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Every year fisheries discard >10 million tonnes of fish. This provides a bounty for scavengers, yet the ecological impact of discarding is understudied. Seabirds are the best-studied discard scavengers and fisheries have shaped their movement ecology, demography and community structure. However, we know little about the number of scavenging seabirds that discards support, how this varies over time or might change as stocks and policy change. Here, we use a Bayesian bioenergetics model to estimate the number of scavenging birds potentially supported by discards in the North Sea (one of the highest discard-producing regions) in 1990, around the peak of production, and again after discard declines in 2010. We estimate that North Sea discards declined by 48% from 509,840 tonnes in 1990 to 267,549 tonnes in 2010. This waste had the potential to support 5.66 (95% credible intervals: 3.33-9.74) million seabirds in the 1990s, declining by 39% to 3.45 (1.98-5.78) million birds by 2010. Our study reveals the potential for fishery discards to support very large scavenging seabird communities but also shows how this has declined over recent decades. Discard bans, like the European Union's Landing Obligation, may reduce inflated scavenger communities, but come against a backdrop of gradual declines potentially buffering deleterious impacts. More work is required to reduce uncertainty and to generate global estimates, but our study highlights the magnitude of scavenger communities potentially supported by discards and thus the importance of understanding the wider ecological consequences of dumping fisheries waste. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change. The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change. The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

In 2008, the guideline for establishing a framework for Community action in the field of marine environment (Marine Strategy Framework Directive - MSFD, 2008/56/EG) was published. The overall objective of the guideline is to achieve and/or maintain a good status of the marine environment before the year 2020. The good environmental status has to be defined in accordance with qualitative Descriptors as listed in Annex I and specified through respective Criteria and Indicators given by the European commission. While recent projects have focussed mainly on the so-called 'state' Descriptors of the MSFD, the focus of the current project has been on 'pressure' and 'impact' Descriptors. For these, assessment systems were not yet available. Within the project, we have been identifed existing deficits and presented possible solutions, for example by developing respective assessment systems. For Descriptor 2 (non-indigenous, invasive species) an assessment system has been developed which considers the amount of foreign species within an ecosystem, the impact on native communities, and the trend indicator. The approach proposed for Descriptor 6 (seafloor integrity) is based on modelling the impact by combining pressure-specific sensitivity information for benthic habitats with data on the spatial and temporal extent of physical loss and damage. Due to large gaps in knowledge on pressures and impacts on hydrographical conditions and ecosystem components, it is currently not possible to present a detailed assessment concept for Descriptor 7 (hydrographical conditions). Instead, a first draft of an assessment concept is briefly outlined as a basic framework which should be open to changes and adaptable for future developments in research. One of the most important stressors in the marine environment is the chemical pollution which is covered by Descriptor 8 (contaminants). Initially, relevance of the contaminants, environmental quality targets, the biological effects in common, and the effects on marine mammals in particular have been examined. For Descriptor 10 (marine litter) an assessment system for litter on beaches has been developed. Concerning litter at the water surface, within the water column, and at the seafloor (particularly fisheries nets) existing data have been analysed to suggest environmental quality targets and effective monitoring strategies. In addition, the impact on marine birds has been examined when swallowing up litter. Moreover, possible approaches for an overall assessment concept for 'the good environmental status' according to the MSFD have been developed, with special regard to the results of recent MSFD projects.