1 Summary
Purpose of the management plan
The purpose of this management plan is to provide a framework for the sustainable use of natural resources and goods derived from the Barents Sea–Lofoten area and at the same time maintain the structure, functioning, productivity and diversity of the area’s ecosystems. The management plan is thus a tool for both facilitating value creation and maintaining the high environmental value of the area.
Management plans for all Norwegian sea areas
The management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area was first announced in the white paper Protecting the Riches of the Sea (Report No. 12 (2001–2002) to the Storting) and was submitted as the white paper Integrated Management of the Marine Environment of the Barents Sea and the Sea Areas off the Lofoten Islands (Report No. 8 (2005–2006) to the Storting). The white paper was discussed by the Storting in spring 2006, and was the first management plan for a Norwegian sea area.
The white paper Integrated Management of the Marine Environment of the Norwegian Sea (Report No. 37 (2008–2009) to the Storting) was submitted and debated by the Storting in spring 2009. The Government intends to present a management plan for the Norwegian part of the North Sea and the Skagerrak in 2013, thus establishing management plans as the basis for integrated ecosystem-based management of all Norwegian sea areas.
The management plans clarify the overall framework and encourage closer coordination and clear priorities for management of Norway’s sea areas. They increase predictability and facilitate coexistence between industries that are based on the use of these sea areas and their natural resources.
First update of this management plan
In the 2006 management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area, the Government decided that an updated plan was to be presented for the first time in 2010. The present update is based on the expansion of the knowledge base that has taken place since 2006. A report on the scientific basis for updating the management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area was drawn up by 26 directorates and research institutes organised in three groups: the Management Forum (headed by the Norwegian Polar Institute), the Forum on Environmental Risk Management (headed by the Norwegian Coastal Administration) and the Advisory Group on Monitoring (headed by the Institute of Marine Research). They presented a joint report on 15 April 2010. On the following day, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented its report on oil and gas resources in the waters off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands and Senja. Various supplementary studies have also been used as a basis for updating the management plan, including a review of spin-off effects and economic consequences of expanding oil and gas activities in the waters off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands and Senja, and an assessment of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 drawn up by the Forum on Environmental Risk Management. The scientific basis and supplementary studies were made available for public consultation. More than 80 responses were received, and these supplement the scientific basis on which the management plan is based.
The management plan has been updated on the basis of both existing and new knowledge about ecosystems, ecological goods and services and resources that are important as a basis for value creation in the management plan area, and about trends in environmental status, pressures and impacts on the environment, and environmental risk. The scientific basis has been supplemented with studies assessing commercial activities and social conditions and ecological goods and services, with a particular focus on the waters off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands and Senja.
New knowledge
Since the management plan was presented in 2006, the main thrust of efforts to meet needs for further knowledge has been mapping of the seabed, seabird populations and the geology of the area. The MAREANO programme for mapping of the seabed, the SEAPOP programme for seabirds, and the collection of seismic data on subsea petroleum resources have been particularly important in expanding the knowledge base. The work has focused on the waters off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands and Senja, and the Eggakanten area along the edge of the continental shelf. These areas were selected in 2006 because they were of interest for the oil and gas industry and had also been identified as particularly valuable and vulnerable. The SEAPOP programme has provided more information on the distribution of seabirds in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area. Information on inputs of hazardous substances to Norwegian sea areas has also been considerably improved through coordinated monitoring programmes. Furthermore, the knowledge base on the impacts, scale and pace of climate change and ocean acidification has been strengthened. There has been further development of the knowledge needed to carry out assessments of the risk of accidents and the impacts of acute pollution. The importance of the Barents Sea–Lofoten area in economic terms and the value of its ecosystem services now have a more prominent place in the knowledge base.
It is an important principle that all management of the natural environment must be knowledge-based. Since the establishment of a coordinated monitoring system, information on status and trends for species, habitats and ecosystems has been built up and more systematically adapted to a knowledge-based management regime. The monitoring system is still being developed.
Environmental status
New knowledge supports the conclusion that the state of the environment in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area is still generally good. New data, particularly on the benthic fauna and seabirds, confirms and strengthens the scientific basis for identification of the particularly valuable and vulnerable areas that were listed in the 2006 management plan. These are areas that on the basis of scientific assessments have been identified as being of great importance for biodiversity and for biological production in the entire Barents Sea–Lofoten area. These are areas with a combination of qualities; for example, they may have nutrient-rich seawater and high phytoplankton production, and function as spawning grounds or part of a spawning migration route for fish, or as breeding, moulting and wintering areas for seabirds. Other areas may be valuable because there are colonies, breeding areas or other concentrations of marine mammals such as grey seals, common seals, common porpoises and killer whales. Others again are classified as particularly valuable and vulnerable because there are sponge communities and coral reef complexes on the seabed, which in turn provide habitats for other species.
