2 Development of comprehensive management system for coastal and maritime areas

2.1 Current state of the environment and trends in the future

2.1.1 Present state of the environment

The global picture: The state of the environment in the world’s coastal and maritime areas is deteriorating constantly as a result of land-based activities and activities close to the coasts. As a rule, the damage to the environment is greatest in coastal and shallow waters close to densely populated areas where the inputs of most pollutants are at their height and where physical intervention, disturbance and pressures on living resources are most extensive. It is also along the coasts and on the continental shelves that the most productive ecosystems and the most important harvestable stocks and petroleum deposits are to be found. This is why both fishing activities and oil operations are concentrated relatively close to the coast where shipping is also at its heaviest. The sea is also affected by land-based activities located far from the coast through input from watercourses, marine currents and airborne pollution. These effects are also greatest in waters close to the coast and in particular near the mouths of rivers, which flow through densely populated industrial and farming areas. The open oceans are far less productive and also far less exposed to human activity.

The UN Expert Group on the Marine Environment (GESAMP) has identified pollution from land-based sources, destruction of habitats of marine species, effects on fisheries and the introduction of non-indigenous species as the main threats to the marine environment in the global context. Climatic changes caused by human activity may also have serious consequences for the marine environment, e.g . via changes in temperature, shifts in the major ocean currents, effects on fisheries and rising sea levels.

Source Havsforskningsinstituttet (Institute of Marine Research, Norway)

The regional picture: The scenario of threats varies from one area to another. As far as the North Sea is concerned it is fishing, organic hazardous substances and nutrients which emerge as the main factors affecting the environment. But, oil spills, local discharges of heavy metals and organic hazardous substances such as tributyltin (TBT) from anti-fouling paints on ships, along with introduced species have been identified as significant factors influencing the environment. By and large the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea are less hard hit. Here it is fisheries and inputs of organic hazardous substances transported over long distances that affect the marine ecosystems the most. Local discharges of hazardous substances, such as TBTs, and increasing aquaculture in coastal areas are also important factors, while oil spills are a potential hazard in general.

2.1.2 A complex interaction between different factors

A range of different activities and discharges affect the state of the marine environment in coastal waters and out to sea. The accumulated load on the marine ecosystems is therefore a result of a wide range of different factors such as eutrophication, discharges of chemicals, contaminated sediments, harvesting of living resources, introduction of non-indigenous species and the physical destruction of habitats. Added to all this are the pollutants which are carried into our areas from outside and activities in other countries which affect the ecosystems in our areas, e.g. through fishing of joint stocks.

Thus, the state of the environment in the Norwegian maritime areas is not merely a product of our own activities, but also a result of which pollutants are swept into Norwegian areas by sea currents or by the wind. It also depends on how we interact with other nations in respect of common resources.

The state of the marine environment is governed by a complex pattern of interaction between a natural interplay and variation in the ecosystems and effects caused by human activity. Impact on just one component will produce consequences in other parts of the ecosystem even though the actual effects may often be difficult to discern. If key species, i.e. species on which many links in the chain depend, are negatively affected, this can lead to changes in the entire system.

2.1.3 The individual industries and sectors are facing major challenges

The North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea are among the most prolific marine areas in the world. Fishing and the catches of fish along with aquaculture are of vital importance as a source of income in the communities along the Norwegian coast. The fishing industry is dependent upon renewable, but not unlimited resources. This is why it is important to develop management strategies, which take account of the ecosystem as a whole and of how the fish stocks are influenced by a variety of environmental factors and by fishing activities. A clean sea and sustainable outtake of the living marine resources is a sine qua non if the generation of revenue in the fishing industry is to be maintained and increased and is thus an important part of the coastal population’s basis for existence.

Outtake leads to a change in the dynamics of stocks and of the ecosystems. Most of the species, which are of importance to our economy, have the ability to adapt to difference types of effects. Productivity does in fact increase in the presence of a moderate load in that the individual fish grow more quickly and start reproducing at a younger age. But, when the pressure on the fish exceeds a certain level, the stocks are no longer in a position to adapt and the situation becomes one of overload. By-catches are a problem both in commercial fisheries and for individual populations of sea birds and marine mammals. In addition, there are effects on ecosystems in the form of damage to the seabed. Overfishing is regarded as a major problem in the global context and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the FAO, has estimated that between 15 and 18 % of the world’s fish stocks are being overfished. If something is not done to reduce the amount of overfishing, catches from these stocks will shrink considerably.

Present-day fisheries management is based on the main principle of sustainable fishing activity based on the best available scientific advice. One of the major problems is that the overall, global fishing capacity far exceeds available resources. This overcapacity is perhaps the main force driving overfishing. Overcapacity is a problem even in Norway. In general, the fishing fleet is too large in relation to the resources available.

As much as 90 % of Norway’s fisheries involve stocks shared with other countries. This means that the Norwegian authorities cannot decree how these stocks are to be managed on their own and instead have to co-operate with other nations in this regard.

The central environmental challenges in terms of fisheries management are linked to improving our basic knowledge of management, implementation of ecosystem-based management, including application of the precautionary principle, limitations on by-catches and damage to important areas of the seabed and more effective enforcement of regulations.

