Polar cod: a key species for environmental risk assessment and monitoring of oil and gas activities in the Barents Sea

Photo: Bjørn Gulliksen

Reliable environmental monitoring tools adapted for the arctic environment are required to identify and document potential impacts associated with the expansion of oil and gas industrial activities in the Barents Sea. As a consequence of the “zero discharge” policy for the Barents Sea, the main environmental issue of concern is accidental discharges caused by production or transport of petroleum products.

The ice-covered waters of the Northern and Eastern Barents Sea contain a sensitive and perhaps vulnerable flora and fauna due to specialized adaptations to Arctic environmental conditions. However for many arctic species, their life cycles, adaptations and physiological mechanisms are poorly understood, and knowledge of species sensitivity to contamination and disturbance is also fragmentary. Therefore, there is a need for data to support environmental risk and impact assessments and to validate monitoring tools on a sentinel Arctic species.