Long-term effects of offshore discharges on cold water zooplankton: establishing a test system for chronic exposure to offshore discharges

Updated 2004-11-08

During the last decade the concern regarding environmental effects of the offshore industry has shifted from effects of drilling discharges on benthic communities, towards a stronger focus on the water column and effects on the pelagic ecosystem. At the same time, oil and gas development is expanding in the Norwegian and Russian sectors of the Barents Sea. In this regard, a project has been initiated to look at responses of especially Calanus spp. and other copepod species to long-term, sublethal exposure to selected offshore discharges and discharge components, as well as accidental oil spills. Calanus spp. is ecologically the most important zooplankton species along the Norwegian shelf and in the Barents Sea. A laboratory based facility for culture through several generations is being developed through this project. In addition, the impact of oil compounds on the cold-water and arctic Calanus species-complex will be examined by carrying out a series of laboratory (some at Ny Ålesund) and ship based experiments. The response parameters will include both behavioral (feeding, mate finding, avoidance) and physiological (mortality, egg production, development rates, oxygen consumption and assimilation efficiency) parameters. The ultimate outcome of this research is expected to be a supporting instrument for ecological risk assessment of offshore discharges, which is highly relevant both to the North Sea, the mid-Norway shelf and the Barents Sea.

Time frame

Status
Ongoing
Project time span
2003 - 2008
Data collection
not specified
Data processing
not specified
Data reporting
not specified

Contact information

Contact person
JoLynn Carroll
Address
Akvaplan niva Polarmiljøsenteret 9296 Tromsø
Phone
+47 77750314
Fax
+47 77750301
Email
on.avin.nalpavka@cj

Parameters and Media

Not specified

Geography

Regions studied
Sverdrup Research Station, Ny-Ålesund
Sverdrup Research Station, Ny-Ålesund
Sverdrup Research Station, Ny-Ålesund
Sverdrup Research Station, Ny-Ålesund
Sverdrup Research Station, Ny-Ålesund

Data availability

Samples/specimens archived in specimen banks?
No

Methods & Procedures

Not specified

Additional Information

Is this a bi- AND multi-lateral project (i.e. a project involving cooperation between different countries)?
No
Please log in to edit this record