Over the past 30 years farming of salmon and trout has grown into an industry with an export value of over 13 billion Norwegian kroner. Aquaculture is a growth industry in Norway and of vital importance to the development of the coastal areas. It is our long coastline and our clean waters which together with the wild salmon stocks form the basis for this branch of activity. Only by maintaining our marine environment clean can we ensure the production of safe and good foodstuffs. It is therefore in the interests of Norwegian aquaculture to ensure good conditions for fish and shellfish to grow along the Norwegian coast. The industry has been faced with major environmental challenges which to a large extent have been dealt with through development of this branch. But, when it comes to the actual environment there are still quite a few challenges. Primarily, it is a question of managing the effects of the fish farms on their immediate environment, the run away of fish from the farms, and the occurrence and spread of salmon lice.

The world market for fish and other seafood is highly sensitive to rumours of pollution, for instance radioactive pollution. Even though the levels of radioactive pollution in Norwegian waters are low, it indicates the presence of unwanted substances. The nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield is the main source of radioactive pollution today, but there is also a risk of accidents which can lead to radioactive pollution from nuclear installations, nuclear-powered vessels and vessels carrying radioactive materials through waters close to Norway’s coasts. At international level Norway is active in trying to get reductions in discharges of radioactive pollutants into the marine environment and in trying to limit the risks of nuclear accidents which could contaminate Norwegian maritime areas. The fishery authorities monitor the presence of alien substances in Norwegian fish and seafood on an ongoing basis as part of the important work being done on documenting the good quality of Norwegian seafood. Monitoring of the marine environment is of vital importance in this regard.

The spread of species to areas where they do not occur naturally has become much more common over the past decade. At the same time we are seeing more and more examples of how this can have major effects on ecosystems and on indigenous species along with serious consequences for the branches which use the living resources. Examples from Norwegian waters are the introduction of the harmful Chatonellaspp. of plankton algae, which was probably introduced via ballast water from ships arriving from Asia, and the proliferation of American lobster which could supplant the indigenous stocks. Although we have been spared the most dramatic consequences in Norwegian waters so far, it is becoming increasingly clear that non-indigenous species are a major threat even in Norway. There is therefore an urgent need to develop means of reducing the negative effects.

Large amounts of numerous chemicals we know to be harmful to the environment and also potentially detrimental to health, are still being discharged into the environment and are a source of concern. Even though we have engineered considerable reductions in discharges of known hazardous substances into our seas and coastal areas, these substances will continue to be present in the natural environment in concentrations which represent a threat to the ecosystems. This is attributed to the fact that many of these hazardous substances are only marginally degradable and can easily be stored in food chains in our seas. This means that they will remain a threat to the ecosystems for many decades to come, even if discharges cease entirely. It is impossible to fix safe levels or limits of tolerance for hazardous substances in the natural environment. Discharges of these substances must therefore be stopped completely.

Discharges of toxic substances into Norwegian waters occur both from local, land-based sources, from petroleum exploitation operations and from vessels. However, they are also to a large extent brought to us by the wind and by marine currents after having been discharged in other parts of the world. If we are to succeed in stopping these inputs of environmental toxins into our marine areas, we will have to find solutions at international level, and we must therefore focus on international co-operation in this area.

In the case of most chemicals we lack basic knowledge of their effects on health and on the environment. We know even less about how they influence the environment either alone or when interacting with other substances. We need to know much more about this in order to be able to obtain a full picture of the challenges facing us. For the sake of the environment it is particularly important to establish which substances are only marginally degradable and are easily stored in the food chain since these properties give the substances the potential to inflict long-term damage on the environment of the type we have experienced from, for instance, PCBs. In addition, there are the endocrine disrupters, which can affect the reproductive capacity of fish and marine mammals, and we need to learn more about these.

Discharges over a long period of time have caused sediments in a number of coastal areas and fjords to currently exhibit extremely high concentrations of environmental toxins. This type of pollution damages the environment in the areas concerned and also limits the use of many areas for the purposes of fishing and aquaculture. Furthermore, contaminated sediments represent a threat to other areas since environmental pollutants can spread and contaminate them as well. Up to now, high priority has been given to stopping fresh discharges of environmental pollutants. We must continue to give high priority to work on these issues, but at the same time it is important to get started on the extensive cleanup operations necessary to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable condition in all of Norway’s coastal areas.

Oil pollution in Norwegian waters have their origins both in normal drilling operations and in accidental discharges from platforms, along with shipping and land-based sources. The oil industry is constantly expanding to cover new parts of our maritime areas and even to sensitive environments close to the coast. At the same time, operational discharges of oil and chemicals are on the increase without our knowing enough about their long-term effects on the environment. This can give rise to a growing conflict of interests between fisheries interests and those anxious to protect the environment. The big challenge is to reduce the operational discharges of oil and chemicals harmful to the environment and to improve our knowledge of the effects of these discharges. It is also important to limit territorial conflicts and the risk of damage to stocks and vulnerable areas.

Shipping is an important source of major oil spills via accidents and through illegal discharges. Major oil spills from shipping often occur close to land in vulnerable areas, and in the future tankers will be carrying large amounts of crude oil from North-western Russia and travelling close to the Norwegian coast. Together with increased interest in petroleum exploitation in the Barents Sea, this calls for preventive measures and preparedness for emergencies in order to limit damage. This demands close co-operation with the Russian authorities. But, in the Barents Sea region there is limited scope for effective protection against oil spills during the dark part of the year. There is also a great deal of tanker traffic connected with our oil refineries and oil terminals in Southern Norway. A considerable increase in shipping from Russia and the Baltic States is also expected through the straits of Øresund and Store Belt. In the light of the recent spate of shipwrecks and the expected increase in transports of environmentally hazardous cargoes, for instance cargoes of oil, along the Norwegian coast, it is clearly necessary to improve the safety and response systems in place along the coast.

