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The increasing demand for protein from aquaculture will trigger a global expansion of the sector in coastal and offshore waters. While contributing to food security, potential conflicts with other traditional activities such as fisheries or tourism are inevitable, thus calling for decision-support tools to assess aquaculture planning scenarios in a multi-use context. Here we introduce the AquaSpace tool, one of the first Geographic Information System (GIS)-based planning tools empowering an integrated assessment and mapping of 30 indicators reflecting economic, environmental, inter-sectorial and socio-cultural risks and opportunities for proposed aquaculture systems in a marine environment. A bottom-up process consulting more than 350 stakeholders from 10 countries across southern and northern Europe enabled the direct consideration of stakeholder needs when developing the GIS AddIn. The AquaSpace tool is an open source product and builds in the prospective use of open source datasets at a European scale, hence aiming to improve reproducibility and collaboration in aquaculture science and research. Tool outputs comprise detailed reports and graphics allowing key stakeholders such as planners or licensing authorities to evaluate and communicate alternative planning scenarios and to take more informed decisions. With the help of the German North Sea case study we demonstrate here the tool application at multiple spatial scales with different aquaculture systems and under a range of space-related development constraints. The computation of these aquaculture planning scenarios and the assessment of their trade-offs showed that it is entirely possible to identify aquaculture sites, that correspondent to multifarious potential challenges, for instance by a low conflict potential, a low risk of disease spread, a comparable high economic profit and a low impact on touristic attractions. We believe that a transparent visualisation of risks and opportunities of aquaculture planning scenarios helps an effective Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process, supports the licensing process and simplifies investments., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Sediment, Oil spill and Fish Tracking model (SOFT) was used to simulate the river-borne particulate Pb dispersion and sedimentation in the Basque continental shelf (BCS). In this case, SOFT used 3D current fields obtained with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). From the SOFT results, connectivity matrices were obtained to analyze source-sink relationships. Considering the studied 12 rivers, the Ibaizabal River is the major contributor, accounting for 69 % of the total particulate Pb release. On a yearly basis, Pb accumulates mostly in the West sector of the BCS. The differences between the observations for the 2000-2011 period and the modeling results could be due to the fact that SOFT used climatological information on currents and discharges from the Basque rivers (the Adour River was not included) and did not estimate the resuspension process. To improve the results, the SOFT outputs together with Hs12 data (significant wave height exceeding 12 h per year) and observed sedimentary Pb concentrations were integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment to adopt a multivariate approach. At the BCS spatial scale, the combination of numerical models and GIS-assisted statistics did not provide an accurate prediction of the distribution of river-borne particulate Pb accumulation. At smaller scales, areas influenced by the inputs of Basque rivers and others affected by additional factors (i.e., dredged material disposal activities, contributions from neighboring rivers and sub-grid scale transport processes) were identified. Under the current European marine legislative framework, the improved knowledge obtained on river-borne particle dispersal dynamics can assist the assessment of the marine contamination from the local to the regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution characterises the sources and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of the Basque coast (Bay of Biscay). Different source characterisation approaches (i.e. GIS assisted-chemometrics, PAH diagnostic ratios and analyses of composition profiles) were used in combination to successfully identify the factors determining the origin and distribution of PAHs. Urban/industrial combustion processes were identified as the main PAH source. However, the analysis of PAH composition patterns and diagnostic ratios identified secondary natural and petrogenic PAH sources on small spatial scales. The median ∑18PAH concentration ranged from 66 μg kg−1(d.w.) to 7021 μg kg−1(d.w.). The Ibaizabal estuary, which supports most of the anthropogenic pressure in the region (i.e. urban development, industrialisation, commercial and recreational harbours), also showed the highest PAH concentrations. On the shelf, human activities, hydrodynamic conditions and geomorphological features led to spatial differences in the PAH concentrations among sectors: the offshore and west sectors were characterised by higher concentrations, while the lowest values were found in the mid and east sectors. The results enhance the knowledge on PAH-related contamination processes and could be used to support the environmental assessment process required under current European marine legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent environmental legislation, worldwide, aims to restore and protect the quality of the marine environment. Within this context, in order to maintain the good functioning of marine ecosystems, sediment pollution monitoring is becoming increasingly important. Hence, for this contribution, the spatial distribution of Cd, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni and Pb accumulation areas were determined, for the sediments of the Basque continental shelf. Statistically-assisted Geographical Information System (GIS)-mapping techniques were used, in order to infer the processes responsible for such accumulations. Differences in contaminant entrance pathways were observed between sectors. However, hydrodynamic conditions favored the rapid dispersal of contaminants and their stable distribution. The methodology used resulted in a suitable approach for identifying contaminant distribution patterns, which could be used in environmental assessment processes. Nevertheless, an important knowledge gap on the distribution of contaminants in offshore sediments was identified. Extensions of actual monitoring programs are suggested, in order to improve the information available for identifying the behavior and process-drivers for contaminants in offshore systems. This would permit the achievement of a more complete approach, to understand the effects of land-derived contaminants, on offshore systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recently, considerable interest has been generated in the wave energy production. As a new use of the ocean, a Spatial Planning approach is proposed to provide a mechanism to achieve consensus among the sectors operating at present, together with the identification of the most suitable locations to accommodate the Wave Energy Converters (WECs), in the near future. In this contribution: (a) a methodology for the establishment of a Suitability Index (SI) for WECs installation location selection is proposed; (b) the spatial distribution of the SI is mapped; and finally, (c) the accessible wave energy potential has been calculated for the entire Basque continental shelf. As the SI represents the appropriateness of several locations for WECs installation, while minimizing the conflict with other marine uses, the first step in the development of the analysis involved gathering all such information that may be likely to determine, or influence, the decision-making process. Seventeen information layers (among them 10 technical, 4 environmental, and 3 socioeconomical), corresponding to the identified key factors, including the theoretical wave energy in the study area, were generated to define their spatial distribution. Geographical Information System algorithms were used then in the assessment of the total theoretical energy potential and the accessible theoretical energy potential; these were calculated excluding areas where conflicts with other uses occur, such as navigation regulations or designated Marine Protected Areas. The resulting map indicates that, taking into account the zones not affected by “use conflicts,” together with the estimated energy performance of the most advanced WECs technology, the potential energy produced in the study area could supply between 37% and 50% of the electrical consumption of households in the Basque Country. This contribution could avoid the annual emission of 0.96 to 1.54 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If marine management policies and actions are to achieve long-term sustainable use and management of the marine environment and its resources, they need to be informed by data giving the spatial distribution of seafloor habitats over large areas. Broad-scale seafloor habitat mapping is an approach which has the benefit of producing maps covering large extents at a reasonable cost. This approach was first investigated by Roff et al. (2003), who, acknowledging that benthic communities are strongly influenced by the physical characteristics of the seafloor, proposed overlaying mapped physical variables using a geographic information system (GIS) to produce an integrated map of the physical characteristics of the seafloor. In Europe the method was adapted to the marine section of the EUNIS (European Nature Information System) classification of habitat types under the MESH project, and was applied at an operational level in 2011 under the EUSeaMap project. The present study compiled GIS layers for fundamental physical parameters in the northeast Atlantic, including (i) bathymetry, (ii) substrate type, (iii) light penetration depth and (iv) exposure to near-seafloor currents and wave action. Based on analyses of biological occurrences, significant thresholds were fine-tuned for each of the abiotic layers and later used in multi-criteria raster algebra for the integration of the layers into a seafloor habitat map. The final result was a harmonised broad-scale seafloor habitat map with a 250 m pixel size covering four extensive areas, i.e. Ireland, the Bay of Biscay, the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. The map provided the first comprehensive perception of habitat spatial distribution for the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores, and fed into the initiative for a pan-European map initiated by the EUSeaMap project for Baltic, North, Celtic and Mediterranean seas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]