Long-term effects of local scale OIL pollution on fish Populations and COMmunities in the Lofoten-Barents Sea system (OILCOM).
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2016
- End date
- 12/31/2020
- Budget
- 870,102 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Resources and the Environment (MARINFORSK) - call 2016 | Grant | - | - | 870,102 EUR |
Abstract
Oil companies are currently extending their search for new oil deposits to areas that have previously been sheltered from oil exploration. This is controversial and has led to an extensive scientific and public debate especially over opening the ecologically vulnerable Barents Sea (BS) and areas around the Lofoten Islands of northern Norway. The area is important for the survival of eggs and larval of several commercially important marine fish, including Northeast Arctic (NEA) cod, NEA haddock and BS capelin. The functioning and resilience of the entire Barents Sea ecosystem may rely on these species. A major concern is the possible impact on the fish populations from an accidental oil spill. In the OILCOM project we have investigated how potential population level effects on zooplankton may propagate to the capelin and cod stock in the Barents Sea. We show that effects may be large, but at the same time the effects are associated with high uncertainty. Furthermore, we have investigated how an oil spill that affect only parts of a year-class of fish may increase or decrease over time due high or low concentration of eggs and larvae in years with small or large spawning fish. We have also investigated the possible effects of spatial structure in mortality on survival in early life stages and how this affects the potential outcomes of an oil spill. We digitised historic data on jellyfish and arrow worms bycatch that can be used in statistical analysis to reveal possible explanations of why mortality varies in space.