Thanks to our long coastline and in places low population density we still have areas along our coasts, which have been little affected by human activity. But, in Norway too there is still considerable pressure on areas in the coastal zone near to the most densely populated areas. Conflicts between different users are also increasing. We have also left our mark on the seabed. It is estimated that between one third and half of the deep-water coral reefs to be found along the Norwegian coast have been either damaged or destroyed as a result of bottom trawling.

Important results have been achieved both nationally and internationally to protect the maritime and coastal areas from environmental damage. Substantial reductions have been made in our own discharges of substances hazardous to the environment and of nutrients, and at international level work has been started on drawing up global and regional regulations designed to reduce discharges of pollutants into the sea. Similarly, progress has been made at both national and international level in providing better protection for living marine resources. But, even though much has been achieved there are still major problems which need to be solved, problems linked to pollution, physical intervention and management of living resources.

More details are given in Chapter 3 of the challenges we face in different areas and how the Government intends to deal with them in the future.

2.2 Need for more comprehensive management

The above shows how important it is to carry out a thorough assessment of how we manage our coastal and maritime areas, if we want to achieve the goal of having clean waters full of marine life.

2.2.1 Need for better co-ordination of different areas of interests

More and more use is being made of coastal and maritime areas throughout the world and this applies to Norway too. The range of activities affecting the environment is increasing and measures to counter their influence are often introduced without sufficient knowledge of the correlations between loads and their effects on the ecosystems. Given the growth in fish farming activities the demand for space will also increase. We are witnessing a generalised increase in activities in the coastal and maritime areas and there is thus an increased risk of conflicts over use of space available. The oil industry is moving closer to shore and more vulnerable areas. Shipping along the Norwegian coast is on the increase, thus increasing the risk of accidents. We now also know more about the vulnerability of our marine and coastal environment. All this means that conflicts between different user interests will increase in the years to come.

Traditionally, various forms of pollution, outtake of different species and different types of intervention have been assessed and managed in a fairly isolated way and without taking account of the fact that the existing ecosystems and species are prey to a range of other environmental effects. At national level each sector draws up its own policy for the coastal and maritime areas, and this policy is very much influenced by sectoral and industrial interests. What the different policies have in common is that they influence the environment in a way that is of significance to many other legitimate interests. Most users do nevertheless consider the environment to a greater or lesser degree, but there is little co-ordination of measures introduced in the different sectors. Taken together, the implementation of these plans can lead to overload on the environment and overexploitation of resources.

It is neither possible nor practical for all sectors and users to have a comprehensive picture of how their activities influence other sectors and activities or ecosystems in the broader sense. This is why it is important for the authorities to put things right and ensure that activities and interventions in the coastal and maritime areas are governed by an overall plan whereby every operation is not assessed isolatedly, but as part of the whole range of impacts and interactions.

The increasing level of conflict and the need for better co-ordination is also a typical problem at the international level. The EU has adopted a framework directive on water, which focuses on the need for more co-ordinated management of water resources. The different countries are to develop integrated management plans accompanied by specific programmes of action for each individual water district based on environmental quality objectives. Norwegian compliance with the directive is described in Chapter 2.3.2.

Many of the marine resources in the maritime areas under Norwegian jurisdiction are shared with other countries. The international agreements set out overall objectives for how the resources are to be managed. The principle of sustainable use and a precautionary approach are of central importance. More precise objectives as to how the fish stocks are to be managed are, however, not set out in international agreements.

It is important to establish an overall system for co-ordination of activities to ensure integrated management of our seas and coastal areas. All sectoral authorities and other interested parties must co-operate in co-ordinating the management exercise. Integrated environmental protection policy must face up to both national and international challenges and ensure that international environment protection efforts tally with national.

Furthermore, organisation of work in individual target areas needs to be reviewed in order to improve its effect. An obvious example is organisation of safety and emergency routines along the coast. The way in which things are organised today is fragmented and not effective. A number of authorities are responsible for different preventive measures, while measures to repair damage are in the hands of other authorities. Better co-ordination between the different sectors and levels of the administration is needed.

2.2.2 A lot at stake …

The abundant biological diversity and production capacity of our coastal and marine areas must be managed in a manner which preserves them for future generations. Lost diversity can seldom be restored and lost production capacity can only be built up again slowly or if at all. This should be a principal consideration when setting the basic conditions for all forms of activity, which may have a negative effect on maritime and coastal areas.

The value of marine and coastal areas has traditionally been estimated on the basis of the scope they offer for utilization of resources, whether this be in terms of extraction of oil or catches of fish. It is possible to calculate such values, but Box 2.2 shows that biological diversity is associated with a range of other values which cannot so easily be calculated in monetary terms. For instance, it is difficult to put a price on what may be termed «ecological services».

2.2.3 The ecosystem approach to management of maritime and coastal areas

The Government takes the view that co-ordination between different authorities must be increased if we are to achieve our goal of having clean seas rich in marine life. The Government is therefore preparing a plan for total and integrated management of our maritime and coastal areas based on the ecosystem approach. This is necessary in order to ensure that the accumulated effect on the environment in the long term is not greater than what the structure of the ecosystems, the way in which they function and their biological diversity can tolerate.

