During this session we will utilize keynote talks to take an overview of all submissions and invite all participants to discuss shipping impacts and holistic marine management!
We invite Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland, and Georg Engelhard, CEFAS, UK (joining online) to set the scene for the session. Then we will use these, and the morning’s flash presentations, pre-recorded video presentations, and posters as inspiration to address the following aspects:
- How accurately can different waste streams be measured or estimated using AIS ship data?
- Which shipping pressures are connected to one another, can we reduce multiple pressures by certain management measures, or are there contradicting shipping pressures where fixing one waste stream would increase the magnitude of another shipping pressure?
- Should we prioritize various shipping pressures or think of management procedures that allow holistic approach and effectively address and decrease all pressures simultaneously?
- What kind of initiatives should be promoted in national, regional and international decision-making in order to enable sustainable and holistic marine management?
Background
This theme session provides an updated overview of the current knowledge of environmental impact of shipping on the marine environment.
The blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021 drew public attention to the vast number of commercial ships operating globally. These ships can be compared to floating industrial sites with multiple pressures, ranging from polluting emissions to ship strikes, hydrographic alteration, and light pollution. Yet, shipping impacts are not fully considered in marine management. This theme session addresses the gap between shipping impact prevention and the need for holistic assessment in marine management.
Shipping is the backbone of global maritime trade and affects marine ecosystems in multiple ways. Despite international efforts to prevent pollution from shipping in terms of emissions and discharges of non-native species and pollutants, there is still a gap to bridge to fully account for the environmental impact of shipping in marine management. Other types of stressors to be incorporated include underwater noise, ship strikes, hydrographic alteration, and light pollution. Beside knowledge of the marine environment, assessing the total environmental impact of shipping requires knowledge about ships and ship operations. Different ship categories have different types and magnitudes of impacts. Using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data to model shipping activities provides opportunities to resolve shipping operations with high resolution across different ship types for fully comprehensive understanding and management.
