The continued availability of some marine resources is threatened by t
he increased fluxes to the oceans of identifiable and measurable colle
ctions of pollutants, which include plant nutrients, plastics, environ
mental oestrogens, and organisms contained in ship-ballast waters, Cha
racteristic of these societal discards that will guide research progre
ss are long residence times; slow accumulation rates; increasing fluxe
s with time; and dissemination over large areas, The resolution of the
se problems will require data collections over decadal time-scales, Fi
nally, some classical and some perceived marine pollution problems, su
ch as those involving specific metals, can now be discontinued in the
face of the absence of unacceptable impacts on living organisms.