Mapping of raw materials and habitats in the Danish sector of the North Sea

In the summer of 2010, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) mapped the potential raw materials and substrate types, over large parts of the Danish economic sector of the North Sea, in cooperation with Orbicon A/S. The mapping was carried out for the Danish Nature Agency; it is part of the general mapping of raw material resources within the territories of the Danish state and forms part of the input for the implementation of the European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The purpose was (1) to provide an overview of the distribution, volume and composition of available raw materials and (2) to identify, describe and map the distribution of the dominant marine bottom types.

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Demersal fish biodiversity: species-level indicators and trends-based targets for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fss148 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 69 (10) ◽

pp. 1789-1801 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Simon P. R. Greenstreet ◽

Axel G. Rossberg ◽

Clive J. Fox ◽

William J. F. Le Quesne ◽

Tom Blasdale ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Demersal Fish ◽

Species Level ◽

Marine Strategy Framework Directive ◽

The North ◽

Fish Biodiversity ◽

Environmental Status ◽

The North Sea ◽

Good Environmental Status ◽

Species Specific

Abstract Greenstreet, S. P. R., Rossberg, A. G., Fox, C. J., Le Quesne, W. J. F., Blasdale, T., Boulcott, P., Mitchell, I., Millar, C., and Moffat, C. F. 2012. Demersal fish biodiversity: species-level indicators and trends-based targets for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1789–1801. The maintenance of biodiversity is a fundamental theme of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Appropriate indicators to monitor change in biodiversity, along with associated targets representing “good environmental status” (GES), are required to be in place by July 2012. A method for selecting species-specific metrics to fulfil various specified indicator roles is proposed for demersal fish communities. Available data frequently do not extend far enough back in time to allow GES to be defined empirically. In such situations, trends-based targets offer a pragmatic solution. A method is proposed for setting indicator-level targets for the number of species-specific metrics required to meet their trends-based metric-level targets. This is based on demonstrating significant departures from the binomial distribution. The procedure is trialled using North Sea demersal fish survey data. Although fisheries management in the North Sea has improved in recent decades, management goals to stop further decline in biodiversity, and to initiate recovery, are yet to be met.

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Indicator-based status assessment of commercial fish species in the North Sea according to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fst010 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 694-706 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Wolfgang Nikolaus Probst ◽

Matthias Kloppmann ◽

Gerd Kraus

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Fish Species ◽

Marine Strategy Framework Directive ◽

Commercial Fish ◽

Fish Stocks ◽

The North ◽

The Status ◽

Status Assessment ◽

The North Sea ◽

The Eu

Abstract Probst, W. N., Kloppmann, M., and Kraus, G. Indicator-based status assessment of commercial fish species in the North Sea according to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 694–706. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is structured into eleven descriptors of good environmental status (GES). For each descriptor the current status of the marine environment should be assessed against its GES using ecosystem criteria and indicators. Within Descriptor 3 (D3) the MSFD addresses the status of exploited fish stocks according to three criteria (exploitation rate, stock size and size structure). This study performed an MSFD-compliant assessment of exploited fish stocks in the North Sea by aggregating data from analytical stock assessments and scientific research surveys to calculate indicator metrics for each criterion within each stock time-series. A stock achieved GES, when each indicator for each criterion had a good status. Of 43 assessed fish stock suggested by the EU Data Collection Framework, 63% (27) achieved GES. Though the MSFD explicitly demands that all exploited fish stocks achieve GES, this demand may be challenged by reality, because the status of exploited stocks depends not only on fishing impacts, but also on environmental conditions and ecological interactions. Therefore an alternative approach based on binomial distributions is presented to define limits for GES at the descriptor level. The implications and pitfalls of the applied assessment methods are discussed.

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Palaeogene diatomite deposits in Denmark: geological investigations and applied aspects

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin ◽

10.34194/geusb.v15.5034 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 21-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Stig A. Schack Pedersen

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Field Trips ◽

Raw Material ◽

The North ◽

Geological Features ◽

Drilling Method ◽

Museum Exhibitions ◽

Coastal Cliffs ◽

The North Sea ◽

Clay Pits

The Danish term ‘moler’ is the name for a special and unique marine deposit of Lower Eocene age found in the northern part of Denmark and the Danish North Sea. In the literature it is often referred to as mo-clay, the English translation of ‘moler’ – a whitish, powdery sediment that lithologically is a clayey diatomite. The deposit, which is defined as the Fur Formation, is also well known for its 180 volcanic ash beds, increasing in number towards the top of the formation (Pedersen & Surlyk 1983). Due to Pleistocene glaciotectonic deformations the diatomite deposits crop out at the surface in the Limfjorden area (Gry 1940; Klint & Pedersen 1995; Pedersen 1996, 2000). Prior to the deformations the Fur Formation was situated at about 50–100 m below sea level, but during the deformations the diatomite was displaced upwards into glaciotectonic complexes. The complexes form elongate parallel hills up to 80 m a.s.l. in the western Lim fjord region (Fig. 1). The clayey diatomite attracts attention because it is a valuable raw material for production of insulation bricks and absorbing granulates, which are mainly used as cat litter. In addition, the exposed Fur Formation is a unique reference for investigations of the Palaeogene stratigraphy in the North Sea, where mudstones and shales with ash layers are known as the Sele and Balder Formations (Schiøler et al. 2007). In a tectonic framework the ash layers provide a unique addition to the understanding of the development of the North Atlantic igneous province at the time when Greenland and Norway began to drift away from each other (Larsen et al. 2003). Moreover, the Fur Formation is especially noted for its rich fossil fauna, which comprises remarkably well-preserved specimens of birds, fish and insects. Due to the public interest two museum exhibitions have been established, on Mors and Fur, and the geological features are so evident that numerous geological field trips have benefited from the success of well-displayed geology seen in exposures along the coastal cliffs and in the mo-clay pits. At present a Norwegian drilling company is planning to use the Fur Formation outcrops at Skarrehage for testing before applying their new drilling method offshore. In 2007, GEUS has continued many years of mo-clay investigations, and this paper presents some results from the 2007 activities, in addition to a review on the geology of the mo-clay.

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A red herring from the Öresund (ICES40G2): the apparent recovery of the Large Fish Indicator (LFI) in the North Sea hides a non-trawled area

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fst117 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 70 (6) ◽

pp. 1081-1084 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andreas Sundelöf ◽

Håkan Wennhage ◽

Henrik Svedäng

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Gadus Morhua ◽

Marine Science ◽

Large Fish ◽

Marine Strategy Framework Directive ◽

Important Species ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Technical Regulations

Abstract Sundelöf, A., Wennhage, H., and Svedäng, H. 2013. A red herring from the Öresund (ICES40G2): the apparent recovery of the Large Fish Indicator (LFI) in the North Sea hides a non-trawled area. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 1081–1084. As reported in a number of previous papers in this journal, the Large Fish Indicator (LFI) was developed for the North Sea. ICES Statistical Rectangle 40G2 was accidentally included in the North Sea calculations of LFI for 2004, 2007 and 2008. This inclusion significantly increased the LFI and was subsequently removed from the analysis. We identify and discuss three reasons to revisit rectangle 40G2 when considering LFI for the North Sea: (i) according to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the area belongs to the North Sea, (ii) it is a geographically well-defined area where technical regulations have prevented the use of trawls since the 1930s, and (iii) there is evidence of a productive and rather closed cod (Gadus morhua) subpopulation unit in the area, which is an important species for the North Sea LFI.

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