Lagerström, M., Wrange, A.-L., Oliveira, D. R., Granhag, L., Larsson, A., & Ytreberg, E. (2021).
To combat unwanted fouling on immersed hulls, biocidal antifouling coatings are commonly applied to vessels. The Baltic Sea region is a heavily trafficked marine region, by ships and recreational boats alike. The large number of vessels in this sensitive sea area makes it environmentally relevant to minimize the use of biocidal antifouling paints. In this study, the viability of foul-release coatings (FRCs) as a replacement for biocidal coatings has been assessed for this region. To this end, the efficacy, market barriers and environmental sustainability of silicone FRCs were evaluated in comparison to conventional copper coatings. Coated panels were exposed statically over a 1-year period at three locations in the Baltic Sea region to assess the long-term performance of a biocide-free FRC and two copper coatings during worst-case conditions.
Luoma, E., Nevalainen, L., Altarriba, E., Helle, I. & Lehikoinen, A. (2021).
Ship hulls create a vector for the transportation of harmful non-indigenous species (NIS) all over the world. To sustainably prevent NIS introductions, the joint consideration of environmental, economic and social aspects in the search of optimal biofouling management strategies is needed. This article presents a multi-perspective soft systems analysis of the biofouling management problem, based on an extensive literature review and expert knowledge collected in the Baltic Sea area during 2018–2020. The resulting conceptual influence diagram (CID) reveals the multidimensionality of the problem by visualizing the causal relations between the key elements and demonstrating the entanglement of social, ecological and technical aspects. Seen as a boundary object, we suggest the CID can support open dialogue and better risk communication among stakeholders by providing an illustrative and directly applicable starting point for the discussions. It also provides a basis for quantitative management optimization in the future. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 170, 112614, ISSN 0025-326X, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X21006482
In the COMPLETE PLUS project, the contents of the Proposal for a Regional Baltic Biofouling Management Roadmap were translated into HELCOM documentation for consideration in the HELCOM framework. These contents consist of:
- Guidance/Best practice on information to be included in the Biofouling Management Plan and Biofouling Record Book;
- Guidance/Best practice on biofouling management strategies;
- Guidance/Best practice on cleaning practices for commercial shipping; and
- Guidance/Best practice for biofouling management in the leisure boating sector.
This document proposes a harmonized risk assessment procedure as basis for permissions of in-water cleaning (IWC) of ships in the Baltic Sea Region by taking into account three relevant environmental aspects of IWC: I) Risk of species introduction (biosecurity risk), II) Risk of biocide input and III) Risk of particle input. The risk assessment concept bases on experiences from the COMPLETE PLUS project but also on experiments performed in other research studies from all over the world.
 A3.3_Proposal of a risk assessment as basis for the permission of IWC of ships in the BSR_BSH.pdf | [Proposal] | 613 kB |
The aim of the COMPLETE PLUS project is to explore how the results and outputs of the earlier COMPLETE project can be implemented and operationalized to ensure their sustainable use by all relevant actors and stakeholders. Therefore, during the COMPLETE PLUS project, a series of online meetings were held for potential end-users representing different backgrounds and countries to demonstrate and use the multi-criteria decision support tool for biofouling management developed within the earlier COMPLETE project. In these meetings, the main results of the tool were presented and the feedback from the end-users considering the benefits and drawbacks of the tool and possible future development was collected. This memorandum presents the results of these on-line meetings. Based on the results, the tool is useful for increasing the comprehensive understanding about the complex biofouling issue and to study the general trends of the issue. However, a user-friendlier software is needed where the modifications are easy to make by the end-users.
| COMPLETE PLUS Memorandum multicriteria DSS for biofouling management FINAL.pdf | [Memorandum] | 545 kB |