The different components of the ecosystem are dealt with in the scientific basis for the management plan, and this white paper gives a thorough account of the knowledge base and environmental status, with the emphasis on particularly valuable and vulnerable areas.
The most important conclusions on the environmental status of the Barents Sea–Lofoten area are as follows:
The Barents Sea–Lofoten area is clean and rich in resources.
The major fish stocks are in good condition.
Pollution levels in the management plan area are generally low.
The ocean climate is changing: acidification is increasing, the water temperature is rising and the extent of the sea ice is declining.
Zooplankton biomass has decreased in the last three years, whereas phytoplankton shows no clear trend.
Most seabird populations are declining.
Populations of the ice-dependent seal species and certain fish stocks are showing negative trends.
Knowledge of the seabed and the distribution of benthic species has been improved through the MAREANO programme, and new species have been registered. Knowledge of seabird populations has been improved by mapping and monitoring in the SEAPOP programme.
Further studies have confirmed the environmental value of the areas identified as particularly valuable and vulnerable.
Activity trends, value creation and coexistence
The most important industries in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area today are fisheries, maritime transport and petroleum activities, but other industries such as travel and tourism, marine bioprospecting and possible future developments in offshore energy and prospecting for minerals on the seabed are also discussed in this white paper. The importance of marine ecosystem services for value creation and Norwegian society is also discussed.
Fisheries: In 2009, the direct commercial importance of fishing and aquaculture measured as its contribution to GDP was estimated at NOK 18 billion for Norway as a whole. In addition to the core activities (fishing, aquaculture, fish processing and wholesaling), fishing and aquaculture has spin-off effects in other sectors. These include employment in technological sectors, for example jobs in local shipbuilding companies or with suppliers of various types of technical equipment . The fishing and aquaculture industry had a total export value of NOK 44.7 billion in 2009 and 53.8 billion in 2010.
Maritime transport: In the period 2005–09, the volume of traffic of seismic survey vessels, offshore supply vessels and tankers has increased considerably more than for other vessel types, but from relatively low levels. There has also been an increase in tanker size. Fishing vessels accounted for the largest number of ship movements in 2008, and about 58 % of the total distance sailed in the management plan area.
More than 80 % of the total distance sailed in the management plan area is now within the areas covered by the traffic separation schemes between Vardø and Røst, and this includes nearly 100 % of all tanker traffic. The remaining traffic in the area is dominated by cargo vessels of gross tonnage 1 000–5 000, but there is also some traffic of other cargo vessels and offshore and other service vessels.
Transit traffic consists of large tankers and bulk carriers sailing to and from Russian ports. Up to 2008, the volume of traffic was relatively stable in terms of both cargo volume and the number of ships. The cargo volume was an estimated 10–12 million tonnes per year, carried on 200–240 fully loaded ships. However, in 2009, the volume rose considerably. There are many indications that there will be a continued rise in the transit cargo volume in the years ahead. The average size of oil tankers is also expected to rise.
Petroleum activities: From the start of petroleum activities in the southern Barents Sea in 1980 and up to the end of 2010, 79 exploration licences have been awarded and 85 exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled, 21 of which were started in 2005 or later. About half of these wells have shown the presence of hydrocarbon deposits. A number of small and medium-sized discoveries have been made, mainly of gas. Since 2006, additional exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled to investigate these discoveries further. Several of them are considered to be of interest, including Tornerose and Nucula.
The Goliat field 85 km north-west of Hammerfest is the first oil field to be developed in the Barents Sea. A plan for development and operation of the field was approved by the Storting in 2009, and production is expected to start in 2013. The operating company ENI is developing the field using a floating production, storage and offloading unit. Oil will be loaded on to oil tankers for transport to the markets. Total investments in the development project are expected to be almost NOK 30 billion.
The oil and gas sector includes oil companies, the supplier industry and petroleum-related research and education institutions. Together, they account for a substantial proportion of Norwegian value creation and provide employment in all parts of the country. In 2009, the petroleum sector accounted for 22 % of Norway’s GDP, and in the same year the value of petroleum exports was almost NOK 480 billion.
