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

Phases of activity

Factors of impact

Biological effects

Seismic exploration

Seismic impact

Primary reactions at cellular and subcellular levels

Drilling and exploitation of wells

Chemical pollution

Suspended sediments

Laying of pipelines

Behavioral, physiological and other reactions at organism level

Installation of platforms and other facilities

Oil pollution

Responses at the population level

Oil transportation by tanker

Biological invasions

Oil pollution

Changes in structure and function at the community level

Accidental oil spills

Decommissioning and abandonment

Blowing up impact

Figure 6.7 Sources of impact and biological responses in marine ecosystems associated with the offshore oil and gas sector.

Box 6.3 Oil spills in the Arctic marine environment Despite a clear decline in the frequency and volume of oil spills in the marine environment in recent decades, spills continue to accompany offshore activities and to present a serious threat to the marine ecosystem (AMAP, 2007). Analysis of global statistics and a wide range of peer-reviewed literature indicates that: •• Spills during tanker transport represent about 80% of accidental losses •• Small spills, and operational and illegal discharges are the most common sources of long-term oil contamination •• The number of large spills (thousands of tonnes of oil, and with catastrophic consequences) ranges from none to several incidents per year •• There is no correlation between the amount of oil spilled and the level of ecological threat •• The consequences of any one spill depend on the type and properties of the oil released, the nature of the receiving environment and the specific circumstances of the accident. A recent assessment of oil and gas activity in the Arctic (AMAP, 2010) shows that these global statements would also apply in the Barents area. However, to date, there have been no large oil spills within the marine Arctic. This is

mainly due to the still limited extent of offshore operations in the Arctic.Meanwhile, the transportation of oil by tanker through the Barents Sea is increasing rapidly, such that this should now be considered a major potential source of accidental oil spills. In the case that possible Russian offshore oil and gas projects in the Barents Sea are realized, the overall input of oil to marine environment (through accidental and operational losses) could reach 100,000 tons by 2030 (Patin, 2008). Harsh environmental conditions and the presence of sea ice make operations in the Arctic much riskier than further south. The adverse impacts of oil spills on fisheries fall into two main groups: injury to commercial species and marine living resources, and economic losses. To date, there has been no direct evidence of any detectable impact of oil spills on the stock and biomass of commercial species at population level. Estimates suggest that even for the most pessimistic oil spill scenarios, losses of commercial species do not exceed hundreds/thousands tonnes of biomass and so cannot be reliably identified against the backdrop of very high population variability due to environmental change, natural mortality, and fishing (Patin, 2008).