Ecosystem-based management of the marine environment means management which takes account of the basic conditions set by the ecosystem itself in order to maintain production and conserve biological diversity. The concept of the «ecosystem approach» has been developed and integrated into a number of international agreements over the past 10 years and is, for instance, a central element in complying with the convention on biological diversity. General criteria have also been developed in connection with this convention for the implementation of ecosystem-based management (the Malawi principles), which Norway has endorsed.

In 1997 the Ministers responsible for fisheries and environmental protection meeting in Bergen reached agreement on further integration of measures within the area of fisheries management and environmental protection through the development and use of the ecosystem approach. They also agreed that any such ecosystem approach would be based on co-operation between the authorities in different sectors, on getting the necessary research started, on assessing the effects of human influence on the ecosystems and on organising the integration of these various aspects. The authorities in the countries around the North Sea were asked to analyse progress and remaining problems for the implementation of this type of management and to report to the Fifth North Sea Conference to be held in Bergen in March 2002.

Subsequently, the principle of ecosystem-based management was integrated into work being done within the framework of the OSPAR Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment in the Northeast Atlantic and the EU’s new water framework directive.

The Government intends to build on what has already been done in this area and on other global and regional conventions and agreements designed to establish frameworks for ecosystem-based management of the Norwegian coastal and maritime areas.

2.2.4 Sectoral responsibility and the need for co-ordination

We still have a long way to go in terms of being able to implement the ecosystem approach to management as an overall principle across all sectors and different factors affecting the environment. A central element in the Government’s policy of environmental protection is sectoral responsibility and trade and industry’s own responsibility. Chapter 2 in Parliamentary Report No. 24 (2000–2001) «Government Environmental Policy and the State of the Environment» contains a general outline of the system chosen to steer the course of the country’s environmental protection policy.

Source Rumohr et al., 1998

Sectoral responsibility means that sectoral authorities and the different branches of trade and industry are independently responsible for including environmental considerations in the organisation of activities which affect the environment in maritime and coastal areas and that they therefore must integrate environmental factors into their own management. The Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are pivotal ministries in this respect and have a special responsibility for central measures and policies within important sectors such as fishing, aquaculture, petroleum exploitation and shipping. A prerequisite if sectoral responsibility is to work in practice is for there to be common, national goals and a distinct division of responsibility between the different authorities.

The Ministry of the Environment has the main responsibility for national goals, steering systems and follow-up of results in the field of environmental protection policy. This Ministry also has an important co-ordinating function vis-à-vis the ministries responsible for the different sectors. Implementation of co-ordinated environmental protection policy for the maritime and coastal areas must be firmly anchored in this system.

2.3 The Government’s plan for total management

The Government intends:

• to establish an integrated plan for management of the Barents Sea;

• to develop integrated plans for management of waters close to the coast and in the fjords pursuant to the EU water framework directive; and

• to introduce a long-term policy focussed on ecosystem-based management of coastal and maritime areas which is based, inter alia , on environmental quality goals for the ecosystems.

This chapter deals with the overall policy that the Government wants to initiate to develop a more integrated and ecosystem-based form of management. The Government takes the view that the general pool of knowledge on Norway’s marine and coastal environment is sufficient to allow us to start the processes necessary to carry out comprehensive analyses and develop management plans as a tool for more integrated and comprehensive management. With regard to the maritime areas, the Government wants to start with an initiative aimed at drawing up an integrated management plan for the Barents Sea. In the case of the coastal areas the work will be carried out as part of complying with the new EU water framework directive. The framework directive, which will be part of the EEA Agreement, requires the development of total management plans, including for the coastal areas. Parallel to this, the Government will be speeding up work on improving the basic reserve of information available, through, inter alia , monitoring and research with a view to developing a more comprehensive and long-term system for ecosystem-based management of human activities affecting the marine and coastal environment. Norway will be placing great emphasis on international co-operation in this area.

2.3.1 An integrated management plan for the Barents Sea

The Government aims to have integrated management plans established for the Norwegian waters which fix clear basic conditions for the use and protection of the coastal and maritime areas. These plans must have sustainable development as a central objective, and management of the ecosystems must be based on the precautionary principle and be implemented with respect for the limits that nature can tolerate. An important element will be the ecosystem approach including the establishment of environment quality objectives. A general description of the structure of such plans is given in Chapter 2.3.3.

Work on drawing up ecosystem-based management plans for maritime areas is a necessary step in order to ensure a more co-ordinated management of the maritime areas and the resources there. This is why it is necessary to move forward step by step and to learn from experience along the way. As a first step the Government envisages drawing up an integrated management plan for the Barents Sea where overall account is to be taken of the environment, fishing activities, oil operations and shipping. Experience gained from this work can then be used as a basis for a decision to develop similar, integrated management plans for the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea.

There are many reasons why the Government wants to start with the Barents Sea and to establish frameworks for future activities in this area which ensure the preservation of the quality of the environment. This is a maritime area, which is exposed to human activities to a relatively small extent. It is one of the areas in the world, which has the most abundant populations of fish, sea birds and marine mammals that it is important to preserve for future generations. Many of the stocks merit international protection. The main characteristics of the ecosystems are known, but we know very little about how pollutants affect species and systems. Low temperatures and drift ice mean a lengthy degradation period for oil and chemicals discharged into the environment. These factors, along with high waves at times during the dark season of the year considerably reduce the scope for effective systems to deal with acute oil pollution. A weaker infrastructure in the provinces of Nord-Troms and Finnmark than that found in other parts of the country also makes it more difficult to deal with emergencies.