Travel and tourism: The travel and tourism industry covers a wide range of activities and sectors, a large proportion of which involve sales to travellers. Accommodation, restaurant and transport services and travel and tour companies are all part of the tourist industry. The industry depends on and helps to maintain viable coastal communities along the Norwegian coastline. Few countries have as long and varied a coastline as Norway, and the coastal environment, the fjords and the open sea have great potential in terms of tourism. A growth in the number of tourists in a region has spin-off effects in addition to direct value creation in travel and tour companies, especially in the retail sector.
Statistics Norway has published a report on tourism and its economic importance, which shows that tourism accounts for a larger proportion of total production in the three northernmost counties than in the rest of the country. Total consumption by Norwegian and foreign visitors and tourists in North Norway in 2009 was estimated at NOK 19 billion. This is split as follows between the three counties: Nordland NOK 8.6 billion, Troms NOK 6.6 billion and Finnmark NOK 3.8 billion.
Marine bioprospecting: Marine bioprospecting can be described as a systematic and targeted search for components, bioactive compounds and genetic material in marine organisms. It is not an industry in the traditional sense of the word, but an approach to obtaining a variety of compounds that can be used in many different sectors, including the pharmaceutical industry, production of food and feedstuffs, the cosmetic industry, bioenergy production and the oil and gas industry.
The Government views marine bioprospecting as a means to innovative, sustainable value creation. The potential for value creation is substantial, and Norway is in a good position to make its mark in international competition. The Government considers that Norway’s long coastline and extensive sea areas offer rich opportunities for access to resources and high species diversity. The infrastructure and research groups needed to collect and screen a wide variety of marine organisms are available in Norway. In combination with the national expertise that has already been built up in the marine sector and biotechnology, this gives Norway a good starting point for a national initiative for marine bioprospecting.
Coexistence between industries: Seismic surveys are carried out at all stages of oil and gas activities, from the early exploration phase and well into the production phase, when they are used for reservoir surveillance purposes. Seismic surveys have resulted in most conflict between the petroleum industry and the fisheries.
To reduce conflict, a working group with representatives from the Petroleum Directorate and the Directorate of Fisheries was appointed to review the legislation governing seismic surveys. In response to their report, amendments have been made to the legislation.
Ecosystem services: The benefits we obtain from ecosystems and our dependence on them can be described in the form of the wide range of ecosystem services we enjoy. The scientific basis for this white paper uses the classification of ecosystem services into four types.
Supporting services such as maintenance of biodiversity and primary production, which are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services.
Regulating services, such as climate regulation and water purification.
Provisioning services, which are the products obtained from ecosystems, such as fish, shellfish and energy sources, and genetic resources that provide a basis for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Cultural services, which provide non-material benefits in the form of recreation, aesthetic experience and a sense of place and identity.
It is possible to find market prices for some provisioning services, for example oil and gas or fish and shellfish. Other provisioning services have option values related to their possible future use. These include genetic resources and resources that may be useful for the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological industries, but that cannot be assigned a specific value today.
Risk of acute pollution
The level of activity in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area is relatively low, and the probability of acute pollution from shipping and petroleum activities is still considered to be low. However, collation of data on acute pollution incidents involving the petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf with various activity indicators shows that there is no direct linear relationship between activity level and the number or severity of acute pollution incidents. Thus, the influence of activity level on the level of risk should not be overestimated.
The scientific basis for this management plan includes oil spill scenarios that were drawn up for use in modelling the drift and spread of oil in the event of a spill, and environmental risk analyses of oil spills for selected discharge points off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands and Senja. Most of the scenarios are for oil spills from the petroleum industry (and petroleum-related shipping), but a scenario for a serious shipwreck southwest of the Røst archipelago was also modelled.
For shipping, the distance sailed is expected to increase for most types of ships, and markedly so for large oil and gas tankers. For fishing vessels, on the other hand, a decrease in distance sailed is expected. Since 2005, a number of steps have been taken to improve maritime safety. These have considerably reduced the probability of accidents. The most important measures – the traffic separation schemes between Vardø and Røst, the vessel traffic service centre in Vardø, and improvements in emergency tugboat services – considerably reduce the probability of two types of accidents, collisions and groundings.
The level of petroleum activity in the management plan area is currently low, with one gas field (Snøhvit) on stream and one oil field (Goliat) under development. At present, the risk of accidents and the probability of oil spills from the petroleum industry are low.
