Consortium Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon – DC Industrial has submitted an application for an environmental permit for the removal of material, dredged and released during the construction of a dock for the new marina of Nieuwpoort, in the Belgian part of the North Sea. This application is subject to an environmental impact assessment procedure.
The application, the environmental impact statement and a concept of the appropriate assessment can be consulted from 2 December to 31 December 2020 at the offices of MUMM at Brussels (Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels; mdevolder@naturalsciences.be; tel 02/627 43 52) or at Ostend (3de en 23ste Linieregimentsplein, 8400 Ostend; jhaelters@naturalsciences.be; tel. 059/24 20 55), by appointment only and during office hours between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. The application can also be consulted at every coastal community, during office hours. The list of locations and contact persons of coastal communities can be found here. The consultation in the offices depends on the prevailing measures imposed by the government with regard to Covid-19.
Following the assessment of the ecological state of Belgian marine waters in 2018, monitoring has now been adapted for the second six-year cycle of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The extension of the monitoring with a number of new partners and parameters will lead to a more complete understanding of the state of the Belgian marine area, and will help underpin a policy aimed at achieving and maintaining good environmental status.
The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) establishes a framework within which Member States document the state of their marine waters and take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status. In this way, marine ecosystems throughout Europe are to be protected and, where necessary, restored.
DG Environment coordinates the implementation of the MSFD for Belgium. The Scientific Service Management Unit of the Mathematical Model of the North Sea MUMM (part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) is responsible for the coordination of the monitoring and the assessment of the state, and cooperates with 7 other institutes (ILVO, INBO, FASFC, AFCN-FANC, VLIZ, Continental Shelf Service- FPS Economy and Ghent University; see partners).
A total of 29 monitoring programmes describe measurements in the various compartments of the marine environment using a wide range of techniques (from sampling by divers, analyses in the laboratory to aerial censuses and satellite observations). They contribute to the 11 themes (the so-called “descriptive elements”) defined in the MSFD. Eutrophication, fisheries, chemical pollution, waste and biodiversity of species groups and habitats are only some of the aspects addressed.
The newly included programmes include observations of plankton by VLIZ, seabed waste by ILVO, macrobenthos (organisms living on the seabed and visible to the naked eye) in the wind farms by Ghent University and radionuclides by AFCN-FANC.
Together, the measurements will make it possible to evaluate the state of the marine environment in Belgium and, where necessary, to define action points for a favourable future evolution.
For more details, consult the monitoring programmes (NL – FR) and/or the 2018 assessment (NL – FR).
The Leatherback turtle typically inhabits open and warm seas, where they mainly feed on jellyfish. They don’t easily show up In coastal areas (unless to lay eggs, but that is excluded on our beaches). Jan Haelters of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences provides interpretation: “Leatherback turtles are very rare in the Belgian part of the North Sea: until now, only three strandings (1988, 1998 and 2000) and three sightings (2018 and 2 in 2019) were recorded. Although the list only counts seven specimens, an increase is noticeable in recent years.”
Remarkably, some Leatherback turtles were also seen in the Netherlands recently: one roamed the Eastern Scheldt from 22 to 24 September, while one swam along the North Sea coast of Scheveningen on 7 and 11 October. Comparison of the shape and size of the scars on the heads of the two animals, and of the ‘ribs’ on their back shields, shows that in Belgium and the Eastern Scheldt different individuals were involved. The Eastern Scheldt animal was washed ashore dead on 3 November near the Danish Ballum (article tvs).
Spatial planning is a discipline mostly associated with onshore built-up areas, but if there is one region in the North Sea that requires a rigorous mapping of activities it is the Belgian offshore area. Nature conservation, shipping, fishing, sand extraction, energy production, cables and pipelines, military exercises, … are all competing for space in this little patch of sea.
Different stakeholders active on the Belgian Continental Shelf. The maps are based on information from MarineAtlas.be (2014-2020) and the location of the sand banks has been sourced from the TILES Report. Please note that one stakeholder has not been mapped here; the fishing industry, because of its presence throughout the entire Belgian offshore. (animation by Henk Kombrink, Editor Expronews)
The Norwegian Expronews linked the Belgian marine spatial planning nicely with some of the RBINS work in relation to the assessment of reserves of certain abiotic resources and their potential for exploitation in a summarizing article.
