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6. Implemen­tation plan for the baseline programme

Here follows a suggestion for an implementation plan for the baseline studies programme described in Chapter 4 for a seaweed cultivation farm site in the Faroese coastal area. The implementation plan seeks to identify existing relevant data for the Faroe Islands and point out the baseline studies that are still needed to facilitate an environmental impact assessment for sustainable seaweed cultivation in Faroese fjords.
Generally, establishment of an environmental baseline is more easily prepared in countries or regions where environmental databases are readily available, e.g., results from monitoring programmes and research. As environmental monitoring data are limited for the Faroe Islands, because neither an environmental database nor strong monitoring programmes in the coastal area are available, a comprehensive, though not exhausting, list of relevant existing data is presented herein.
It should be noted that the implementation and prioritisation of national monitoring programmes for the Faroese coastal area is beyond the scope of this report. The importance of well-established national monitoring programmes should, however, be emphasised, as potential changes in drivers due to other stressors e.g., climate change or eutrophication from anthropogenic sources along the coast, have to be addressed in parallel in order to assess the potential impact from the seaweed cultivation activities.
The data available on the Faroese coastal area with relevance for each of the environmental components proposed measured in Table 3 for establishing an environmental baseline have been compiled in Table 4, with a short description of the larger datasets or monitoring programmes given below:
  • Database with sediment sample data from the environmental assessments of salmon aquaculture (EASA) including, but not limited to, benthic macrofaunal taxonomy, redox, pH, loss on ignition (LOI), copper (Cu), and Zink (Zn). The Faroese Environment Agency (FEA) hosts and curates the database, permission from the relevant fish farming company is needed to access the database.
  • The Faroe Marine Research Institute (FAMRI) has performed a yearly fjord survey in and around Skálafjørð starting in 1985, consisting of sediment samples and CTD measurements (parameters measured depends on additional setup through the years). Data format and availability is not known.
  • Historical data from the BIOFAR I and BIOFAR II stations. The focus of the initial study was to compile a taxonomic overview of benthic fauna in Faroese waters at depths > 100 m. The subsequent investigation focused on the coastline and shallow waters at depths < 100 m and included both fauna and seaweed samples (Nørrevang et al., 1994; Bruntse, Lein and Nielsen, 1999; Sørensen et al., 2001; Tendal et al., 2005). Some of this data from > 1400 samples have been organised in databases or more or less complete datasets; however, the level of data curation is not known and the organised data is not publicly accessible.
  • A number of research projects (concluded and on-going) have produced data relevant to establishing a baseline. These consist of single sporadic measurement to longer surveys. They are not long-term monitoring time series, but can, however, give a good indication of the physical and living environment functions and potential ecological statuses at certain points in time. Data format and availability varies from project to project.
  • Some environmental data from the Faroese area is available at ENVOFAR (Environmental data on terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the Faroe Islands). ENVOFAR is a collaboration between Fiskaaling (Aquaculture Research Station of the Faroes), FEA, and FAMRI.
Table 4. Summary of existing data sources most relevant to establishing a baseline programme in the Faroe Islands as outlined in Chapter 1.
Para­meter
Collection effort/ ​project/ ​institution/​reference
Sampling years
Data format
Availability
Physical environment
Light
Copious amounts of unprocessed PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) censor data from CTD measurements by Fiskaaling and Havstovan
unknown
various
various
Kalbaksfjørður (Gaard, Northi and Simonsen, 2011)
2006–2007
scientific paper
public
Nutri­ents and carbon
Fiskirannsóknir nr. 6 (Hansen, Kristiansen and Reinert, 1990)
1984–1990
book
public
Effects of fish farming in Kalbaksfjørð (Gaard, Northi and Simonsen, 2011; á Norði et al., 2011; á Norði and Patursson, 2012)
2006–2007
scientific papers
public
Fjarðarannsókn: Kaldbaksfjørður (Østerø et al., 2022)
2021–2022
report
public
Potential sites for seaweed cultivation in the Faroes by modelling
 
