scholarly journals Small Cetacean in a Human High-Use Area: Trends in Harbor Porpoise Abundance in the North Sea Over Two Decades

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik A. Nachtsheim ◽  
Sacha Viquerat ◽  
Nadya C. Ramírez-Martínez ◽  
Bianca Unger ◽  
Ursula Siebert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Line Transect ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Harbor Porpoise ◽  
Outer Reef ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

The North Sea is one of the most heavily used shelf regions worldwide with a diversity of human impacts, including shipping, pollution, fisheries, and offshore constructions. These stressors on the environment can have consequences for marine organisms, such as our study species, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), which is regarded as a sentinel species and hence has a high conservation priority in the European Union (EU). As EU member states are obliged to monitor the population status, the present study aims to estimate trends in absolute harbor porpoise abundance in the German North Sea based on almost two decades of aerial surveys (2002–2019) using line-transect methodology. Furthermore, we were interested in trends in three Natura2000 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), which include the harbor porpoise as designated feature. Trends were estimated for each SAC and two seasons (spring and summer) as well as the complete area of the German North Sea. For the trend analysis we applied a Bayesian framework to a series of replicated visual surveys, allowing to propagate the error structure of the original abundance estimates to the final trend estimate and designed to deal with spatio-temporal heterogeneity and other sources of uncertainty. In general, harbor porpoise abundance decreased in northern areas and increased in the south, such as in the SAC Borkum Reef Ground. A particularly strong decline with a high probability (94.9%) was detected in the core area and main reproduction site in summer, the SAC Sylt Outer Reef (−3.79% per year). The overall trend for the German North Sea revealed a decrease in harbor porpoise abundance over the whole study period (−1.79% per year) with high probability (95.1%). The assessment of these trends in abundance based on systematic monitoring should now form the basis for adaptive management, especially in the SAC Sylt Outer Reef, where the underlying causes and drivers for the large decline remain unknown and deserve further investigation, also in a regional North Sea wide context.

Unconventional hydrocarbon resource plays in the North Sea Basin, Northwestern Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Schovsbo ◽  
Stefan Ladage ◽  
Anders Mathiesen ◽  
Susanne Nelskamp ◽  
Margaret A. Stewart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Shale Formations ◽  
The North ◽  
Geological Surveys ◽  
Alum Shale ◽  
Hydrocarbon Resource ◽  
The North Sea

<p>In 2017 the geological surveys contributed to the European wide project ‘EU Unconventional Oil and Gas Assessment’ (EUOGA). The goal of EUOGA was to assess all potentially prospective shale formations from the main onshore basins in Europe and included contributions of twenty-one European geological surveys and the assessment covered 82 geological formations from 38 basins (Zijp et al. 2017).</p><p>To extend the assessment to offshore basins the geological surveys of Denmark (GEUS), Germany (BGR), the Northlands (TNO) and United Kingdom (BGS) are working together on the Geological Analysis and Resource Assessment of selected Hydrocarbon systems (GARAH) project that aims at assessing the conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resource in the North Sea Basin. Within the basin more than 10 shale layers have been recognised as holding potential resources. These shales include the offshore equivalent of the Cambrian Alum Shale, The Carboniferous Bowland shale and the Jurassic Wealden and Kimmeridge shales that onshore have been a target for hydrocarbon exploration within the European Union member states. Each shale layer will be characterized using thirty systematic parameters such as areal distribution, structural setting, average net to gross ratio of the shale reservoir, average Total Organic Carbon content (TOC) and average mineralogical composition.</p><p>This is a part of an ongoing EU Horizon 2020 GeoERA project (The GARAH, H2020 grant #731166 lead by GEUS).</p><p>References</p><p>Zijp, M., Nelskamp, S., Schovsbo, N.H., Tougaard, L. & Bocin-Dumitriu, A. 2017: Resource estimation of eighty-two European shale formations. Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Austin, Texas, USA, 24–26 July, 2017. https://doi.org/10.15530/urtec-2017-2686270</p>

Nitrogen pollution in the European Union – origins and proposed solutions

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ester van der Voet ◽  
René Kleijn ◽  
Helias A. Udo de Haes
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Atmospheric Deposition ◽  
Ground Water ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
N Compounds

SummaryThe European Union is faced with major environmental problems related to nitrogen (N) compounds. The origins of three such problems, the atmospheric deposition of N compounds, the leaching of nitrates to ground-water and the anthropogenic N-input to the North Sea, are investigated by means of a Substance Flow Analysis (SFA); the reference year is 1988. Although the problems occur at various scales and have varying direct causes, food production and consumption together are the main responsible sectors, and the production and import of fertilizer appear to be the major ultimate sources in all three cases. Measures to combat these problems have been agreed to in various international frameworks: the European Community, the International North Sea Conference and the Rhine States Conference. These measures include technical emission reduction for acidifying compounds resulting in a 30% emission reduction; extension of the sewage treatment network and application of denitrification with 50% effectiveness; and introduction of measures directed at efficiency increase and emission reduction in agricultural practice in 10% of the agricultural area. The recent changes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are not expected to lead to significant changes in N flows. Assuming full implementation, an almost sufficient 45% reduction is expected for the anthropogenic nitrogen input into the North Sea. The atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds will be reduced by approximately 20%. The leaching of nitrates to the ground-water is expected to remain at the current level or even to increase a little. In all, these measures are conducive to solving, but do not satisfactorily solve, the three problems, mainly because the ultimate origins of the problems are not sufficiently influenced and measures therefore inevitably result in a shifting of problems.