The Norwegian authorities are concerned about the accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and other similar accidents, particularly since the possibility of a major accident on the Norwegian continental shelf cannot be ruled out. The results and recommendations of investigations of the Deepwater Horizon accident are being followed up and evaluated by the different supervisory authorities in Norway, and also across administrative boundaries as regards the evaluation of environmental risk. The authorities are giving priority to studies of the causes of the accident and the course of events, and are making active use of lessons that can be learned from this accident in order to avoid similar incidents in Norway.
Assessment of cumulative environmental effects
An assessment of cumulative effects on the structure, functioning, productivity and diversity of the ecosystems of the area indicates that there have not been any changes at ecosystem level since 2006, nor would this be expected in such a short period of time.
According to the assessment, cumulative environmental effects are greatest for the following elements of the ecosystem: corals, sponges and sea pen communities, seabirds, ice-dependent seal species and those fish stocks that are in poor condition. The decline in guillemot and kittiwake populations as a result of the combined environmental pressures is particularly worrying.
In the years ahead, the cumulative effects of climate change, ocean acidification and long-range transport of pollutants will probably increase and have more serious implications for different types of activities in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area. A combination of several significant environmental pressures in the same area at the same time increases the risk of impacts on the ecosystem. For example, a permanent change in sea temperature and pH could result in change on such a scale that the ecosystem reaches a tipping point and there is a regime shift. This means that there are major, permanent changes in the structure, functioning and productivity of the ecosystem. The impacts are difficult to predict, but may be far-reaching.
Measures for the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems
In the 2006 management plan, the Government stated that it considered the state of the environment in the Barents Sea–Lofoten area to be generally good, and this is still the case today. It is the Government’s opinion, based on existing knowledge, that the main tasks in the period between now and 2020 will be related to long-range transboundary pollution, climate change and ocean acidification, the decline in seabird populations, the risk of acute oil pollution, and further development of the different elements of an ecosystem-based management regime.
The need to protect the seabed and seabirds is addressed by specific measures in this action plan.
A range of benthic fauna types have been registered during mapping of the seabed under the MAREANO programme; these include coral reefs, gorgonian forests, sponge communities and sea pen communities. The Government will give priority to further mapping of areas where there is a high probability of finding corals and certain other species. Furthermore, the Government will introduce general legislation for Norwegian sea areas requiring vessels that use bottom trawls and other gear that is towed along the seabed to leave the area where they are fishing if bycatches of sponges and corals exceed specified quantities, and will ensure that updated maps and other information on coral reefs and other vulnerable benthic animals is available.
Norway has a special responsibility for the management of several seabird species, because their Norwegian populations make up a substantial proportion of the European or North Atlantic populations. Further knowledge is needed on the reasons for the decline in seabird populations, and action must be taken if it is found that pressure from human activities is causing problems for seabirds. The Government will further develop systematic monitoring of the most important seabird populations and build up knowledge of the reasons for their decline.
In the first white paper on the management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area, the Government established a framework for petroleum activities in the management plan area. The Government also announced that the framework would be re-evaluated on the basis of the information available each time the management plan was updated, from 2010 onwards. The Government’s policy platform for the parliamentary period 2009–13 made it clear that the Government did not intend to open the waters off the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands (Nordland VI and VII and Troms II) for petroleum activities during this period, but to decide whether an impact assessment of petroleum activities should be carried out in connection with this first update of the management plan. Moreover, the white paper on the management plan for the Norwegian Sea stated that the Government would consider whether to initiate opening of the northern part of the coastal zone for petroleum activities; this process would also include an environmental impact assessment. These assessments form part of the framework for petroleum activities set out in the present white paper. The new framework replaces the framework described in the 2006 management plan.
Delimitation treaty with Russia
The entry into force of the Treaty between Norway and Russia concerning Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean will establish the boundary for the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea. Until now, the whole of the previously disputed area has been included in the sections of the scientific basis for the management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area that describe general environmental conditions, environmental pressures from human activity, etc, on the basis of existing knowledge. The knowledge base for this area does not differ greatly from that for other parts of the Barents Sea, except that information on the geology and petroleum resources is more limited, and the seabed has not been mapped in as much detail.
More knowledge needed
Although our general knowledge of the ecosystem of the Barents Sea–Lofoten area is fairly comprehensive, more knowledge is still needed in various fields. It is important to learn more about the pace and impacts of climate change and ocean acidification and about the factors that influence the resilience of the ecosystem to change. More knowledge is also needed on interactions between the impacts of ocean acidification and climate change, and between these and the impacts of human activities such as fisheries, petroleum activities and shipping.