Before the southern part of the Barents Sea was opened up for petroleum exploitation in 1989 a survey was carried out to assess what the consequences of this would be. This was the first area-specific investigation of possible consequences of petroleum exploitation on the Norwegian continental shelf since the advent of the Oil Act of 1985 and led to time limits being fixed for prospecting drilling operations out of consideration for vulnerable natural resources. Pursuant to legislation this survey only covered the consequences of prospecting for oil and not the consequences of any extraction operations.

The Government takes the view that better tools need to be developed to make it possible to strike the right balance between the different areas of interests linked to the Barents Sea. This can best be achieved by drawing up an integrated management plan based on the impact assessments for the different sectors. As far as the oil industry is concerned this will involve an impact assessment of year-round oil operations for the area stretching from the Lofoten Islands and northwards from there. Parallel to this, work is to be started on impact assessments, for instance, shipping, fishing and fish farming activities. These surveys will identify and assess problems caused by the overall effect of human activities on the maritime area. Each sector will have to describe its own field of activity and expected development and map out the consequences for the ecosystems and for other stakeholders in society. In that context it will also be important to establish where we need to know more, which areas are vulnerable etc .

The management plan is to cover the entire Barents Sea and the analysis of the consequences of the petroleum exploitation is to include a reassessment of existing knowledge of the whole Barents Sea area. However, it is not the intention of the Government to trigger a process which opens up the North Barents Sea for petroleum exploitation.

The main aim of the plan is to help achieve consensus among different trade and industry interests, local, regional and central authorities, environment protection organisations and other stakeholders on the management of this maritime area in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. The integrated management plan drawn up by the authorities will create an overall framework, but will need to be supplemented by more detailed plans for the individual sectors, e.g. for the oil industry, fisheries, shipping and so on.

Close co-operation with Russia will be necessary and also important when carrying out surveys to chart the consequences since this maritime area is shared with Russia. The issue has already been raised bilaterally in connection with co-operation between Norway and Russia on the environment and will also be raised in the context of the Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission and the Norwegian-Russian Forum on Energy and the Environment.

The Government plans to set up a steering group comprising representatives of the ministries concerned under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment which is to co-ordinate the drawing up of the integrated management plan. It is essential that authorities and other interested parties in this part of the country become involved in the work, and the Government intends to make sure that procedures are established that take account of this requirement in an appropriate manner. Fishing is part of the basic way of life of the Same people (Lapps) in the areas they occupy along the coast and fjords adjacent to the Barents Sea. The Lapp Parliament (Sametinget) will therefore be involved in the work.

Drawing up the management plan will be a big and demanding job. First, there must be a thorough assessment of the different interests to be taken into account via the sectoral impact assessments. This process will obviously take some time, but the Government aims to give this work high priority to ensure that an integrated management plan is in place as soon as possible. The Government will report to Stortinget on the work via the Parliamentary Reports on the Government’s environment protection policy and the state of the environment throughout the country.

A follow-up system will be established for the management plan to ensure that it is up-dated as needed, e.g. in the light of new findings emerging through monitoring and research. The plan will fix the basic conditions for activities in the area, and it is important that these conditions are as predictable as possible for the individual branches.

The total management plan for the Barents Sea will thus be the first integrated management plan for the Norwegian maritime areas. The plan now about to be drawn up must therefore be viewed as a first-generation plan which will also help us to gain useful experience which can be called upon in future work on similar plans (cf. Chapter 2.3.3).

2.3.2 Integrated management of the maritime areas and parts of fjords close to the coast

An obligation to carry out more comprehensive and integrated management of the maritime areas and parts of fjords close to the coast is already enshrined in the European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/60/EC on the establishment of a framework for the Community’s water policy (the water framework directive). The directive is designed to conserve, protect and improve existing water resources and the aquatic environment, while also ensuring sustainable aquaculture. A series of directives and international conventions exist whose purpose it is to protect water resources and the aquatic environment. The framework directive creates a superstructure for all these directives and provides guidance on how water should be managed within the European Community. The directive is viewed as one of the most important parts of the community legislation on protection of the environment. The directive came into force on 22 December 2000 and must be transposed into Norwegian legislation by virtue of the EEA Agreement by the end of 2003.

Watercourses, groundwater and coastal waters up to one nautical mile outside the baseline fall within the scope of the directive. Implementation of the directive will therefore be an important element in the management of waters close to the coast. The main objective of the directive is to protect and where necessary improve the quality of the water by 2015. All forms of use must be sustainable over time. Each country must divide its water resources into districts to be responsible for the total rainfall area including the adjoining coastal area; they will be known as catchment areas. The directive requires that water resources be charted and monitored. Specific environmental goals must be fixed for water, and by 2009 a management plan for each catchment area must have been drawn up. The management plans must be accompanied by a program of action setting out the measures which must be introduced in order to meet the objectives. The management must be based on environment goals defined in the light of both chemical and biological factors in the watercourses and in sea areas. The directive presupposes that plans will be drawn up via a broad-based process involving authorities and professional and industrial bodies. The work on trying to achieve the objectives fixed in the directive will also indirectly affect the rights and obligations of private individuals. Management plans, trends in water quality, organisational solutions etc . must be reported to the EFTA supervisory authority, the ESA.

