The advice describes a comprehensive list of activities and projects being carried out on hazardous substances in the North-East Atlantic. Five groups of substances have also been covered more extensively with a focus on cataloguing the latest knowledge and searching for gaps in the collected data on these substances.
"Advice like this demonstrates the ability of ICES to gather experts to assemble valuable products in all areas of marine science" says Mark Tasker, chair of the Advice Drafting Group on Hazardous Substances.
The source of the request, OSPAR, is the mechanism by which 15 national governments and the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.
The management of hazardous substances in these waters is undertaken by national governments working to standards set by the EU, national governments and OSPAR. ICES, through its data centre, provides support to OSPAR in hosting and managing data from national laboratories. The data centre will be developing web-based tools to undertake trend assessments for hazardous substances at regional scales.