Socio-economic parameters for impact assessment studies

Sorenson and McCreary defined coastal zone as the interface or transition zone where part of the land is affected by its proximity to the sea and where part of the ocean is affected by its proximity to the land in an area in which the processes depending on the interaction between land and sea are more intense. The coastal zone comprises a narrow strip of coastal low land and vast areas of coastal waters. It constitutes 10 percent of the oceans but more than 50 percent of the oceans biological productivity