURE OF A ‘MINIATURE OCEAN‘
The water basin.

The Black Sea used to be a saltless water pool 9,000 years ago the basin was well ventilated from top to bottom. Four large rivers Danube, Don, Dnieper and Dniester and well over 50 smaller rivers have supplied the basin with fresh water, 350 km³/year. A little less (225‑300 km³) is additionally contributed annually by rainfall. Together it represents just 0.1% of the total water volume of the Black Sea. The basin’s land‑locked situation changed about 8000 years ago. High saline Mediterranean water (36‰) spilled through the Bosporos into the basin ever since. The inflow occurs at the sea‑ bed of the 50 Meters depth Bosporos at a rate of about 310 km³/year, while less saline water from the Black Sea surface water layer (18‰) travels as surface current via the Bosporus to the Mediterranean at a rate of 350 km³. Further 350 km³ from the Black Sea surface water evaporates annually. But the balance of fresh‑water inflow is positive. A rough calculation shows that a time period of more than 2000 years would need to pass for returning the basin to a fresh‑water lake from the moment any water supply from the Mediterranean had ceased [40].

Figure 2: The Black Sea

The physical structure of the water‑body changed with the inflow of saltwater dramatically. Generally speaking, the basin comprises two water parts on a ration 1:10, a thin oxic surface layer and the anoxic deeper water. The two parts are very distinct from each other, the properties of the surface layer is the reason. Due to the high density of the inflowing salt water it is forced to the basins depth. Over the thousands of years it mixed with existing water but increased its share in the total water volume to over 90% today with an astonishing consistent profile in temperature of 8.9°C and in salinity of 22,3‰ below the surface layer to the basins depth of 2200 Meters [41]. It is assumed that the resi dence time of this water is in the range of 400 years while at the very bottom it could be up to 2000 years [42].

This status is unique to any other ocean basin. The reason is that the deep waters is without a frequent vertical circulation. Comparable deep seas like the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea are much different in this respect. Through strong evaporation the surface water reach a high degree of salinity. The water gets ‘heavy‘. The water becomes even more dense by cooling in winter. Each of the two forces a deep convection by turning the water masses ‘upside down‘. The circulation reaches the deep basins. This is prevented by the lighter, less saline water covering the surface in the Black Sea. It functions like a blanket separating the deep waters from atmospheric seasonal changes. The top layer of the deep water is thus 'protected' from cooling in winter, getting heavier and sinking. Actually, the ‘blanket‘ has more characteristic zones, the permanent halocline ( in 50‑200 m depth) which separates the surface water from the deep water, covered by water identified by a minimum temperature, called the cold intermediate layer (CIL)[43] and the mixed salt/fresh water surface layer with a salinity of 17.5 to 18.5 ‰.

Due to rain and river inflow the salinity is at its lowest at the top, while the temperature varies seasonally, near the margin and shelf areas as deep as 100m but in the central basin only to a depth of 50m. In other words, the salinity and water density increases rapidly toward the deeper parts of the surface layer, while temperature decreases to a minimum in the CIL of slightly less than 7°C at 100m in the margin and 50m in the central basin [44].Based on the physical water structure by salt content and temperature, the special feature is oxic and anoxic.

The Black Sea is the largest water basin in the world contaminated with hydrogen sulphide (anoxic). In the centers of cyclonic gyres (meanders) the hydrogen sulphide narrows the distance to the sea surface by 100 m or less, at their peripheries the surface layer remains unaffected to a depth of 150 m. This zone, called the co‑existence zone (C‑layer), is located where oxidation of hydrogen sulphide occurs [45]. In the layer above dissolved oxygen is present due to water circulation, diffusion and mixing. As a rule, oxygen present in normal quantities decreases monotonoically from a depth of 20‑40 m to 140‑150 m [46]. The sharp boundary determines the marine biosphere. Except for bacteria, life is absent below the CIL. The convective and/or isopycnal mixing processes above the hydrogen sulfide deep water is of crucial importance for the ecology of the basin.

Although the surface and deep water bodies are of different properties in many respects, general circulation patterns exist through out the basin. As the entire water column constitutes a dynamic system [47], the Black Sea qualifies as a 'miniature ocean’ in terms of size, depth and water volume [48]'. There are two near surface cyclonic gyres in the eastern and western parts of the basin surrounded by the main Black Sea current, running anti‑clockwise along the continental slope. The average horizontal velocity is 20‑40 cm/sec and if wind increases it can reach a maximum of 100‑150 cm/sec. The surface circulations pattern

continue into lower levels but the intensity decreases exponentially [49]^,[50]. While the anoxic part of the basin is thought to be a quasi‑steady state system the circulation is oceanic. For oceanographers the Black Sea is a most suitable basin where the usual theory of global ocean circulation can be applied [51].