report
closed
Bathy­metry
Faroese Environment Agency
 
database
various
Landsverk
 
database
various
Sedi­ment type
 
Biofar (I and II), visual estimate
1988– 
database and datasets
permission required
EASA, visual estimate
1998– 
database
permission required
(á Norði et al., 2011; á Norði and Patursson, 2012; á Norði, Debes and Christensen, 2013), grainsize
2006–2007
scientific paper
public
Hydro­graphy
Fiskirannsóknir nr. 6 (Hansen, Kristiansen and Reinert, 1990)
1985–1990
book
public
Fjarðakanningar
1985– 
unknown
unknown
Kaldbaksfjørður (Gaard, Northi and Simonsen, 2011; Østerø et al., 2022)
2021–2022
report
public
Ocean models
2012–2022
NetCDFs
public at end of project
FarCoast (Erenbjerg et al., 2020), 3D ROMS based model
2013
NetCDFs
on request for non-commer­cial use
Potential sites for seaweed cultivation in the Faroes by modelling (Kristmundsson and á Norði, 2020)
 
report
closed
Current measure­ments
Streymur og alda í umhvørvisfyrisiting av firðunum (Larsen et al., 2020), metadata list of available measurements around the Faroe Islands
1976–2019
processed datasets
various
Conta­minants
 
Chemical sediment variables from the Faroe area (Sørensen et al., 2009)
1985–2008
scientific paper
public
(Hoydal and Dam, 2004), different contaminants in sediment
1992–2003
book
public
EASA, sediment Cu and Zn
1998–
database
permission required
Organic matter
 
(Sørensen et al., 2009), sediment
1985–2008
scientific paper
public
EASA, sediment LOI
1998–
database
permission required
(á Norði et al., 2011, 2018; á Norði and Patursson, 2012), sediment and sediment traps
2006, 2007, 2009
scientific paper
public
ADepoPlan
, sediment, particle tracking and deposition models forced by FarCoast
2024–2025
dataset + modelling scripts
public at end of project
Oxygen conditions
 
Fiskirannsóknir nr. 6 (Hansen, Kristiansen and Reinert, 1990)
1984–1990
book
public
Fjarðakanningar
1985– 
unknown
unknown
Fjarðarannsókn: Kaldbaksfjørður (Østerø et al., 2022)
2021–2022
report
public
2022–2023
dataset
public at end of project
Living environment
Phyto­plankton
 
Phytoplankton production in Kaldbaksfjørð (á Norði et al., 2011)
2006–2007
scientific paper
public
Phytoplankton on Faroese fjords in 2020 (Jacobsen, Jacobsen and Dam, 2020)
2020
report
closed
Integrated approaches for phytoplankton dynamics
, phytoplankton dynamics using microscopy, flowcam and eDNA analysis
2021–2022
not known
public at end of project
Benthos
Biofar (I and II), benthic fauna and algae
1988–1999
database and datasets
permission required
EASA, Benthic macrofauna
1998–
database
permission required
2023–2025
not known
public at end of project
Modelled and predicted distribution of kelp forest in the Nordic region (Kvile et al., 2022). Based partly on Biofar data from the Faroese region
1988–1999
scientific paper
public
dataset
upon request
Marine vegeta­tion commu­ni­ties
2022–2023
not known
public at end of project
Fish, sea­bird, and marine mam­mals
A summary is given in the Faroese Ecoregion Aquaculture overview (ICES, 2023)
 
report
public
Patho­gens
 
 
 
 
Seaweed popula­tion genetics
Alaria esculenta (Bringloe et al., 2022; Inaba et al., 2022) Foliose Bangiales species (Mols-Mortensen et al., 2012)
 
scientific papers
public
The existing data for each of the environmental components to be measured for establishing a baseline (Table 3,4), should be reviewed to evaluate if the data are sufficiently site specific and updated, and data/ knowledge gaps and limitations must be identified.
Site surveys or planned sampling are then conducted to collect environmental data where no data exist, data are not available or sufficient, or are in need of an update. Further, simple ambient environmental parameters (such as temperature, light, salinity, etc.) should routinely be logged on the cultivation site.
However, although some studies are on-going there is a lack of knowledge for an environmental baseline with respect to the (genetic) biodiversity of and within the natural seaweed stock, which may be addressed by the following studies: (1) Mapping the biodiversity of the natural seaweed stock to be able to detect potential changes as impact from, e.g., the cultivation farm and mother plant harvest (see for instance Bekkby et al.  (2023)). From such studies an accessible curated database with occurrence/abundance maps including existing BIOFAR II seaweed data along with newer data from BlueCea and the Kelp Forest monitoring study can be initiated and established. (2) Population genetics of seaweed species most potentially farmed for detection and prevention of genetic changes and contamination. (3) Biodiversity of associated fauna in the natural seaweed beds for detection of potential changes.
Nordic Council of Ministers I www.norden.org/publications I pub@norden.org