scholarly journals Vertebral pattern variation in the North Sea harbor porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) by computed tomography

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorien S. Willems ◽  
Lonneke L. IJsseldijk ◽  
D. Hendrik N. Broek ◽  
Stefanie Veraa
Keyword(s):  
Computed Tomography ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Harbor Porpoise ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Development of the large fish indicator and associated target for a Northeast Atlantic fish community

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 2403-2415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Modica ◽  
Francisco Velasco ◽  
Izaskun Preciado ◽  
Maria Soto ◽  
Simon P. R. Greenstreet
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Bay Of Biscay ◽  
Large Fish ◽  
Biodiversity Indicator ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

AbstractThe large fish indicator (LFI) was developed to support the North Sea fish community Ecological Quality Objective (EcoQO) pilot study, intended to establish an operational ecosystem approach to management. Subsequently, procedures established in the North Sea were applied to the Celtic Sea to derive an LFI and target specific to this region. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU Member States sharing marine regions to cooperate using the Regional Seas Conventions, and using indicators already adopted by them. The MSFD explicitly suggests the LFI as a foodweb indicator, but it could equally well be used to monitor biodiversity. Here, we apply the established rationale to develop an LFI and target specific to the southern Bay of Biscay. Despite declining in the 1990s, the LFI subsequently recovered to near original values in 2008. Previously, relationships between the LFI and fishing pressure have involved lengthy time-lags. We observe a similar relationship, but with shorter lag. The nature of the larger species responsible for much of the change in the LFI may explain this difference, and might also suggest that, in the Bay of Biscay, the LFI is more appropriately used as a biodiversity indicator, rather than a foodweb indicator.

scholarly journals Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) Reaction to a 3D Seismic Airgun Survey in the North Sea

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Sarnocińska ◽  
Jonas Teilmann ◽  
Jeppe Dalgaard Balle ◽  
Floris M. van Beest ◽  
Matthieu Delefosse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Harbor Porpoise ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals BONN Agreement – More Than 50 Years of Spill Response Cooperation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Marius Ly ◽  
Laura de la Torre ◽  
Ronny Schallier
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Pollution ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Aerial Surveillance ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Bonn Agreement

Abstract In 2019, the BONN Agreement celebrated 50 years of continuous cooperation in dealing with marine pollution in Europe. This makes the Bonn Agreement the oldest regional agreement in the world established by governments for jointly dealing with and responding to pollution incidents. The first “Agreement for Cooperation in Dealing with Pollution of the North Sea by Oil” was signed in 1969 by the eight states bordering the North Sea: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This was shortly after the oil tanker “Torrey Canyon” broke up off Cornwall in 1967 spilling 117 000 tonnes of oil in the first major pollution disaster affecting Western Europe. In 1983 the agreement was expanded to include “other harmful substances” as well as oil and the European Union became a Contracting Party. In 1989 the agreement was amended to include aerial surveillance. In 2010, Ireland was included and in 2019, at the 50'th anniversary, a new enlargement of the geographical scope was approved by including the Bay of Biscay through Spain's accession and a new task related to the monitoring of air pollution from ships was incorporated. The area of the Bonn Agreement now covers the Greater North Sea and its approaches, comprising most of the heavy density traffic area and oil fields in Western Europe. During these 50 years, the cooperation has resulted in a number of achievements on different topics. Some of these are: - aerial surveillance and detection of marine pollution,- harmonized pollution reporting format,- common quantification of oil spills through the Bonn Agreement Oil Appearance Code,- systems for reimbursement of costs when rendering assistance as the Bonn Agreement provides for mutual assistance between Contracting Parties,- joint exercises,- information sharing on experiences and on research & development findings,- Bonn Agreement region-wide risk assessment through the BE-AWARE project. In October 2019, the agreement's 50th anniversary was celebrated and a ministerial meeting was held. This paper will give an overview of the history, the achievements and the future for the Bonn Agreement.

scholarly journals Investigating fish migration, mortality, and physiology to improve conservation planning of anadromous salmonids: a case study on the endangered North Sea houting (Coregonus oxyrinchus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (12) ◽  
pp. 1126-1136
Author(s):  
M. Hertz ◽  
L.F. Jensen ◽  
C. Pertoldi ◽  
K. Aarestrup ◽  
S.N. Thomsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Coregonus Lavaretus ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Habitat Directive ◽  
River Temperature ◽  
The North ◽  
Spawning Areas ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Post Spawning

Understanding migratory behavior, mortality, and physiology is essential for conservation of many species, particularly anadromous fish. In this study, freshwater and marine migrations of the endangered salmonid North Sea houting (Coregonus oxyrinchus (Linnaeus, 1758)) were investigated using telemetry. Furthermore, physiological samples were collected from North Sea houting and from resident and anadromous populations of the closely related European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus (Linnaeus, 1758)) to compare hypo-osmotic tolerances. On average, North Sea houting spent 193 days at sea where the mortality was 36%. Most fish returned from sea in the autumn, and river entry correlated inversely with river temperature and positively with discharge. Fish spent an average of 49 days in the estuarine area. Artificial lakes negatively affected migration speeds. Migration speeds did not differ consistently between individuals (i.e., not a repeatable trait) but correlated positively with water temperature. Fish arrived at spawning areas in November. In the post-spawning state, Na+/K+-ATPase activities were elevated in North Sea houting and anadromous whitefish compared with resident whitefish, while osmolality was elevated only in North Sea houting. Our study provides important information for conservation planning related to the Habitat Directive of the European Union that lists the North Sea houting as critically endangered.

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