A Basin in Comparison.

Together with the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea is the most central large water area of the European continent of almost the same size. Both influence the flow of the atmospheric jet‑stream according to their seasonal warming and cooling [52]. Both have less saline water [53] than the world oceans and connected seas with very different consequences. An inflow from the North Sea provides oxygen to the Southern Baltic [54]. In particular, the Baltic currents system is not of the type of the open seas. The Baltic has an average depth of 55 m, only 27% of the Black Sea Area has a depth of less than 200 m. The shallow part of the Black Sea is the Northwest, north of the Crimea ‑ Bulgaria line. This shelf water, less saline than in other areas, cools quickly and significantly contributes to surface water ventilation and the forming of the cold intermediate layer (CIL) of the basin [55]. Unlike the Baltic, a huge heat reservoir with 9°C is in place in the Black Sea.

Actually, the Black Sea is a ‘cold sea‘. The homogenous water of the Mediterranean Sea with an average depth of 1536 m has a temperature of 12.8°C andnot less than 11.5°C at its deepest in the western basin of 3719 m and 5500m in the Ionian Sea south of the Greek mainland. The almost uniform salinity of the water ensures a 'top to bottom' exchange throughout the water volume five times the size of the Black Sea. The more the surface water is cooled the more vertical mixing or convection occurs, forcing heat flux to the air. In terms of climatology the relative cold and quasi‑steady state of 90 % of the Black Sea water links the remaining thin surface layer of not more than 50‑100m (CIL) more to the Baltic than to the Mediterranean. The heat capacity for the winter season is limited in principle to mere 50‑100 m surface water. The Red Sea is deep and of a volume close to the Black Sea. In oceanic terms the Red Sea is of a Mediterranean type but much warmer and saline and without permanent river discharge. Due to the shape 2000 km long and 300km wide, the basin circulation is greatly restricted to the rate of evaporation. The Arab (Persian) Gulf, the Caspian Sea and the North Sea have little to offer by comparison. They are neither oceanic in feature nor depth.

The biggest difference to any of the above‑mentioned seas provide the open oceans themselves. While the physical principles on which they work can be described in general terms, the details and their immediate and long term interaction in the global natural system cannot. It will take decades to obtain 'true pictures' of them, meanwhile a test site in an enclosed sea should be an option. The Mediterranean as an oceanic basin cannot compete as a candidate for practical and financial reasons. The practical reason is due to the lack of a vertical temperature structure as the ocean basins have, from sun‑warmed surface water with temperatures up to more than 20°C and down to 0‑4°C in the deep oceans. The Black Sea has it in miniature form in its surface layer. Here a number of ocean phenomena could be investigated well including vertical ventilation and sea‑air interaction on a seasonal basis. Possibly more important is the financial side. The deep ventilation in the Mediterranean would possibly require a system many thousand times the size and corresponding investment and test‑site time than the Black Sea. The "quasi‑steady state system" of the deep water body would work like a magnifying glass. After all, the Black Sea offers unique "laboratory" conditions for investigating a series of oceanographic and climatic phenomena.

THE BASIN‘S SPECIFIC CONSTRAINS
The basin’s drainage area.

The continentality of the basin places particular constraints on the water body by pollution from land and through the air. The drainage area of the basin is stretched far to the North, Moscow, Warsaw and the Black Forest in Central Europe. The total drainage area is populated by 162 million people and of the large marine water bodies one of the most affected by land‑based pollution [56]. As everywhere, the input of macronu trients, phosphor and nitrate has increased considerably during the last decades, but the stress to the basin is in many respect more significant than everywhere else. The sea is not connected to the ocean system, which 'cleans' the water frequently.

Atmospheric forcing

on the basin‘s water and vice versa [57] the Black Sea provides an excellent field for studies due to its continentality. It is the most inland ocean providing meteorological specifics. The Southern part is subtropical, the Northern part boreal [58]. The sea surface water temperature has an average seasonal range from 4°C to 24°C, one of the highest in any sea area. In the North Atlantic the average seasonal variations hardly exceed 5°C. Mediterranean cyclones have become rarer recently but not in November, December, and February [59]. Only the thin surface layer is basically the immediate seasonal actor although little is known about the extent to which the deeper waters may contribute to sea surface/air heat exchange. While this question might be of less importance as long as the basins water structure remains stable, it is not, once the water system is changing.

The basin‘s biosphere.

