Monitoring and Assessment - having suitable indicators in our tool box

1. OSPAR Commission Monitoring and Assessment - having suitable indicators in our tool box Prof Colin Moffat, Chairman of ASMO EMMA Meeting 30-31 May 2007

2. Building an Indicator • Our stewardship • Environmental objectives • Monitoring Programme – CEMP • Guidelines for monitoring/Quality Assurance • Assessment tools and procedures • Assessment products • Issues for pan-European indicators Giles Barkley

3. OSPAR Commission I II III V IV 15 states + EC

4. Our Marine Environment Eileen Bresnans Craig Davis Simon Greenstreet A colourful, living and diverse ecosystem Sea fan, Loch Maddy (SNH) Orange sponges, Loch Maddy (SNH)

5. Pressures…..Pressures…..Pressures

6. Pressures…..Pressures…..Pressures Napoli - 2007 Braer - 1993 Jambo - 2003

7. to prevent pollution of the maritime area by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made synthetic substances. OSPAR - Objectives for Hazardous Substances

8. OSPAR Co-ordinated Environmental Monitoring Programme CEMP: mandatory parameters and matrices • Hg, Cd and Pb in biota and sediments • PCBs (ICES 7) in biota and sediments • PAHs in biota and sediment • TBT in sediments and biota (as of 2007) • TBT specific effects • Nutrients in seawater and eutrophication effects Pre-CEMP • Brominated Flame Retardants - PBDEs • Biological effects: PAH- and metal-specific • Direct and indirect Eutrophication effects • PFOS, dioxins, non-ortho CBs

9. OSPAR – CEMP Data Handling System CEMP data from Contracting Parties BE DE DK … SE UK QA QA QA QA QA QA ICES OSPAR

10. Our Contribution Scottish Waters

11. Tools for a Co-ordinated Programme Three elements are essential for the realisation of monitoring under the OSPAR CEMP: • Technical guidelines • Quality assurance tools • Assessment tools

12. CEMP Monitoring Manual • a compilation of all CEMP related monitoring guidelines and their technical annexes • agreed methodologies for monitoring of: • contaminants in sediments and biota • nutrients and eutrophication effects • biological effects

13. CEMP Quality Assurance • Accreditation is not required but encouraged • Participation in proficiency testing schemes (PTS) is demanded • OSPAR has made arrangements with the QUASIMEME PTS concerning reporting of results from laboratories of OSPAR Contracting Parties (CPs) • QA/QC data should be reported together with the contaminant data

14. Assessment Tools • Assessment Criteria • Background concentrations (BCs) • Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC) • Criteria for the assessment of TBT-specific biological effects • Assessment tools • Statistical tools for trend assessments • Weighting according to quality of data • Methods for assessing against background (BACs)

15. CEMP Annual Assessment Products BC BAC mussels oysters OSPAR Region B[a]Py (ng g-1 dw)

16. CEMP Annual assessment products Benzo[a]pyrene in mussels Concentrations noted by colour Time trends noted by triangles: upwards downwards [B[a]Py] (ng g-1 dw) BAC BC

17. Phenanthrene/Anthracene ratio Petrogenic Pyrogenic

18. Holistic and Inclusive Assessments More holistic assessments: inputs – concentrations - effects               

19. EU Wide Assessment - Principles For EU wide assessments as addressed in the framework of EMMA the following principles have been identified: • Linked to EU-wide (pan-regional) policy processes (CAP, CFP) or legal instruments (WFD, Reach-proposal), which have an impact on the whole area of the EU as well as on the accession countries; • Should address marine environmental issues that are by their cause, their character or by their solution pan–European and of similar relevance for all regional seas; • Should build up upon the experiences gained in regional and global marine assessments; and • Should aim to be for management-purposes, being scientifically sound but action oriented.

20. Issues suitable for development of pan-European Indicators Issues on which OSPAR has capacity and experience: • eutrophication status and related eutrophication assessment parameters • cadmium, mercury, lead, PCBs and PAHs in marine biota and sediment • imposex in dogwhelks or other selected gastropods; • riverine inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, cadmium, mercury, lead and lindane (RID) • marine litter Issues that would complement current OSPAR work: • modelled atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, heavy metals and synthetic pollutants • spawning stock biomass of commercial fish species • sea temperature, salinity, sea level, sea ice cover providing more contextual information at a pan-European level for OSPAR’s holistic regional assessments

21. OSPAR Developments • Overview of OSPAR assessment work 1998-2006 • Towards QSR 2010 • 2007 • hazardous substances in marine environment • marine litter • offshore oil and gas industry • 2008 • eutrophication status • results of the North Sea EcoQO system QSR fits the requirements of the initial assessment

22. Thank you www.ospar.org C.Moffat@marlab.ac.uk Photo: R. Emmerson