Report of the Working Group on the effects of extraction of marine sediments on the marine ecosystem (WGEXT) 22-25 April 2013 Faial, Portugal

• Main Author: ICES
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00160/27086/25252.pdf; https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00160/27086/

The Working Group on the effects of extraction of marine sediments on the marine ecosystem (WGEXT) met in Faial, the Azores; Portugal between 22nd and 25th April 2013. Sixteen participants from nine ICES Member Countries attended the meeting. The objective of WGEXT is to provide a summary of data on marine sediment extrac-tion, marine resource and habitat mapping, changes to the legal regime, and research projects relevant to the assessment of environmental effects. The data on marine sed-iment extraction will be reported on a yearly base for OSPAR in an Interim Report. The other items will be addressed in the Final Report of the new ICES 3-year report-ing period. Research into the impacts and effects of marine sediment extraction continued across member countries and a mix of national / regional focused and multi-national pro-grammes exist. Reports on extraction data were reviewed from 15 (of 20) member countries. Although five member countries did not provide reports, the available da-ta are thought to provide a representative assessment of the overall total of material extracted from the member states. New Terms of Reference have been defined on databases and harmonization of data, MSFD, publishing, deep-sea mining, cultural and geomorphologic values, thresholds for EIAs, mitigation and a cumulative assessment guidance. ICES WGEXT agreed to meet again in Iceland in June 2014 as guests of the National Energy Authority.