Special attention is attributed to
the state-of-the-art 3D resource model that describes the distribution and availability of all non-hydrocarbon geological resources in the Belgian and adjacent Dutch marine waters, and can also serve as a resource decision support system and to underpin long-term adaptive management strategies (TILES, Van Lacker et al. 2019, Hademenos et al. 2019)
Output example of the TILES model.
the work of the Geological Survey of Belgium, explaining why there is no interest from the oil industry in the Belgian waters and why the Belgian offshore is highly unlikely to be a suitable area for sequestration of CO2 (dedicated article on expronews.com)
Geological map of the Brabant Massif onshore, extrapolated to offshore.
On Tuesday 24 November 2020, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Ghent University and the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) jointly organise the first Belgian Flat Oyster Day.
The European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) is an iconic species that was once abundant throughout European seas. It formed extensive reefs harbouring diverse communities of marine organisms and was the target of a considerable fishery. Already by the end of the 19th century, flat oyster populations in Europe have been drastically reduced due to overfishing, and disease outbreaks in the 20th century gave the species a final blow. In Belgian waters, the species is now regarded as functionally extinct.
Recently, there has been an increasing interest to restore flat oyster populations in Europe, both from conservation and aquaculture points of view. In Belgium also, some initiatives on restoration and aquaculture of this important species are being started.
The Belgian Flat Oyster Day wants to address this increased attention and aims to bring together all relevant actors and interested parties in the Belgian flat oyster scene. By means of two keynote presentations, setting the scene of flat oyster restoration and aquaculture in Europe, and additional presentations on biosecurity and visions for flat oyster restoration and aquaculture in Belgium, the event starts with a broad perspective. Thereafter, a clear overview is presented of the ongoing initiatives concerning the flat oyster in Belgium, with regards to both restoration and aquaculture. The event will be concluded with an example of the Dutch Flat Oyster Consortium and a reflection on how the flat oyster scene can proceed in Belgium. You are kindly invited to have a closer look at the tentative programme, and register through the link below.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the first Belgian Flat Oyster Day will be an online-only event (WebEx) on the morning of Tuesday 24 November 2020. The event will be conducted in English. Registration will be closed on Thursday 19 November at 17h.
We are looking forward to welcome you!
Belgian Flat Oyster Day organising committee
Annelies Declercq (Ghent University), Steven Degraer (RBINS), Daan Delbare (ILVO), Thomas Kerkhove (RBINS), Brigitte Lauwaert (RBINS) and Nancy Nevejan (Ghent University)
A new study published in the leading scientific journal Biological Conservation reveals a striking increase in the number of stranded porpoises along the North Sea coast. Scientists from the various North Sea countries compiled their data for this purpose. This also provided insights into the distribution and mortality of the different age groups, but does not yet allow definitive statements to be made about the effects of different human activities.
An international study led by Utrecht University, in which RBINS participated, revealed that more than sixteen thousand dead porpoises have been registered on the North Sea coast since 1990. More than 1500 of these were washed ashore in Belgium. In the Netherlands, with its much longer coastline, the highest numbers washed ashore. The researchers discovered that since 2005 porpoise strandings have become remarkably more frequent in the southern North Sea, while the number of strandings in the more northerly parts of the North Sea hardly changed.
Valuable information through strandings
It is not easy to study porpoises at sea. Researcher and marine ecologist Mariel ten Doeschate, connected to the Scottish stranding network, says: “Research is being done into the numbers and distribution of live animals, but this can only be done in limited periods of time. Strandings, on the other hand, are recorded throughout the year, and have been for decades. We can also determine the sex and age of stranded animals”.
Although the increase in the number of strandings coincides with an increase in the number of sightings of live animals in this region, it cannot simply be concluded that the continuing sharp increase in the number of strandings is only due to the presence of a larger number of animals (where the mortality rate could have remained the same). Indeed, the number of animals at sea is much more difficult to determine accurately than the number of strandings, which means that the two sets of data are not directly comparable and that the strandings are therefore supposed to better reflect what is happening in the population.
Impact of human activity
There is uncertainty about the possible effects of human activities on the numbers and distribution of porpoises. A potentially important factor is a changing climate, with changes in the food situation. Research programmes are also being carried out into the impact of the construction of offshore wind farms. It is important that data collected in countries around the North Sea is pooled: this has never happened before. Researcher Lonneke IJsseldijk (Utrecht University): “Our study has provided new and valuable insights and is a first step in improving our knowledge about the distribution of different age groups, seasonal and age-specific mortality among porpoises in the North Sea. Among other things, the study showed that more newborn animals stranded on German and Danish coasts, while in the Netherlands, Belgium and southern England it was mostly young males.
Research following this study will analyse additional information, including on health and disease.
This research is a collaboration between the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, the Department of Bioscience of Aarhus University, the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Cetacean Atlas of Denmark, the Globe Institute, the Natural History Museum of Denmark en the Fisheries and Maritime Museum Denmark.