The complex state of the living resources and recent changes is a subject far too big for this paper. But as a core issue of concern some few notes shall be made. It seems that the Black Sea was less a fishing reserve than one could have expected. In the almost 20 times smaller and only 8.5m (max.14m) deep Azov Sea the fish catch exceeded the total landings from the Black Sea well after World War II. In the 1930s the best Azov Sea catch year amounted to over 304,000 tons and over the period from 1930‑1990 to an average of 171,000 tons/p.a. but have shrunk to yields of a mere 8‑35.000 tons recently [60]. In 1988 Menemiopsis [61] began invading the Azov Sea.

In the Black Sea the annual catch was just above 100,000 tons between1940 and 1960 but increased to 650,000 tons/p.a.[62] around 1990. But the picture is not uniform, e.g. Bulgarian catch decreased from more than 19,000 tons in 1981 to 2,000 tons in 1990 [63]. With the outbreak of Mnemiopsis the traditional harvest of Black Sea species dropped to a small fraction. The distinct harvest differences before the 1980's raises the question on the role of the anoxic water mass or, to address it in more in a legal sense: what status of environment is to be protected and preserved and what is the basis to assess changes and damage. While fishing has increased strongly everywhere since the 1950s the small Black Sea catches compared to the Azov Sea are somewhat surprising even if dolphins took a share until recently [64]. The catch in the Baltic was up to 1 million tons in the 1970s. The fishing industry in Russia and other former East‑Bloc countries was known for their efficiency. Brackish water can easily sustain a high fish population, but fish do not always adapt easily to changes in salinity. According to Volovik et al.[65], long term observations in the Sea of Azov indicate that the salinity plays a big part in the Azov Sea fish population. While the fish is gone the biomass of the invaders have been estimated as being as high as one billion tons for the Black Sea and several tens of million tons in the Sea of Azov.

The basin‘s changes.

One of the most interesting questions relates to the meaning of the common notion that the basin is a 'quasi‑steady state system‘, or to reduce the question to a single issue: how thick was the oxic sea surface previously, e.g. 500, 100 & 50 years ago, did it thin gradually, did it vary periodically, did the deep water body ever reach the surface since Mediterranean water poured into the basin about 8000 years ago or, finally, could that happen in the not too distant future? Recent observations indicate that surface water salinity has increased in the NW self region and water transparency decreased during thelast decades [66]. Still under discussion is whether the total basin‘s upper layer of 200 m has changed in regard to salinity and temperature recently [67].

Future non‑anthropogenic developments

Affecting the basin are unpredictable. But raising a brief scenario may round up the basin feature a little more. To start with, the question previously raised whether the anoxic hydrogen sulphide deep water ever reached the surface. It is unlikely that this has ever happened. It should be known. Hydrogen sulphide stinks like rotten eggs. Once the saltier deep water mass comes to the sea surface, vertical deep convection could start due to cooling of the top layer. The Black Sea could turn into a ventilated basin as the Mediterranean and as other seas are. But this is theoretical speculation, at least as long the positive fresh‑water balance is maintained.

Less speculative is the occurrence of earthquakes with seismically generated tsunamis waves crossing the Black Sea. Four tsunamis with heights of less than 0.53 m have been recorded this century, but historical events reached heights of 4m [68]. Unfortunately, little if anything is known of the seismical affect on the sea surface layer or, vice versa, on the deep water body. It might be very significant, at least temporarily. The deformation of the bottom topography in the September 1927 earthquake near Yalta was documented, the emergence of a large break in the sea floor, the sliding of silt down of the Crimean underwater mountains [69].

THE BASIN‘S FEATURES SUMMARIZED

The Black Sea is special on its own account but in addition its continentality makes it particularly sensitive to man‑introduced processes. In terms of sustained marine environment it is the first large water body which could 'collapse', whereby collapse is defined as irreparable or irreversible. While the present catastrophic state of the marine biosphere is anthropogenic, it cannot be ignored that the basin's natural composition contains a sort of environmental stress uncommon in other oceanic basin.

In this respect it is unique. That might raise the thought for not considering the Black Sea as a model case as too 'exotic'. One can emphasize that there is a great need for socioeconomic indicators for unwelcome alterations to the marine environment [70], the particularly poor state of the Black Sea or its ideal size and unique environment for carrying out synoptic investigations on oceanographic phenomena that are common to different areas of the world oceans [71]. The pros and contras could fill many pages. The Black Sea would end up as the most suitable "miniature ocean".

