Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

ecosystem of the Barents Sea will exhibit borealization with northward shifts in species over the next few decades. These changes are overlaid by impacts from the oil and gas industry, shipping, and fisheries with further consequences for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors (Sections 6.3.1.4 and 6.3.1.6). 6.2.2.2 Impacts of non-climatic factors A wide range of industrial sectors are represented in the Barents Sea region, including fisheries, oil and gas production, mining, and shipping (see Chapters 2 and 4, and Section 6.3). Fish products are a major source of animal protein for a significant fraction of the world’s population, and large-scale oil and gas development, new mining, and the promotion of the Northern Sea Route as a major transcontinental shipping lane reflect the growing needs of a rising world population and increased energy requirements. The Barents Sea ecosystem has been strongly influenced by fishing (Figure 6.5) and the hunting of marine mammals. More recent human activities include transportation of goods, oil and gas, tourism, and aquaculture. Interest is currently focused on the likely response of the Barents Sea

McKinney et al., 2013). Following the seasonally retreating ice edge with much open water north of Svalbard may also be associated with increased mortality, particularly of young cubs that are less able to endure long swims in cold water (Aars and Plumb, 2010; Pagano et al., 2012). Finally, most seabird species (see Chapter 2) are susceptible to changes in the marine ecosystem, including changes in prey availability related to ocean climate change, and it is likely that these changes will be even more significant in the future. An increase in boreal species and a decrease inArctic and subarctic species in Norwegian waters are anticipated. According to Fauchald et al. (2015), ecosystem specific changes, possibly initiated by past and present fisheries in combination with climate change, are the major indirect drivers of the observed seabird declines.While human impacts cannot alone explain the recent population declines,they are an important contributor to declining and threatened seabird populations and are therefore especially important to control (Box 6.2). Patterns of species change in the marine ecosystem are complex because different species are affected differently by warming waters and decreasing ice cover. It is expected that the marine

Human activities

Pressures

State

Selective extraction of species

Habitat

Fishing

Food webs

Abrasion

Productivity

Introduction of contaminating compounds

Plankton

Biodiversity

Maritime transport

Benthos

Death or injury by collision

Fish

Marine litter

Oil and gas production

Seabirds

Marine mammals

Substrate loss and smothering

Underwater noise

Activities and pressures on the ecosystem susceptible to regional management

Always vary (influenced by environmental drivers)

Figure 6.5 Overview of the major regional pressures, human activities, and state of the ecosystemwithin the Barents Sea. Line width indicates the relative importance of individual links (ICES, 2015b).

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