Monitoring programes < Research < Products < Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture

Monitoring programes

The monitoring of pollutants in the seafood from Iceland

8-Monitoring_programes-(P)-Jellyfish-(copyright-Erlendur_B)

Jellyfish

^{Photo: Erlendur Bogason}

8-Research_&_8-Monitoring_programes-(P)-From_the_Lab_3-(copyright-Matis)

From the lab

^{Photo: Matís}

In 2003 the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture launched an extensive monitoring project called Undesirable substances in Icelandic seafood and seafood products. In this monitoring programme, various undesirable substances in the edible part of marine catches, as well as in fish meal and fish oil for feed are investigated. The project includes measurements of many marine species from the Icelandic fishing grounds. The substances investigated in this monitoring project are: trace metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, total arsenic and other trace elements), PAHs, polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins and dibenzo furans (commonly called dioxins), dioxin-like PCBs, marker PCBs, polybrominated flame retardants (PBDEs), organotins and 29 pesticides and breakdown products (HCB, DDTs, HCHs, dieldrin, endrin, chlordanes, toxaphenes, endosulfan substances and mirex).

The purpose of this work is to gather information and evaluate the status of Icelandic seafood products in terms of undesirable substances in relation to the maximum limits set by the EU. The Data obtained is summerized in annual reports that can be found on the Matís website.

The monitoring of pollutants in the Arctic marine environment

In 1989, the Government of Iceland appointed a working group of scientists and government officials to organize and establish an overview of the state of the fishing grounds in Iceland, with respect to polluting substances and other trace substances in the ocean itself, in sediment and in selected organisms. This concerted action brought together a group of experts from the Ministry for the Environment and various research institutes in Iceland. The working group undertook to fulfil Iceland's commitment to the Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme of the OSPAR Convention and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Since 1994 the group has been referred to in Iceland as the AMSUM group.

The reports of the working group were published in 1995 and again in 1999 with extensive data. The reports (in Icelandic) are published by the Ministry for the Environment.

Overall conclusions of the study of Icelandic waters and seafood were the following:

Polluting substances are detected at very low levels only.
Traces of heavy metals are thought to occur from natural sources, such as volcanic activities.
Radionuclides occur at very low levels only.
Persistent organic pollutants are at very low levels in Icelandic waters

OSPAR Convention

Iceland was a founding member of three international conventions for the protection of the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic. The Oslo Convention for the prevention of dumping of wastes at sea from ships and aircraft was established in 1972 and the Paris Convention for the prevention of marine pollution from land based sources dates back to 1974. In 1992, these two conventions were revised and combined in the new OSPAR Convention which became operational in March 1998.

One of the functions of the OSPAR Convention is to coordinate and operate the Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme (JAMP) for substances which may pollute the ocean and its ecosystem. Results of the JAMP may then be used as a basis for realistic plans of action in pollution control. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) recommends guidelines on technical aspects and handles data on marine contaminants for the OSPAR Commission. This work appears in the annual report of the ICES Advisory Committee on the Marine Environment.

AMAP

Iceland is also a founding member of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) which was established in 1991 and is one of the working groups under the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy established by the Arctic Council. The aim is to monitor the levels and assess the effects of certain pollutants in all areas of the Arctic.

In 1999, AMAP published an extensive review of its findings. Among its main conclusions are:

"In comparison with most other areas of the world, the Arctic remains a clean environment. However, for some pollutants, combinations of different factors give rise to concern in certain ecosystems and for some human populations".

Concerns are expressed for the potential contamination by substances such as:

persistent organic pollutants (POPs) where the main contaminants of concern are organochlorine pesticides, such as HCH, industrial chemicals, such as PCBs and combustion products, such as chlorinated dioxins/furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
radionuclides,
heavy metals

It is concluded that regulatory actions in Europe and North America are reducing the sources of some POPs, heavy metals, sulfur and nitrogen contaminants. In general, the levels of POPs cannot be related to known use and/or releases from potential sources from within the Arctic and can only be explained by long-range transport from lower latitudes. The presence of radionuclides, on the other hand, is traced back to nuclear weapon testing (1950-1980), releases from European nuclear reprocessing plants and accidental fallout in 1986. The presence of heavy metals is chiefly traced to industrial sources.

The report also describes the major contaminant pathways, i.e. transport by air, rivers and ocean currents. Air is a most significant pathway for the transport of POPs and radionuclides from lower latitudes, ocean waters are the storage medium for water soluble POPs and radionuclides are carried by the powerful currents which are a part of the transport of water in the oceans of the world.