The directive also aims at increasing protection of the aquatic environment from pollution by substances toxic to the environment. In the case of priority substances present on a list adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, harmonised standards for water quality, necessary limitations on discharges and product-specific measures will apply at community level. The first version of this list comprising 33 priority substances and groups of substances was adopted in November 2001. Discharges of the substances with the highest priority must be phased out within 20 years following their inclusion on the list. Discharges of the other substances on the list are to be progressively reduced to bring concentrations below the levels in the quality standards currently being drawn up for water, sediments and biota.

The Government regards the EU water framework directive as an important instrument for achieving a more comprehensive and integrated type of ecosystem-based management of areas close to the coast in that management of watercourses and land and sea areas in the coastal zone is seen in an overall context and based on environmental objectives. The Government is at present considering how the directive can best be applied in Norway. The Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health are now together assessing how to divide up responsibility, tasks and duties. An inter-directorate group has been set up to helping the ministries in this work. It is made up of representatives of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, the Directorate for Nature Management, the Norwegian Watercourses and Energy Directorate, the Norwegian Food Control Authority, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Directorate of Fisheries, the National Coastal Administration and the agricultural authorities under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Government plans to circulate a presentation of the consequences for Norway of implementing the directive for public comment this year. In addition, the authorities concerned, professional circles and organisations have been asked to comment on issues with administrative and professional connotations in connection with implementation of the framework directive.

In asking for comments the Government is anxious to focus in particular on the requirements the directive makes of authorities to implement in the short term. By 2003 Norway must have divided its territory into catchment areas, designated competent authorities and transposed the provisions of the directive into Norwegian legislation. By 2004 Norway must have established a register of all the areas in each catchment area, which require special protection, and produced a description of the characteristics of each catchment area. The hearing document will also refer to the requirements the directive makes of the authorities in the longer term up until 2015, but here a number of issues still need to be clarified; for instance, shaping of environmental objectives, establishing management plans, programmes of action and monitoring plans.

The directive requires the introduction of total water management on the basis of catchment areas, and this is something which will have consequences for the current system of water management in Norway. The system of water management in place today is the product of specifically Norwegian circumstances. This system works well in many areas, but can seem fragmented and not up to optimum standard in other areas. Compliance with the directive will help generate more comprehensive and planned management of water resources and a much better basis for decisions.

In seeking to achieve the environmental objectives the point of reference has to be the catchment areas, and the directive requires administrative units which coincide with the boundaries of the catchment areas, thus cutting across current municipal and country boundaries. The directive means that management by the authorities will cut across established lines of demarcation between authorities and administrative services at regional and national level. The authorities responsible at district and local levels will be given a number of important responsibilities; for example in connection with describing, monitoring, planning and implementing measures. The directive imposes a division into districts, which are also responsible for total rainfall in the adjoining coastal zone.

This directive is a minimum directive and the individual countries are at liberty to introduce more stringent provisions or a higher level of ambition than the directive itself requires. It specifies a high level of ambition in terms of development of water resources, while at the same time containing provision for exceptions. The authorities in the individual countries have considerable room for manoeuvre. Initially compliance with the directive may call for measures and restrictions in a number of areas. The detailed specification of the environmental objectives will come towards 2009, the deadline for having the management plans in place, along with the specific basis for decisions in the form of measures, benefits and costs.

2.3.3 More about the work on ecosystem- based management of our maritime and coastal areas

As has already been pointed out in the above, the Government’s long-term objective is to develop integrated management plans for our coastal and maritime areas based on the present state of the ecosystems and with the focus on the ecosystems’ capacity for self-renewal in order to avoid damage. Management plans drawn up to comply with the water directive (cf. Chapter 2.3.2) will be of a different nature and involve a different procedure than the management plans to be drawn up for the maritime areas. This is mainly due to the fact that the plans drawn up for compliance with the water directive must follow the systems laid down in the directive.

The technical basis must be improved via research into different loads and the establishment of environment quality objectives, which can be verified a posteriori. Monitoring of the environment must be co-ordinated so as to produce the best possible overview of environmental status and changes in the condition of the environment.

The Government presupposes that the integrated management plans for the maritime areas will be drawn up as an open procedure, as is also the case with the plans pursuant to the water directive, and will involve co-operation between all the sectors, branches of trade and industry and other stakeholders concerned. This will ensure consensus on the general direction and reduce the scope for conflicts between different areas of interests.

International co-operation will be of central significance both with regard to the management of common maritime areas like the North Sea in terms of exchange of experience and joint further development of tools for steering the process.

The integrated management plans for the maritime areas will use the sectoral surveys of consequences to provide a basis for the establishment of protected areas and offer general guidelines for activities in the maritime areas. The plans should also co-ordinate follow-up of activities and measures and provide guidelines for monitoring of the marine environment. It should, however, be the ministries responsible for the different sectors, which have responsibility for drawing up specific management plans for how to achieve the objectives in the total plan and follow up activities in their sector. The ministries’ environmental action plans will be of central importance here. Similarly, authorities and branches of trade and industry at local level must also be involved. In this way the management plans will provide a total, overall system involving all operators and where the latter assume responsibility of achieving objectives and results in their respective areas.