BT Global Services Belgium BV has submitted an application for the authorization for the laying and an environmental permit for the exploitation of the telecommunication cable MERCATOR between Broadstairs – Joss Bay in the south east of England and the beach of Ostend (west of the harbour). This application is subject to an environmental impact assessment procedure.
The application (in Dutch), the environmental impact statement (in Dutch, including a concept of the appropriate assessment) and the non-technical summary (in English) can be consulted from 23 August to 21 September 2020 at the offices of MUMM at Brussels (Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels; mdevolder@naturalsciences.be; tel 02/627 43 52) or at Ostend (3de en 23ste Linieregimentsplein, 8400 Ostend; jhaelters@naturalsciences.be; tel. 059/24 20 55), by appointment only and during office hours between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, and depending on the prevailing measures imposed by the government with regard to Covid-19. The application can also be consulted at every coastal community, during office hours. The list of locations and corresponding contact details can be found here: Coastal_Communities_2020.
On 15 August, striking orange spots and strings were observed in the Belgian part of the North Sea near the Buitenratel sandbank, that were reported to the Coast Guard as a possible pollution. After inspection by various services, it became clear that this was an unseen bloom of the single-celled plankton species ‘Sea Sparkle’. The warm and calm weather of the past few days is probably an important explanatory factor. The rotting mass could possibly lead to oxygen deficiency and fish mortality. It is also possible that the remains will be washed ashore on Belgian beaches during the next week.
In the morning of Saturday 15 August, the Belgian Coastguard Centre (MRCC – Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre) received a report of a striking orange patch at sea, containing some dead birds. A sailor had noticed this at the ‘Buitenratel’ sandbank, one of the sandbanks in the ‘Vlaamse Banken’ complex. This sandbank is situated about 16 to 20 km from the shore of the Belgian West Coast, near the border with the French waters. The striking report raised eyebrows at the Coast Guard, because the reported colour did not match the typical colours of mineral oil, and because the dead birds may have hinted to a chemical product. However, an extensive natural algal bloom was also a possibility.
Control on Land, at Sea and in the Air
Following the report, the Shipping Police sent a patrol vessel to the Buitenratel. They found the reported patch and took some samples. Dead birds were no longer spotted. A rescue helicopter from the Coxyde air base also flew over the area, and the surveillance aircraft of the RBINS (MUMM, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) was called upon to scan the wider sea areas off the Belgian coast for any further pollution. Both aircraft made images of the orangeish, kilometre-long patches and streaks.
All the sailing and flying units involved came to the same conclusion: the patch probably indicated a large natural bloom, albeit on a very large scale. The sample taken by the Shipping Police was taken to the RBINS biological laboratories in Ostend where it could soon be confirmed that it was indeed a Noctiluca bloom.
The dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans or Sea Sparkle is a relatively large single-celled micro-algae (0.5 – 1 mm, so visible to the naked eye) that occurs in most seas of the world and belongs to the plankton. It looks like a gelatinous pellet with a tail (flagel), which catches food. In high concentrations – called blooms – Noctiluca forms highly visible orange-red spots that can occur in spring and summer. In case of turbulence, Sea Sparkle produces a bluish light that creates fairytale effects in the dark (‘lighting up’ of the sea). This bioluminescence is caused by luciferin, a pigment, and luciferase, an enzyme, when they come into contact with oxygen.
The high concentrations of Sea Sparkle that have now been observed are probably due to the very warm and calm weather of the past few days. The sampled Noctiluca was also already partly rotting, a process that consumes oxygen. Although it is essentially a harmless organism, mass extinction and rotting can locally lead to oxygen deficiency. At higher temperatures, less oxygen dissolves in water anyway, and the absence of strong winds and waves means that there was also little mixing that brought extra oxygen into the water. The resulting low oxygen tension due to the various phenomena can lead to the death of fish and other aquatic organisms, although under normal circumstances this is very unlikely in open sea conditions.
Modelling simulations by the RBINS, taking into account currents, meteorological conditions and the physical properties of the floating Noctiluca spots, illustrate that the remains of these spots could potentially wash ashore on Belgian beaches in the course of the next week.
In recent decades there has been a relative increase in the dinoflagellate community in the Belgian part of the North Sea. This increase could be related to the warming of the sea water (+ 1.6 ° C over the last thirty years). Noctiluca scintillans may also show an upward trend. In addition, blooms from other single-celled plankton organisms can also be expected, including some potentially dangerous species.