BLACK SEA FRAMEWORK ON MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION

Legislation is what every one asks for when no one knows what to do. Meanwhile the marine environment is governed by numerous conventions and regulations. But the state of coastal and enclosed seas is deteriorating. It shouldn’t. Law can be the most programmatic and decisive management tool if based on sound knowledge, long term strategy, a comprehensive programme, enough means and disciplined execution. Lack of knowledge is the core deficiency, litigation can not close such gap.

The present legal approach concentrates on pollution prevention. The strategy is correct. If any human impact or polluting the sea were stopped, the problem would go away. Unfortunately, the problem is not that simple and this is being realized more and more. This awareness is reflected in the terms "precautionary principle" and "sustainable development" widely referred to in the Rio Declaration 1992 and Agenda 21. The marine environment issue requires acknowledgment of the fact that man will never be able to leave the seas 'to themselves' again, as well as the condition, that the sea is a object of 'its own rules'. Management must be based on the knowledge of these 'rules' and the impact of man‘s inevitable ongoing 'sea activities'. Marine management today lacks not only the means on which to formulate a strategy of 'balanced interest' between the rules of the seas and marine activities, but also the time to wait for establishing the facts on which decisions must be based. The oceans are too big to understand them soon. Based on these preliminaries and the previous chapters the present marine environment management approach by emphasizing the Black Sea situation are briefly introduced below.

THE LEGAL CONCEPT
General structure.

The Black Sea Pollution Convention (BSPC) represents a minimum set of legal framework but addresses all main aspects as required in Part XII of UNCLOS:

Art. 6 BSPC, hazardous substances and matter ;

Art. 7 BSPC , land‑based sources;

Art. 8 BSPC, vessels ;

Art. 9 BSPC, cooperation in combating pollution in emergency;

Art.10 BSPC, dumping;

Art.11 BSPC, activities on the continental shelf;

Art.12 BSPC, from or through the atmosphere;

Art.13 BSPC marine living resources;

Art.14 BSPC, hazardous water in transboundary movement

But it is still less detailed than regional conventions recently redrafted or amended, e.g. the North‑East Atlantic Convention, 1992 [72] (NEAPC) and the Baltic Sea Convention [73]. Like other treaties, the BSPC is conservative in its approach to national sovereignty [74]. The functioning of the established "Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution" is bound by unanimous decisions and recommendations [75].

Scope of marine pollution.

In essence, pollution means the introduction of substance or energy by man which have or may harm/hinder/impair/reduce marine life, human health, marine activities, quality for use of sea water, and human amenities. The BSPC definition corresponds with UNCLOS. The meaning of marine pollution can be limited to two conditions: introduction of something by man and a reciprocating affect in some kind to man. Definitions on 'harmful substances' extend the meaning of pollution on the affect on biological processes. The BSPC follows this approach [76].

Management.

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 provides as a key objective "integrated management and sustainable development". The preamble of NEAPC refers to "sustainable management" describing it as "management of human activities in such a manner that the marine ecosystem will continue to sustain the legitimate uses of the sea and will continue to meet the needs of present and future generations". The "sustainable management" clearly indicates the direction, sustaining the uses of the sea for the need of man. The Odessa Declaration 1993 [77] referce to 'Integrated Coastal Zone Management' by requiring "to elaborate and implement national coastal zone management policies, including legislative measures and economic instruments, in order to ensure the sustainable development in the spirit of Agenda 21".

Precautionary principle.

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 states that "a precautionary and anticipatory rather than a reactive approach is necessary to prevent the degradation of the marine environment". Considering the notion of its own it might result in far reaching consequences, as too little is understood of changes and interactions within the ocean system. Actually, the introduction of the precautionary principle is part of the concept for "Integrated Management" requiring the adoption of precautionary measures, environmental impact assessment, clean production techniques, recycling and other activities. In this respect it is meant as a program but does not necessarily imply a diversion from presently applied principles and strategies. However, the recently adopted NEAPC stipulates as preventive measure "even when there is no conclusive evidence of a causal relationship between the inputs and the effects"[78] . BSPC does not have a corresponding provision but requires nations to communicate their findings to the Commission before they commence activities which may cause substantial pollution or changes to the marine environment [79].

Polluter‑pays principle.

The polluter‑pays principle has been included in recent treaties, e.g. NEAPC and Baltic Sea Conv.[80]. The BSPC is only programmatic in this respect, obliging the parties to adopt individual rules and regulations on liability for damage in accordance with international law

COULD THE BLACK SEA SERVE AS MODEL CASEFOR PROGRESS IN OCEAN OBSERVING, ASSESSMENT AND LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS.

MODEL I Testing computer models or how many real data are required.

MODEL II Assessment ‑ Compensation: A Search for Standards.