State of the Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP Region (SOMER 2)
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State of the Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region (SOMER 2) 2014 1 State of Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region List of Acronyms CEARAC Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre COD Chemical Oxygen Demand DDTs Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane DIN, DIP Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen, Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus DO Dissolved Oxygen DSP Diarethic Shellfish Poison EANET Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia EEZ Exclusive Economical Zone FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FPM Focal Points Meeting GDP Gross Domestic Product GIWA Global International Waters Assessment HAB Harmful Algal Bloom HCHs Hexachlorcyclohexane compounds HELCOM Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HNS Hazardous Noxious Substances ICARM Integrated Coastal and River Management IGM Intergovernmental Meeting IMO International Maritime Organization 2 JMA Japan Meteorological Agency LBS Land Based Sources LOICZ Land-Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone MAP Mediterranean Action Plan MERRAC Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Center MIS Marine invasive species MTS MAP Technical Report Series NGOs Nongovernmental Organizations NIES National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan NOWPAP Northwest Pacific Action Plan OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic PAHs Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons PCBs PolyChloro-Biphenyles PCDD/PCDF Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/ Polychlorinated dibenzofurans PICES North Pacific Marine Science Organization POMRAC Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants PSP Paralytic Shellfish Poison PTS Persistent Toxic Substances RACs Regional Activity Centers ROK Republic of Korea SOMER State of Marine Environment Report TBT Tri-Butyl Tin TN,TP Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus TOC Total Organic Carbon UNEP United Nations Environment Programme YSLME Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem 3 State of Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region Table of Contents 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................6 2. Current Status of Marine Environment ...........................................................................8 2.1. Geographical features of the NOWPAP region....................................................................8 2.2. Assessment of the supporting and regulating ecosystem services .....................................15 2.2.1. The main oceanological, hydrological and hydrochemical features of the water bodies in the region......................................................................................15 2.2.2. Sea/atmosphere and sea/sediment interaction........................................................20 2.2.3. Primary production.................................................................................................26 2.3. Assessment of provisioning ecosystem services.................................................................31 2.3.1. Sustainable use of biological resources.................................................................31 2.3.2. NOWPAP marine and coastal areas as providers of mineral resources, energy and transport services............................................................................................39 3. Marine Environmental Problems and Issues ..................................................................50 3.1. Assessment of anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment.................................50 3.1.1. Contamination by hazardous substances due to atmospheric deposition, river runoff and direct inputs............................................................................................50 3.1.2 Oil and HNS spills..................................................................................................56 3.1.3. Nutrient and organic matter excessive inputs causing HAB, eutrophication and hypoxia.......................................................................................................................63 3.1.4. Marine litter.............................................................................................................71 3.2 . Assessment of ecological problems related to biodiversity, habitat disturbance and climate change impacts...........................................................................................................83 3.2.1. Non-indigenous and invasive species.....................................................................83 3.2.2. Impact of fisheries and aquaculture on biodiversity and habitats...........................87 4 3.2.3. Habitat transformation due to construction and urbanization..……….......…….. 97 3.2.4. Endangered species and the role of MPAs in their conservation........................102 3.2.5. Climate change impacts .……………………………..………….........………..110 3.3. Overall assessment and evaluation of marine and coastal areas of the NOWPAP region........................................................................................................120 4. Conclusions........................................................................................................................126 References............................................................................................................................130 5 State of Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region 1. Introduction According to the decision of the 14th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting, one of the NOWPAP POMRAC activities for 2012-2013 biennium was the preparation of the second “State of Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region” (SOMER-2). First “State of Marine Environment Report for the NOWPAP region” (SOMER) has been compiled by POMRAC in close cooperation with other RACs in 2006 and published in 2007. The main goal of that report was to give a holistic description, analysis and overview of marine environmental problems of the NOWPAP sea area. First SOMER for the NOWPAP region was based on the results obtained through the NOWPAP RACs activities implemented before 2005. The achievements of other regional and international programs/projects, and information from the scientific literature were broadly used as well. During the last 8 years since 2005, there is significant progress in the activities of all NOWPAP RACs. In fact, the activities of all NOWPAP RACs are already implemented in more and more holistic way. Therefore, the regular compilation or synthesis of environmental problems, status and trends connected with natural and socio-economical conditions seems logical stage in the NOWPAP activities. The regular assessments of the state of marine environment was proposed as one of the key thematic elements of the NOWPAP medium-term strategy 2012-2017. The regularity of the assessment procedure is in line with the UN approach (“UN Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment Including Socioeconomic Aspects”). All above mentioned provided background for the preparation of the SOMER-2. The objective of SOMER-2 is the synthesis of information on the environmental problems, status and trends related to existing and changing natural and socio-economical conditions in the NOWPAP region. The main peculiarity of the SOMER-2 compared with the previous SOMER (2007) is intrinsic consistency with the “UN Regular Process”. At this moment, the structure and 6 contents of the first World Ocean Assessment are clear and many chapters are being prepared already. The approach based on the “ecosystem services” concept is one important feature of the assessment. This SOMER-2 is prepared taking into account peculiarities of the “UN Regular process”, though the international experts on Regular process stressed the inevitable contradictions in any attempts to implement “tripartite” approach combining ecosystems services, human activities and stresses induced by these activities, and biodiversity/habitats issues. The most important feature of SOMER-2 is its integrative nature. SOMER-2 has been prepared in close collaboration of all NOWPAP RACs as it has been done during the preparation of the first SOMER. Moreover, compared with first SOMER, the earlier involvement of all collaborators was realized during the SOMER-2 preparation. Different chapters of SOMER-2 required the input of the different experts, NOWPAP RACs, and other organizations. The list of the experts involved has been determined after the discussion, finalization and approval of the structure of SOMER-2. The List of authors of SOMER-2 include (in alphabetical order): Prof. Joji ISHIZAKA (2.2.3) – Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University, Japan Dr. Seong-Gil KANG (3.1.2) – MERRAC, KRISO (Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering), Republic of Korea Prof. Alexey N. MAKHINOV (3.2.5) – Institute of Water Problems, FEBRAS, Russia Dr. Jeong-Hwan OH (3.1.4) – MERRAC, KRISO (Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering), Republic of Korea Prof. Boris V. PREOBRAZHENSKY (3.2.2) – Pacific Geographical Institute, FEBRAS, Russia Prof. Jongseong RYU (2.3.2; 3.2.3) – Dept. of Marine Biotechnology, Anyang University Republic of Korea Dr. Vladimir M. SHULKIN (2.1; 2.2.1; 2.2.2; 3.1.1) - Pacific Geographical Institute, FEBRAS, Russia Mr. Genki TERAUCHI (3.1.3) - CEARAC, Japan Dr. Takafumi YOSHIDA (2.3.1; 3.1.3; 3.1.4) - CEARAC, Japan . Dr. Jing XU (3.2.1; 3.2.4)