Behind the scenes, the Think Tank North Sea train has continued to proceed in recent months. The working group reports ‘Working with nature’ and ‘Living with climate change’ were finalised and three new theme proposals (Marine food impact, Environmentally sustainable blue growth, Decommissioning) were selected for the next vision development process. You can determine which theme will be selected for a new vision development trajectory by voting on the theme of your preference up to and including 15 September 2020. Curious about what this can lead to? Then be sure to take a look at our brand new working group reports!
In March of this year, the Think Tank North Sea launched a new call for themes that the Think Tank can address in a new vision development process (see also news release of 4 March). This call did not fall on deaf ears and you registered dozens of proposals from a wide range of backgrounds and interests. For which we sincerely thank you! It shows once again that the Think Tank North Sea initiative and its stimulating bottom-up effect perpetuates and justifies its place in the landscape and that the ideas are far from dried up.
After a thorough evaluation in recent weeks of the submitted proposals, the TTNS Steering Group now puts forward three themes of which it believes in the strong added value of starting a vision development process. The three themes are (consult the theme descriptions in the documents at the bottom of this message)
It is up to you to decide around which theme a future vision (2050) will ultimately be built. Here you can vote for the theme for which you want to commit yourself to help shape this vision. After this vote, a working group will be set up around the winning proposal.
Are you interested in the functioning of a working group or are you curious about what this cooperation can lead to? Then discover the new working group reports from the previous thematic cycle:
Working with nature: a vision on the promising opportunities for the future development and deployment of marine ecosystem services for the benefit of society and the blue economy.
Living with climate change: a vision on how coastal zone society can cope with future climate change and higher sea levels, based on the main concerns and concrete action points.
If you want to stay informed about the Think Tank North Sea, subscribe now to our mailing list.
On Thursday 6 August a Sowerby’s beaked whale ran into trouble near the eastern harbour dam of Nieuwpoort. With some difficulty the unfortunate animal could be escorted back to the open sea, but the chances of survival were estimated to be low. In the evening of Friday 7 August it turned out that the marine mammal had indeed died, and was washed ashore dead on the beach of Wenduine. This is only the seventh known case of a Sowerby’s beaked whale in Belgium, but already the second in 2020. By means of an autopsy an attempt will be made to gain insight into the cause of death of the animal.
On Thursday 6 August, shortly after noon, a stranding marine mammal was sighted near the eastern harbour dam of Nieuwpoort. As usual, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the local emergency services were informed and the procedures for stranding marine mammals were initiated. The animal was initially reported as a harbour porpoise, but in the meantime it was clear that it was a larger species and was suspected to be a bottlenose dolphin. Due to the urgency – a living marine mammal in trouble in shallow waters – lifeguards, police and bystanders decided to make an immediate rescue attempt and try to escort the animal to deeper waters. This turned out not to be an obvious task, and the disorientated animal got itself stuck between the stones along the palisade. Sharp stone edges and barnacles caused superficial wounds there, which, however, gave rise to bloody scenes. The next attempt to make the animal choose open water was successful, around 13:30 it disappeared from the radar and was not seen again all afternoon.
Unfortunately, what was feared soon became reality: the next day the beaked whale washed ashore dead around 20:30 on the beach of Wenduine. The identification as a Sowerby’s beaked whale could be confirmed, and it turned out to be a young female with a length of 3.59 m and a weight of 510 kg. The carcass was removed from the beach the same evening and moved to the technical room of the local fire brigade. In the early morning of Saturday 8 August, it was transferred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Ghent, where an autopsy will take place the same day.
Since beaked whales are animals that seek their food (mainly cuttlefish and squids) in the deep sea (Atlantic waters), and thus in principle have no business in the shallow southern North Sea, it is likely that the cause of death must be sought there: a lost and disoriented animal that ended up in the wrong place, where it has neither nutritional nor survival chances. This was the case for the beaked whales that were previously identified in Belgium. The additional injuries sustained in Nieuwpoort are not expected to be the direct cause of death, but they may have contributed to the further weakening of the animal. For the time being, however, all this is speculative, and the results of the autopsy have to be awaited. Also the role of a rope that turned out to be wrapped around the tail base when washed ashore in Wenduine will be investigated.
Belgian Beaked Whales
As far as we know, this is only the 7th documented case of a Sowerby’s beaked whale in Belgium. Remarkably, it is already the second case in 2020, after a young female washed ashore in Ostend on 15 January of this year. For the older cases we have to go back to 1972, 1969, 1954, 1933 and 1835. More information about the Belgian cases, about the stranding of January 2020, and about beaked whales in general, can be consulted in the article about the stranding of January 2020.
