Member State report / Art8 / 2012 / D8 / Netherlands / NE Atlantic: Greater North Sea
| Report type | Member State report to Commission |
| MSFD Article | Art. 8 Initial assessment (and Art. 17 updates) |
| Report due | 2012-10-15 |
| GES Descriptor | D8 Contaminants |
| Member State | Netherlands |
| Region/subregion | NE Atlantic: Greater North Sea |
| Reported by | Rijkswaterstaat Centre for Water management, Ministry of infrastructure and the environment |
| Report date | 2012-08-20 |
| Report access | ANSNL_MSFD8bPressures_20121011.xml |
Dutch part of the North Sea
GES component |
GESOther: OSPAR EcoQO Oiled guillemot |
GESOther: OSPAR EcoQO Oiled guillemot |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
Feature |
LevelPressure |
LevelPressureContaminant |
ImpactPressureSeabedHabitats |
ImpactPressureFunctionalGroup |
Assessment Topic |
PollutionEvents8_2_2
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PollutionEventsSeabedHabitats8_2_2
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PollutionEventsFunctionalGroups8_2_2
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Element |
NotRelevant |
BirdsOffshorePelagic, BirdsOffshoreSurface |
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Element 2 |
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ThresholdValue |
OSPAR EcoQO: Less than 20% of guillemots washed ashore covered with oil |
OSPAR EcoQO: Less than 20% of guillemots washed ashore covered with oil |
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Threshold value/Value unit |
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Proportion threshold value |
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Status of criteria/indicator |
OtherStatus |
NotAssessed |
OtherStatus |
|
Status trend |
Improving |
Unknown_NotAssessed |
Unknown_NotAssessed |
|
Status confidence |
Moderate |
NotRelevant |
Moderate |
|
Description (status of criteria/indicator) |
OSPAR EcoQO Oiled guillemots; target not met
|
lack of established methods
|
OSPAR EcoQO Oiled guillemots; target not met
|
|
Limitations |
In the 1990s, IMO, at the behest of the Netherlands, established a deep water route on the North Sea for tankers carrying oil and chemicals to maintain a greater distance along the vulnerable Dutch coastal areas. |
Incidents involving spills from ships carrying oil and other hazardous substances, which can either be large or small, short-lived or long-term, generally result from accidents, diffuse pollution and illegal discharges. Nevertheless, illegal discharges of oil and toxic or hazardous substances still occur. Offshore surface-feeding birds are the only group that we have data of, to show that they are affected. |
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Assessment period |
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Description |
Discharges of process water from the routine operation of production platforms and careless practices by oil tankers causing oil to leak into the ocean are a constant source of oil and chemical emissions. The amount of oil spilt has drastically decreased since 1992 (Grontmij, 2010). On average there have been 28 spills per year of less than 1 tonne in the period 2000-2010 and only 4 spills above 1 tonne in this entire period. Moreover, the surface area and volume of the observed spills have also decreased, indicating not only that the number of spills has declined, but also that the average amount discharged at sea is now less than it was almost twenty years ago. The accumulation of sediments is synonymous with "light" smothering, i.e. deposits of <20cm depth to which most biota may be able to adapt. It is associated with activities such as sea disposal or dumping of dredged materials where sediments are deliberately deposited on the seabed. |
Discharges of process water from the routine operation of production platforms and careless practices by oil tankers causing oil to leak into the ocean are a constant source of oil and chemical emissions. The amount of oil spilt has drastically decreased since 1992 (Grontmij, 2010). On average there have been 28 spills per year of less than 1 tonne in the period 2000-2010 and only 4 spills above 1 tonne in this entire period. Moreover, the surface area and volume of the observed spills have also decreased, indicating not only that the number of spills has declined, but also that the average amount discharged at sea is now less than it was almost twenty years ago. |
Unknown/Not assessed
|
Birds are the most obvious victims of oil slicks (Skov, 1991), but marine mammals can also be fouled. The OSPAR target value (Ecological Quality Objective, EcoQO) for oil pollution is that fewer than 20% of birds that wash ashore are oiled. The percentage of oiled birds has shown a downward trend since 1975, but the current level is still above the target level. |
Input load |
153
|
Unknown_NotAssessed
|
lessthan1%
|
1
|
Load unit |
14
|
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Confidence |
Moderate
|
Non related GES component
|
Moderate
|
Moderate
|
Trends (recent) |
Decreasing
|
Decreasing
|
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Trends (future) |
Decrease
|
Decrease
|
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Description (activities) |
Incidents involving spills from ships carrying oil and other hazardous substances, which can either be large or small, short-lived or long-term, generally result from accidents, diffuse pollution and illegal discharges. Nevertheless, illegal discharges of oil and toxic or hazardous substances still occur |
Incidents involving spills from ships carrying oil and other hazardous substances, which can either be large or small, short-lived or long-term, generally result from accidents, diffuse pollution and illegal discharges. Nevertheless, illegal discharges of oil and toxic or hazardous substances still occur |
Incidents involving spills from ships carrying oil and other hazardous substances, which can either be large or small, short-lived or long-term, generally result from accidents, diffuse pollution and illegal discharges. Nevertheless, illegal discharges of oil and toxic or hazardous substances still occur |
Incidents involving spills from ships carrying oil and other hazardous substances, which can either be large or small, short-lived or long-term, generally result from accidents, diffuse pollution and illegal discharges. Nevertheless, illegal discharges of oil and toxic or hazardous substances still occur |
Activity type |
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Information gaps |