North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea Health Check
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North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea Health Check Assessing the status of wildlife and habitats Published by: WWF Germany, Frankfurt am Main, June 2003 Authors: Saskia Richartz & Niki Sporrong, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) Acknowledgements: Åsa Andersson, Sabine Christiansen, Maren Esmark, Jessica Lindström-Battle, Stephan Lutter, Anita Mäkinen, Helen McLachlan, Gui Menezez, Sian Pullen, Hans-Ulrich Rösner, Stefanie Schmidt, Heike Vesper Contact: Stephan Lutter, WWF Germany, Marine & Coastal Division, Phone: +49 421 6 58 46 22, Fax: +49 421 6 58 46 12, E-mail: [email protected] Editor: Astrid Ernst Printed by: Meiners Druck, OHG, Bremen Printed on recycled paper © 2003 WWF Germany, Frankfurt am Main Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the abovementioned publisher as the copyright owner. Cover photograph: Dead Cormorant on the beach near La Coruña. 'Prestige' oil spill, Galicia, Spain. © WWF-Canon / J. Sierra Index 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2. The Marine Environment .............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 National Boundaries and Responsibilities ............................................................................................................. 7 2.2 Commitments and Targets Related to the Marine Environment........................................................................... 7 3. A Region Under Threat - The North-East Atlantic and Baltic Seas............................................................................ 8 3.1. The North-East Atlantic......................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Baltic Sea (including Kattegat)............................................................................................................................. 12 4. Threats to the Marine Environment and its Biodiversity ........................................................................................... 13 4.1 Hazardous Substances........................................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 Nutrient Input........................................................................................................................................................ 16 4.3 Pollution from Shipping and Man-Made Structures at Sea................................................................................. 19 4.4 Damage to Marine Habitats and Species due to Fishing Activities .................................................................... 22 4.5 Marine Litter ......................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.6 Climate Change..................................................................................................................................................... 25 4.7 Seafloor Dredging and Aggregate Extraction...................................................................................................... 26 5. Conserving Marine Habitats and Species ................................................................................................................... 27 5.1 International Efforts in Marine Biodiversity Conservation................................................................................. 27 5.2 EU Marine Biodiversity Policy ............................................................................................................................ 29 5.3 Integrating Biodiversity Objectives within Sectoral Policies.............................................................................. 30 6. Habitats ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31 6.1 Soft Sediments and Offshore Mud Bottom Areas ............................................................................................... 31 6.2 Seamounts ............................................................................................................................................................. 33 6.3 Deep-water sponge fields...................................................................................................................................... 34 6.4 Cold-water coral reefs........................................................................................................................................... 35 6.5 Offshore Sand and Gravel Beds ........................................................................................................................... 37 6.6 Intertidal mudflats................................................................................................................................................. 40 6.7 Eelgrass meadows................................................................................................................................................. 41 6.8 Maerl beds............................................................................................................................................................. 43 6.9 Kelp banks............................................................................................................................................................. 44 6.10 Mussel Banks (Mytilus edulis) ........................................................................................................................... 46 6.11 Chara sp. Meadows ............................................................................................................................................ 47 7. Species Descriptions.................................................................................................................................................... 49 7.1 Long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis)................................................................................................................. 49 7.2 Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)................................................................................................................................. 50 7.3 Alfonsinos (Beryx sp.) .......................................................................................................................................... 52 7.4 Common Skate (Dipturus batis, formerly Raja batis)......................................................................................... 53 7.5 Baltic Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) ....................................................................................................................... 54 7.6 Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) .............................................................................................................................. 55 7.7 Sharks .................................................................................................................................................................... 57 7.8 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).............................................................................................................................. 59 7.9 Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).............................................................................................................. 60 7.10 Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) ................................................................................................................ 62 7.11 Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus)..................................................................................................................... 64 WWF Deutschland 3 8. Summary and Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................... 65 8.1 Assessing the Status of the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea.......................................................................... 66 8.2 Current Management Efforts ................................................................................................................................ 70 8.3 Towards More Effective Management?............................................................................................................... 71 8.4 WWF Call for Action............................................................................................................................................ 72 4 WWF Deutschland 1. Introduction Baltic Sea. A closer assessment of these threats, however, leads to the conclusion that there are three The marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and root causes that have been inadequately addressed for a the Baltic Sea is in crisis – resources have been considerable length of time: overexploited and the seas have been used as a rubbish dump for decades. Since the early 1970s, the • a lack of or inadequate protection for habitats contracting parties to the OSPAR and HELCOM and/or wildlife; Commissions have made some progress towards • a lack of or inadequate management responses to improving the management of human activities. the demands being placed on wildlife, habitats However, it is clear from the 2000 North-East Atlantic and/or the system as a whole;