The Scottish Government

CODE

PROGRAMME

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

AE02

Scientific support for FEPA

· Carry out licensing, monitoring and enforcement duties in according with FEPA;

· Understand the environmental impact of nonradioactive wastes dumped at sea;

· Support the development of marine renewable energy.

· Enable policy on deposit of non-radiological materials at sea based on scientific understanding of the environmental consequences

AE08

Hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation

· Assess the impact that hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation has on the marine environment, for example the effects of pseudo-oil based muds on the benthos;

· Develop predictive models for use in tracking chemical and oil spills.

· Improve the Scottish Government's ability to respond to oil and chemical spill incidents affecting the marine environment and its resources

AE10

Biological effects and impact assessment

· Assess the effect of pollutants at the cellular, organ and individual level, e.g. causing changes in genetic, behavioural and reproductive activity,

· Interpret the potential impact of contaminants at the population level, and the risk of emerging chemicals;

· Undertake modelling and habitat surveys to determine the fate and effects of eutrophication and pollutants

· Enable the Scottish Government to assess the presence and concentration;

· Establish, whether individually or in combination, these are having an effect on the marine environment

AE11

Monitoring and assessment

· Provide input to national and international monitoring obligations, including monitoring key parameters and developing indicators of ecosystem health;

· Maintain knowledge of ballast water and hull fouling issues;

· Provide advice on issues relating to marine mammal populations;

· Consider marine protected areas and the potential for disturbance to existing management processes;

· Investigate the potential impacts of ocean climate change in Scottish waters

· Ensure baseline data on the state of the marine environment is available and monitored;

· Determine the implications, particularly for fisheries, of new management initiatives to protect the marine environment.

CODE

AE1193

Ecosystem monitoring: Detection of 'indicator' phytoplankton in Scottish waters

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 06

Mar- 09

(i) Develop QPCR methodology for Phaeocystis and Alexabdrium;

(ii) Investigate toxin production of Alexandrium species isolated from Scottish waters

To fulfil its international responsibilities for the marine environment, the Scottish Government requires cost effective assessment tools to identify important indicator species

CODE

AE1194

Monitoring the inflow of Atlantic water to the North Sea

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 07

Mar- 10

(i) Measure the exchange of water between the North Atlantic and North Sea;

(ii) Use new and existing measurements to validate modelled data;

(iii) Use modelled data and direct measurements to investigate how variability in inflow affects the variability of the North Sea

To establish a low cost real-time monitoring system to inform and support adoption of an ecosystem approach to marine management

CODE

AE1195

Assessment of Environmental Status, and other requirements, under the Marine Strategy Directive

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 09

(i) Assess what the descriptors of GES in mean in the context of Scottish waters;

(ii) Review whether enough data are collected to be able to demonstrate GES;

(iii) Assess what the gaps there may be in the monitoring programme and how these could best be filled;

(iv) Assess whether any new analysis needs to be undertaken to assist in demonstrating GES.

The European Marine Strategy Directive (MSD) will require us to manage our seas to achieve good environmental status (GES) by 2021. This GES will however be required to be shown at the "Regional seas scale" with possible sub-regions of the Greater North Seas and the Celtic Seas.

CODE

AE1196

New approaches to the assessment of the quality of dredged materials relocated in the marine environment

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 10

(i) Have a better understanding of the wider effects of introducing dredge spoil into the marine environment and allow it to continue where it is safe to do so;

(ii) Have a fuller knowledge of the effects of such spoil on both the clean and healthy aspects of our vision for the seas.

The ecosystem approach to management of our marine environment is now gaining in importance and it is embedded in a number of government policy documents, and is central to the European Marine Strategy Directive which will require us to manage our seas to achieve good environmental status by 2021.

CODE

AE1197

Identification of marine ecosystems around Scotland

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 10

(i) identify the marine ecosystems found around Scotland at various scales;

(ii) address components of the marine ecosystems in the context of physical factors of ocean climate;

(iii) assess how monitoring units integrate with these ecosystems;

(iv) allow Scotland to maximise efficiency for ecosystem reporting both for WFD, EMSD and any future Charting Progress.

The Marine Strategy Directive will require us to take a new and ecologically logical view of our waters and derive assessments against the requirements of Good Environmental Status. The fundamental starting point for such assessments is to understand how the waters should be divided up into units that reflect the distribution of physical characteristics and and biological communities. This will have to apply across the entire trophic web from microorganisms to marine mammals.

CODE

AE1198

The influence of naturally occurring algal biotoxins on feeding, reproduction and growth of key North Atlantic copepod species and predators

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 11

(i) Better understand the effect of algal toxins on marine ecosystems; including the health, biological diversity and productivity of our seas;

(ii)Assess the biological impact of elevated phytoplankton levels on the ecosystem and inform on toxin producing phytoplankton species listed by OSPAR as indicators of eutrophication;

(iii) Develop a tool for measuring sub-lethal effects of algal toxins to improve our understanding of their impact on zooplankton communities in Scotland.

Copepods are a critical link in the food chain between phytoplankton and fish at higher trophic levels. The copepod population can be affected by both natural and anthropogenic effects although the relative effect of each is not known. Naturally occurring biotoxins produced by certain species of phytoplankton may reduce copepod fertilization capacity and survival of embryos after the adults have been exposed to the toxins. A wide variety of toxin producing phytoplankton species occur regularly in Scottish waters.

CODE

AE1199

Modelling food web dynamics of Scottish coastal plankton communities: identification of important species and indicators of environmental effects

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 11

(i) Provide information on current ecosystem monitoring sites by analysing additional zooplankton samples;

(ii) Establish a parameter list (e.g. size, growth, etc.) for each of the species groups included in the modelling of food web energy fluxes;

(iii) Contribute directly to an improved understanding of the coastal ecosystem by formulating a food web model.

Modelling phytoplankton and zooplankton interactions will indicate the importance of grazing and how this interaction may affect the apparent abundance of phytoplankton at points in the sampled time series will be provided. This will allow improvements to be made to the current monitoring system for the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

CODE

AE11100

Indicators of environmental sustainability of aquaculture

START

END

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES

KEY CUSTOMER PURPOSE

Apr- 08

Mar- 11

(i) Determine indicators that demonstrate the sustainability of the ecosystem to support development;

(ii) Contribute knowledge to the level of productivity of our coastal seas;

(iii) Consider decisions about future development on the basis of the capacity of the ecosystem;

(iv) Assess the likely impacts of climate change on aquaculture, as measured by newly developed indicators.

Understanding the ecosystem and how much human activity can take place within it without altering its ability to function is fundamental for the future management of our seas. We also need to have indicators that inform us as to how the ecosystem is coping with development activity and we need to know if natural changes e.g. climate change, influence those indicators or not.