Even though it is not expected that the plans will have legislative repercussions, it is essential that they should be able to fix predictable basic conditions for activities and initiatives. At the same time, there must be nothing to prevent the conditions being changed subsequently, if this is necessary in order to ensure that there is no serious damage to the environment. A central feature of the plans will be that they must divulge gaps in knowledge and highlight areas where research and initiatives are needed.

2.3.3.1 Basic know-how

There are still many gaps in what we know about the structure of the marine ecosystems and the way in which they work. We need to learn more if we are to be able to strike the right balances and make the right choices.

The Government intends:

• to ensure better national co-ordination of work being done by state institutions and private operators in the field of regular stocktaking and reporting on status, including assessing whether one institution should be given specific responsibility for co-ordinating and viewing living marine resources and the marine environment in an overall context;

• to increase, compile and improve access to data on the marine ecosystems:

  • by considering the implementation of the project entitled «Marine mapping and development of an area database for the Norwegian coastal and maritime areas «(MAREANO);

  • by introducing a requirement whereby all relevant environmental data obtained from publicly funded research projects and from monitoring activities imposed by the public sector must be made accessible; and

  • by establishing national programmes for charting and monitoring biological diversity, including setting up a national species database;

• to arrange for co-ordinated collection of data and investigate the setting up of common databases for the purposes of monitoring and research;

• to intensify and co-ordinate monitoring efforts in the maritime and coastal areas within the existing budgetary framework via better co-ordination of available staff and vessels resources, including assessment of common shipping pool covering all Norwegian vessels used for marine and fisheries research;

• to carry out research work in Norwegian maritime areas in order to learn more about the structure and workings of these ecosystems and the effect of human activities on them; and

• to support the implementation of a research programme on the ecosystems in the North Sea in collaboration with the EU and the other riverine states around the North Sea with the aim of improving basic knowledge on which to found an ecosystem approach to management.

Research provides knowledge of and insight into the structure of the ecosystems, their modus operandi and the correlations with human activities and their effects. Monitoring provides up-to-date information on the current situation in the physical, chemical and biological marine environment. Over time, monitoring provides time series of data which document changes in the marine environment, both natural changes and changes caused by man. What we learn from research and the information obtained from monitoring lays the foundations for assessments of status, trends and forecasts of future developments in our seas.

Knowing more about our marine species and habitats is a vital prerequisite for differentiated area management. In the international sphere a great deal of attention is being directed towards this field, and countries such as Australia, Canada and the USA are running major national programmes designed to chart marine habitats in their maritime areas.

Norway has large maritime areas within its territory. There are, however, serious gaps in what we know about their status, while we also have great expectations in terms of possibilities for use. This is why it is important to increase our general knowledge of these areas while also obtaining a more detailed picture of the correlations between the physical environment, the abundance of species and the biological resources. It will also be important for Norway to learn more about the potential for use of our biological diversity.

A group made up of a wide range of state directorates and research institutions has developed the MAREANO project. This project entails essential studies and charting of depths, seabed types, geological conditions, pollution, types of environment, biological diversity and marine biology resources in selected areas. The information is to be made available via an internet-based marine area database (GIS). The database will also contain information on other sources of data and links to them. The Government will be carrying out an assessment of the MAREANO project with a view to making it a central component in the pool of data to be used for the management of our coastal and maritime areas.

The Norwegian Marine Data Centre (Norsk Marint Datasenter – NMD) is attached to the Institute of Marine Research (Havforskningsinstituttet – HI) and plays a role in co-ordinating surveys and storing data on the marine environment. It is important for data on the marine environment and living resources obtained via research projects to be made available for use in overall assessments of the status of the marine ecosystems. In the case of research projects financed by public funds it will be a requirement that relevant environmental data obtained through the projects be made available for this type of assessment of status.

A species database is to be established in Norway in the course of 2002. This species database will be attached to the University of Trondheim. It will interact with existing databases and constitute a generally available database of assured quality drawing on the other databases. For the first few years the species database will concentrate on data access and will put forward proposals for revised, national red lists of species to the Directorate for Nature Management.

There is a need for better co-ordination of the work and use of the results of monitoring of the marine environment. A number of bodies are at present engaged in significant monitoring of the marine environment and living marine resources, while only co-ordinating that work to a limited extent and without this being part of an overall, common national plan.

Work on co-ordination of monitoring the environment and its resources by different institutions has already been started:

• In the autumn of 2001 the Institute of Marine Research (HI) initiated collaboration on monitoring of the marine environment with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (DNMI), the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority and the Nansen Centre for the Environment and Remote Sensing (NERSC). This collaboration will help co-ordinate monitoring of the marine environment at national level across the different parts of the Civil Service.

• As part of the work on the national programme for surveying and monitoring biological diversity there will also be a co-ordinated plan in place by 2003 for charting and monitoring which will also comprise criteria for classification of marine environment types on the basis of their value.

• The various institutions compiling data in the northern areas have agreed to work together with the aim to produce an overall picture and multidisciplinary interpretation of environmental data in the northern region under the heading of MONA. This is one of several tools, which can lay the foundations for a total management plan for the Barents Sea.

The Norwegian vessels used for marine and fisheries research are today managed by a number of different institutions. There is considerable potential for more cost-effective operations via better co-ordination of the research work done by the vessels and use of periods at sea etc . The Government therefore wants to evaluate how co-ordinated use of all of the Norwegian marine and fisheries research vessels can be arranged. The aim of this organisational change is to promote a higher level of activities within the same cost frame. The investigatory work will be carried out by the Ministry of Fisheries in co-operation with other ministries concerned.

