Beach clean ups continue day in, day out to remove the clumps of black oil from some beaches, and although the they look tidy enough after the clearing up operations have finished, the following morning presents an altogether different picture.

It has been reported that up to 12,000 tonnes of fuel from the stricken tanker continues to float in the Bay of Biscay - one patch reportedly the size of New York City. There also remains a further 37,000 tonnes on the tanker. Despite cracks being patched up in the tankers' hull there are concerns that this could still leak out, particularly if new cracks arise.

The pollution has also led to a massive decrease in holiday bookings this year in SW France. Bookings are on average down by 50% according to a study by the tourism board for the Aquitaine region. A promotional campaign in France will be launched later this month to try and restore some life into the tourist sector of the region.

This may be helped by the 'Les Landes' regional governments' plans to re-open the beaches on the 1st April - however this will only happen if the mayor's within the department's local authorities can be assured that their beaches are clean and represent no risk to the bather or water user.

SAS are concerned that local authorities may run the risk of opening up the beaches too early in order to salvage something from what could be a catastrophic tourist season and where many local people could lose out. We urge these local authorities to put water-users health before profit when making these key decisions.

The true toxicity of the Prestige's cargo is still being determined by chemists - until the full extent of its toxicity is known some of the beaches remain closed. Some of these are top surfing beaches so they've been off limits to surfers. Any surfer using the water and unlucky enough to be met by the police coming out have been issued with on the spot penalty fines of £30 for ignoring the 'no surfing' signs.

This tragedy is far from over! This week also brings the highest tides of the year and with some oil reported as drifting as far north as southern Brittany, more beaches could soon be affected. These beaches may be destroyed, more wildlife could die and no-surfing zones could litter the whole of the French west coast. The threat has not yet passed and not unlike previous oil disasters can continue to haunt communities for years.

Fisherman have been recruited by the Government to watch over the sea for oil slicks. Unable to fish they have had to take on this work to make ends meet. Shrimp nets have been used to pick up clumps of oil sitting on the surface. This has been fairly successful but warm weather this week has broken the oil up into a more liquid state will not be captured using this technique.

In terms of prosecuting the perpetrators of this environmental crime no one has yet been held accountable - it seems it will be sometime before the complexities of who is ultimately responsible will be known. The polluter pays principle is difficult to enforce when there is no environmental liability legislation currently in place - ministers and officials are working to put in place this legislation but sadly it will probably come too late to make those responsible for the Prestige disaster truly accountable.

The tragic nature of the incident has resulted in calls for urgent action from numerous environmental groups, including SAS. So what could be done differently?

1. Firstly it should be mandatory for all ships to be designed to certain specific quality standards. Double-hulled rather than single hulled, good quality materials used, a highly skilled workforce to build it. Ships could literally have an expiry date, beyond which they are no longer allowed to sea.

2. Vessels should be regularly maintained and checked for seaworthiness, using a standard system, with examinations being carried out by a single agency/body that charges standard rates to do the checks. Powers to inspect ships and to stop them from going back out to sea if they are not seaworthy must be introduced.

3. Certain areas of the ocean that are more ecologically significant, that require special protection should be identified, mapped and protective measures should be put into place and enforced. In fact the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) already has the power to designate such areas as Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas, but only 5 have so far been identified. The coast of Galicia had been proposed but not recognised as such an area.

4. Those who are liable for the environmental damage caused by such incidents should be clearly identified. Since the oil industry is making such a tidy sum, surely they should be the ones to pay to repair any environmental damage following an accident.

5. The body in charge of regulating international shipping - the IMO needs to take a look at how it is operating and carrying out enforcement. It also needs to address the situation with regards Flags of Convenience, the current situation results in a slackening of the rules and regulations.
It should be a fairly straightforward task to create a system whereby the flag states are responsible and accountable for enforcing the rules and regulations - with equal force and control.

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