Monitoring biofouling as a management tool for reducing toxic antifouling practices in the Baltic SeaShow others and affiliations
2020 (English)In: Journal of Environmental Management, ISSN 0301-4797, E-ISSN 1095-8630, Vol. 264, article id 110447Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Over two million leisure boats use the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea for recreational purposes. The majority of these boats are painted with toxic antifouling paints that release biocides into the coastal ecosystems and negatively impact non-targeted species. Regulations concerning the use of antifouling paints differ dramatically between countries bordering the Baltic Sea and most of them lack the support of biological data. In the present study, we collected data on biofouling in 17 marinas along the Baltic Sea coast during three consecutive boating seasons (May–October 2014, 2015 and 2016). In this context, we compared different monitoring strategies and developed a fouling index (FI) to characterise marinas according to the recorded biofouling abundance and type (defined according to the hardness and strength of attachment to the substrate). Lower FI values, i.e. softer and/or less abundant biofouling, were consistently observed in marinas in the northern Baltic Sea. The decrease in FI from the south-western to the northern Baltic Sea was partially explained by the concomitant decrease in salinity. Nevertheless, most of the observed changes in biofouling seemed to be determined by local factors and inter-annual variability, which emphasizes the necessity for systematic monitoring of biofouling by end-users and/or authorities for the effective implementation of non-toxic antifouling alternatives in marinas. Based on the obtained results, we discuss how monitoring programs and other related measures can be used to support adaptive management strategies towards more sustainable antifouling practices in the Baltic Sea. © 2020 The Authors
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Academic Press , 2020. Vol. 264, article id 110447
Keywords [en]
Benthic communities, Biocide, Coastal management, Fouling, Leisure boats, Pollution, adaptive management, antifouling, benthos, biofouling, boating, coastal zone management, environmental management, pesticide, pollution control, pollution monitoring, strategic approach, toxic substance, Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-44710DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110447Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85082722815OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-44710DiVA, id: diva2:1426601
Note
Funding details: Naturvårdsverket; Funding details: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD; Funding details: European Commission, EC; Funding details: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD, 57129429; Funding text 1: This work resulted from the BONUS CHANGE (Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic Sea) project and was supported by BONUS [Art 185], funded jointly by the EU and Naturvårdsverket ( Swedish Environmental Agency ). FRB acknowledges the financial support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) - Doctoral Programmes in Germany (2015)/16 [57129429] . A special thanks to people in the CHANGE project who helped with deploying and retrieving panels in the field: Magnus Dahlström (RISE), Peter Dahl and Albin Holmqvist (University of Gothenburg) as well as Hanna Haaksi (KAT, Finland). We thank Martin Wahl for fruitful discussions and advise. Also thanks to Christian Dietrich at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute for providing access to modelling data on temperature and salinity.
2020-04-272020-04-272020-12-01Bibliographically approved