Abstract

The marine environment has always been an integral part of human activity. Throughout history, the sea has attracted people who have used it for a range of important functions including as a source of food, a means of transport, a receptacle for waste, a basis for exploration, discovery and settlement and as a location for recreation and leisure. Those areas of land that border the sea have also been attractive to people throughout the globe with coastal areas and islands playing a significant part in the geography of human settlement (Lück 2007). This historical trend has become even more significant throughout the twentieth century with coastal areas becoming highly desirable areas residential and industrial development. For example, in southeast Asia more than 350 million people now live within 50 km of the coast (Burke et al. 2002). Globally, around 70 per cent of the world’s population lives within a day’s walk of the coast (Brown et al. 2002) and the great majority of cities are located close to coasts (Crooks and Turner 1999).