A. Spagnolo

Overview on artificial reefs in Europe

Artificial reefs in Europe have been developed over the last 40 yrs. Most of these reefs have been placed in the Mediterranean Sea, but there is an increasing interest on the part of northern European countries. Fish stock enhancement and fishery management are the main purposes of reef construction in the Mediterranean Sea and on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, while nature conservation/restoration, research, and recreation have been the main purposes served in the other European regions to date. Artificial reef deployment falls under some general regulations concerning the protection of the sea against pollution due to the dumping of unsuitable materials. Specific Regional Plans relating to the use of artificial reefs in the marine environment and Guidelines for reef construction have been derived from these general regulations. In spite of recent developments, national and/or regional programs for the deployment of artificial reefs and/or their inclusion in overall management plans for integrated management of coastal zones are in force only in the majority of Mediterranean countries, while only a few projects have, to date, been undertaken in the other European Regions. Moreover, there is a noteworthy lack of plans, in many countries, for the management of the reefs after their deployment.

Integrated use of biomarkers in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis for assessing off-shore gas platforms in the Adriatic Sea: Results of a two-year biomonitoring program

Despite a large number of gas platforms existing in the Adriatic Sea, which is a semi-enclosed basin characterized by a slow turnover rate and increasing industrial as well as other anthropogenic activities, the effects of these structures on the aquatic ecosystem require further investigation. Since 1998, multidisciplinary studies have been performed by CNR-ISMAR to comply with legislation and to support the development of protocols for the monitoring of offshore activities in the Adriatic Sea. The present study was developed to implement a biomonitoring plan to assess the ecotoxicological effects of the extraction activities of an off-shore gas platform. Biomarkers were evaluated in mussels collected from the platform in relation to physiological stress, DNA damage, cellular damage, oxidative stress and exposure effects. Organic contaminants and trace element bioaccumulation were also assessed in the soft body of the mussels to correlate bioaccumulation of pollutants with biomarker responses. The results indicate an absence of platform-related environmental stress.

A multidisciplinary approach to evaluate the environmental impact of offshore gas platforms in the western Adriatic Sea

Detecting the anthropogenic impacts of offshore gas platforms requires reliable tools, because the traditional evaluation based only on chemical analyses is neither appropriate nor sufficiently sensitive. Thus, a 3-year monitoring project was carried out to evaluate the impact of a platform based on a chemical–biological approach. Benthic communities are investigated as they are widely used to monitor the effects of marine impacts because the organisms are mostly sessile and integrate the effects of pollutants over time. Changes in benthic infauna, sediments and water quality, as well as biota bioaccumulation, caused by drilling and platform operations were evaluated experimentally. Furthermore, mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were collected seasonally from the platform legs, both close to and far from the sacrificial anodes and at a control site. Responses of biomarkers of exposure and effect were related to the average levels of polycyclic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, organic matter content and heavy metals in bivalve tissues. Our data suggested that a slight perturbation can be detected only by integrating the results of chemical analyses on water and sediments and those obtained from benthic biological surveys.

Development of an integrated chemical, biological and ecological approach for impact assessment of Mediterranean offshore gas platforms

The pressure for more energy demand is a strong driver for the construction of offshore oil and gas platforms. This also applies to the Adriatic Sea where, since 1960, several gas fields have been commissioned. The continuous expansion of the gas industry may potentially have detrimental effects on marine communities. This may become particularly clear in such a peculiar semi-enclosed basin as the Adriatic Sea, which contains ecosystems that are subject to intensive anthropic pressures, such as unsustainable fishing and inputs of environmental pollutants. To date, still scant information is available on the environmental effects of gas platforms. Thus, to comply with the national Italian legislation and to support the development of protocols for the monitoring of offshore activities, multidisciplinary studies have been conducted and performed by CNR-ISMAR in cooperation with some private and public research institutes. A multidisciplinary approach based on chemical, biological and ecological investigations was performed to evaluate both the water column and the sediment quality near a gas platform. The overall results indicate moderate effects of platform-related environmental stress.

