The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

Seabird hunting is widespread and intensive in West Greenland and some of
the seabird populations have been declining, mainly due to unsustainable
harvest. In particular, common eider and thick-billed murre colonies in and
near the assessment area have decreased in numbers over the past decades.
Both species rely on a high adult survival rate, giving the adult birds many
seasons to reproduce. Tighter hunting regulations were introduced in 2001,
which has resulted in fewer birds being reported shot. The common eider
population has been recovering since 2001 (Merkel 2010a), while the murre
population is still decreasing in several of the colonies in West Greenland.
Extra mortality due to an oil spill or sublethal effects caused by contamination
from petroleum activities have the potential to be additive to the hunting
impact and thereby enhance the population decline (Mosbech 2002).
Within the assessment area the breeding colonies of thick-billed murres have
declined considerably. Thick-billed murres are particularly vulnerable during
the swimming migration, which is performed by flightless adults (due to
moult) and chicks still not able to fly. This migration was studied in the Disko
Bay in 2005 and 2006, and similar studies have been initiated in Qaanaaq
in 2007.
10.3.7 Mitigating impacts from development and production
Based on previous experience, e.g. from the North Sea, the Arctic Council
guidelines (PAME 2009) recommend that discharges are as far as possible
prevented. When water-based muds are employed, additives containing oil,
heavy metals, or other bioaccumulating substances should be avoided or criteria
for the maximum concentrations should be established (PAME 2009).
Only chemicals registered in HOCNF and the Danish product register PRO-
BAS should be allowed, and only those which are classified by OSPAR as
‘green’ (PLONOR) or ‘yellow’. Moreover, wherever possible, ‘zero discharge
of drilling waste and produced water’ should be applied. This can be obtained
by application of new technologies, such as injection and cuttings reinjections
(CRI). In the Arctic offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines it is requested
that ‘discharge (of drilling waste) to the marine environment should be considered
only where zero discharge technology or re-injection are not feasible’
(PAME 2009).
If zero-discharge is not possible, releases to the marine environment asca
minimum should follow the standards described by OSPAR, applying
sound environmental management based on the Precautionary Principle,
Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Environmental Practice (BEP).
Based on knowledge concerning site-specific biological, oceanographic and
sea-ice conditions, discharges should occur at or near the seafloor or at a
suitable depth in the water column, to prevent large sediment plumes. Such
plumes have the potential to affect benthic organisms, plankton and productivity
and may also impact higher trophic levels such as fish and mammals.
The discharges should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
In the Barents Sea of Norway cuttings and drilling muds are not discharged
(except top hole drilling, which usually is carried out with sea water as drilling
fluid) due to environmental concerns; instead they are re-injected in
wells or brought to land (Anon 2003b): This, however, gives rise to increased
emissions to air from transport and pumping.
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