The quality of the marine environment influences the ecosystems in different ways and assessments must take account of natural fluctuations and effects caused by human activities. It may be appropriate for a single state advisory institution to be given specific responsibility for co-ordinating the work and assessing the living marine resources and the marine environment in the overall context. This is the subject of further discussion at the moment.

In 2001 Norway and Iceland co-financed the UN Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystems conference. The declaration adopted by the conference highlights the need for a more ecosystem-oriented management of living marine resources. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has established an advisory committee on ecosystems (ACE) and in so doing has created a scientific advisory mechanism for ecosystem-based management.

The Government wishes to stress that the different sectors and branches of trade and industry have a responsibility of their own to ensure an adequate pool of basic know-how. It also wishes to stress the importance of research on environmental consequences being integrated as a central theme into national research strategies for development of marine sources of nutrition.

A number of institutes in the field of environmental and fisheries research have submitted proposals for a programme for generating value and sustainable development in the Norwegian coastal zone. This programme may clarify the basic requirements for generating worth. The Government will be assessing these proposals and will then decide how these initiatives can be followed up.

Co-ordination of the work being done in Norway on status assessment and status reports on the marine environment will be an important contribution to making a cost-effective contribution to international work. At the same time international co-operation will give us a broader-based and better description and assessment which increases our understanding of the environmental situation in our own maritime areas. Our large marine ecosystems, the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, are shared with other countries. Joint assessment and understanding of the state of the marine environment will be pivotal to good co-operation based on the ecosystem approach to management of these ecosystems.

2.3.3.2 Development of environmental quality objectives

The goal of integrated management of the coastal and maritime areas assumes the establishment of goals for the state we want to achieve for the ecosystems. This will make it possible to control effects and to plan initiatives to ensure clean and abundant seas.

We need a thorough knowledge of the structure, workings and state of the ecosystems to be able to fix environmental quality objectives for the coastal and maritime areas. The objectives for the different areas and ecosystems have to be fixed in relation to the quality of the environment in a corresponding ecosystem as unaffected as possible by outside factors. In fixing the objectives for the requisite environmental quality we must first know about the state of the environment in nearly unaffected areas. Integrated management involving assessment of different effects in the overall context demands a great deal of knowledge of the interplay between different forms of human influence and variations in natural factors.

Norway has along with the Netherlands been lead country for OSPAR work on developing criteria and methods for establishing marine environmental quality objectives. Initially such objectives are to be developed for the North Sea in collaboration with the international Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). It has been proposed that objectives be fixed for a number of components in the ecosystem which together will contribute to conserving the productivity of the ecosystems along with their diversity. The first proposals for concrete environmental quality objectives will be presented at the Fifth North Sea Conference.

2.3.3.3 Local commitment and sectoral responsibility

The Government will aim at active participation by all parties concerned in the management of the maritime and coastal areas, while at the same time attributing the responsibility for management to the lowest appropriate level. The Government will fix the framework for management of the parts of the environment, which are of national significance, in the overall management plans, while activities and resources of primarily local significance to the environment should be managed locally.

The Government intends to continue the work on developing an environmental protection policy which spans all sectors and which aims at harmonized use of means available across the board. At the same time the Government attaches great importance to dissemination of information and to clarification of national objectives and priorities for local authorities and trade and industry.

2.3.3.4 International co-operation on ecosystem- based management

A vital ingredient of ecosystem-based management of coastal and maritime areas is extensive co-operation with other countries and in particular with coastal states in our immediate vicinity. The Government therefore sets great store by international co-operation and negotiations. Chapter 4 refers in general terms to international work in the field of the marine environment.

In conjunction with co-operation in the North Sea area and within the context of the OSPAR Convention, Norway plans to work to promote the initiatives necessary to establish and meet environmental quality criteria for the North Sea and other maritime areas and to establish an internationally co-ordinated management based on the ecosystem approach. Norway will therefore continue to set its sights high in the context of the OSPAR Convention, North Sea co-operation and promotion of the ecosystem approach based on common environmental quality objectives. International co-operation in the management of living resources is also an area where Norway is anxious to promote the ecosystem approach based on scientific advice. Negotiations on fishing quotas with the EU and Russia among others represent a considerable challenge in terms of maintaining the total catches at a defensible level.

Joint research projects to support an ecosystem approach to the management of the North Sea will be given priority in co-operation with the EU and other countries around the North Sea.

ICES offers advice on the fixing of quotas in the area of fisheries management. With ecosystem-based management we will need to make more use of ICES as a scientific advisor and as a neutral body basing itself on scientific findings.

2.3.3.5 Follow up of results

On the basis of experience gained from an integrated management plan for the Barents Sea the Government plans to carry out frequent assessments of trends in the marine ecosystems and the management of these systems. Any such status report will have to include proposals for initiatives, changes in priorities and a possible revision of the objectives. The process must involve experts from all relevant scientific areas and on the basis of the assessments and recommendations made the Government will undertake a review of the status and the need for initiatives. A report of the results will then be presented and proposals for the necessary initiatives will be put before the Norwegian Parliament in the appropriate way; for instance through the Parliamentary Report on the Government’s Environmental Policy and the State of the Environment. The review will be in line with the reporting requirements linked to compliance with the water framework directive and the OSPAR Convention.