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The Joint Norwegian-Russian Environmental Status Report for the Barents Sea
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Joint Norwegian-Russian environmental status 2008. Report on the Barents Sea Ecosystem
The main objective of the report is to give a comprehensive description of the Barents Sea ecosystem, including human activities and impact in the area, using relevant scientific and monitoring knowledge from Norwegian, Russian and other sources.
Read more... Surface sediment distribution in the Barents Sea
The surface sediments, i.e. the predominant sediment type of the upper ~ 50 cm of the seab...
Decreasing levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Arctic
Several of the legacies Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are decreasing in the Arctic ... Abiotic impact - Climate and fish
Climate variability affects fish in a variety of ways and throughout its life cycle. Sea ...
Fisheries and other harvesting - Mixed fisheries
The demersal fisheries are highly mixed, usually with a clear target species dominating, a...
Overview of the ecosystem
The Barents Sea is a sub-Arctic ecosystem located between 70 and 80ºN. It connects with the Norwegian Sea to the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. The average depth is 230 m and the maximum depth is approximately 500 m at the western entrance. The general pattern of circulation (Figure 2.1.1) is strongly influenced by this topography, and is characterised by inflow of relatively warm Atlanti...
- Geographical description
- Meteorological conditions
- Bacteria and viruses
- Human activities (introduction)
- Ecosystem interaction (Introduction)
Introduction
To ensure the comparability of observation results and to estimate seasonal and year-to year variations in oceanographic variables, it was suggested in Stockholm as early as 1899 that measurements should be made at standard depths and on standard sections. At the beginning of the 20th century observations started on the Kola Section in the Barents Sea (Knipovich 1906), and by the 1930s, a network...
- Phytoplankton monitoring
- Surveys - Norwegian/Russian winter survey
- Zooplankton monitoring
- Surveys - Lofoten survey
- Benthos monitoring
Overview of abiotic compontents - Overview of climate
The distinctive feature of the atmospheric circulation was an intensification of the Arctic anticyclone during spring and summer, which caused a southward shift of Atlantic cyclone tracks and prevalence of northerly and easterly winds over the Barents Sea.
The Atlantic Water temperature was higher than the average throughout the year of 2008, but colder than in the previous two years. The positive ...
- Meteorological conditions - Atmospheric pressure and wind field
- Phytoplankton
- Other human impact. Aquaculture
- Conclusions about state of the ecosystem (introduction)
- Some aspects of possible long-term future changes in the ecosystem (introduction)
Issues of importance for ecosystem based management (introduction)
As described in the introduction (chapter Introduction ), this report will be used as a basis for developing ecosystem based management in the Barents Sea. The report is intended to establish the status for the entire Barents Sea ecosystem. It forms an information basis for establishing a management plan for the Russian part of the ecosystem and provide support for further developing the ecosystem b...
- Current management
- Management
- Maritime transport (Introduction)
- Summary and concluding remarks about ecosystem based management (Introduction)
- International agreements concerning pollution
Introduction
This report was initiated by the Joint Russian - Norwegian Commission on Environmental Cooperation and the work herein has been carried out in co-operation with the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission. The main objective is to provide a comprehensive description of the Barents Sea ecosystem using relevant scientific knowledge from both Russian and Norwegian scientist. The work has been ba...