Use of multiple cell and tissue-level biomarkers in mussels collected along two gas fields in the northern Adriatic Sea as a tool for long term environmental monitoring.

As a consequence of the growing global demand of energy supplies, intense oil and gas exploration and exploitation programs have been carried out worldwide especially within the marine environments. The release of oil-derived compounds in the sea from anthropogenic sources both as effluents or accidental spill is perceived as a major environmental concern. An approach based on a combination of biomarkers and the distribution of some classes of environmentally relevant pollutants was used to investigate the occurrence of a stress syndrome in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected at three gas platforms placed in two distinct oceanographic districts within the Adriatic Sea. Biological responses were integrated by a ranking algorithm which demonstrated both a range of biological effects reflecting exposure gradients and a temporal related trend in the investigated responses. The overall results demonstrate a moderate to absent pollution from studied gas platforms with low but remarkable biological disturbance in sentinel organisms.

Trophic structure of polychaetes around an offshore gas platform.

The distribution of polychaetes associated with an offshore gas platform built on a muddy-sandy bottom in the northern Adriatic Sea was investigated with emphasis on their feeding structure. Polychaete species were collected at different distances from the rig using a Van Veen grab. Assessment of the polychaete community and trophic groups for impacts related to the presence of the platform demonstrated significantly different abundances at rising distances from the rig. The present findings highlight an effect of the rig on the spatial distribution of polychaete assemblages. Even though the effects of gas platforms on surrounding benthic communities have been investigated in the Adriatic Sea, no studies have addressed the distribution of polychaete trophic groups along a gradient based on distance from the rig.

Non-indigenous macrozoobenthic species on hard substrata of selected harbours in the adriatic sea

The intense shipping traffic characterising the Adriatic Sea favours the spread of marine organisms. Yet, a study of 12 Adriatic ports (4 on the western side and 8 on the eastern side of the basin) found that non-indigenous species (NIS) accounted for only 4% of the benthic communities settled on hard substrates. The cirripeds Amphibalanus amphitrite and Balanus trigonus, found in 8 harbours, were the most common invaders followed by Amphibalanus eburneus, the ascidian Styela plicata, and the bivalve Magallana gigas. The highest percentage of NIS was recorded in Venice and Ploče, the harbours with the least rich native communities; the lowest percentage was retrieved in Trieste, Koper, Pula, and Rijeka, the harbours hosting the highest species diversity. In contrast, the ports of Bari and Ancona showed both high NIS percentages and highly diversified communities.

Environmental Impact of Offshore Gas Activities on the Benthic Environment: A Case Study

Multidisciplinary monitoring of the impact of offshore gas platforms on northern and central Adriatic marine ecosystems has been conducted since 1998. Beginning in 2006, 4–5 year investigations spanning the period before, during, and after rig installation have explored the effects of its construction and presence on macrozoobenthic communities, sediment, water quality, pollutant bioaccumulation, and fish assemblages. In this study, sediment samples collected at increasing distance from an offshore gas platform before, during and after its construction were subjected to chemical analysis and assessment of benthic communities. Ecological indices were calculated to evaluate the ecological status of the area. Ecotoxicological analysis of sediment was performed to establish whether pollutants are transferred to biota. The study applied a before–after control-impact design to assess the effects of rig construction and presence and provide reference data on the possible impacts of any further expansion of the gas extraction industry in the already heavily exploited Adriatic Sea. Only some of the metals investigated (barium, chromium, cadmium, and zinc) showed a different spatial and/or temporal distribution that may be platform-related. In the early phases, the sediment concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were below the detection limit at all sites; they then became detectable, but without significant spatial differences. The present findings suggest that the environmental effects of offshore gas platforms may be difficult to quantify, interpret, and generalize, because they are influenced by numerous, often local, abiotic, and biotic variables in different and unpredictable ways.