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ECOPREST: Impact assessment of the Prestige oil spill on continental shelf ecosystems and its fishing resources.

Type of Entry: Project
Duration: 01/01/2003 - 01/12/2006
Description: The Prestige oil spill has affected the Galician and Cantabrian sea shelf communities through direct effects (mortality, sublethal effects), changes in the trophic structure (bottom–up and top-down effects) and indirect effects (mainly due to the close of the fisheries in the area). This project addresses the assessment of the impact on the fishing resources from an ecological viewpoint and with a cross-disciplinary approach. The main aspects studied are: the oil persistence on the substratum and how it affects the sediments and their dynamics; the assessment of the impact on supra-, epi- and endobenthic ecosystems and on the upper trophic levels through the trophic web; the impact on the species biology and the fishing resources, paying special attention to the effect on growth and reproduction of commercial species, and finally the results of all these factors on the fisheries. All this information will be integrated in a trophodynamic model to understand the oil spill impact on the shelf ecosystems dynamics, structure and quality.
Keywords: Benthic fauna, Environmental assessment, Fish, Oil and gas extraction, Pollution (beach and water)
Contact: Francisco Saborido-Rey
Institute of Marine Research- Vigo / Instituto de Investigacións Marinas- Vigo (IIM)
Eduardo Cabello, 6
36208 Vigo
SPAIN
Telephone: +34 986214466
E-Mail: fran@iim.csic.es
Website: www.iim.csic.es
Partner: Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas de Vigo (www.iim.csic.es)
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar de Barcelona (www.icm.csic.es)
Instituto Mediterráneo de estudios avanzados (www.imedea.uib.es)
Financed by: Spanish Ministry of Science and Education