Service contracts—An instrument of international logistics supply chain: Under United States and European Union regulatory frameworks

Service contracts have emerged as an important instrument to secure a long-term relationship between carriers in the container shipping industry and shippers requiring scheduled services covering a global market. This contract, entered into largely on an individual and confidential basis, continues to enjoy anti-trust immunity under current United States and European Union regulations. It will continue to be in place even after the EC Council Regulation 4056/86 is repealed in October 2008 although it may operate in a modified way because of the absence of the common external conference tariff. This article examines the implications of this instrument on the international supply chain and explores its future role in defining efficiencies in international trade flows.     

Coastal morphometry as regulator of water exchange—a Swedish example

This is a paper from the Swedish research project ‘The coastal zone—scientific criteria for planners’. The goal has been to establish simple, general scientific methods for management of Swedish coastal waters. In this paper the focus is on a set of empirical data from 21 so-called type areas and on the exchange of surface water. The working hypothesis has been that the water retention (or residence) time is regulated by the morphometry. The theory has been verified. It has been shown that the water retention time can be determined from a formula based on only two key morphometric parameters, the exposure and the mean coastal width. It provides an 86% degree of explanation (r²=0·86) of the variation in empirically determined retention times and can be physically linked to the basic mass balance equation. The formula is valid for the bioproductive season (May–Oct.) and for small (1–100 km²) Swedish coastal areas. It cannot be directly applied to areas affected by heavy tides.     

Towards a ‘new form of governance’ in science-policy relations in the European Maritime Policy

This article seeks to identify the key principles that should guide the definition of the mandate and institutional structure for acquiring scientific advice in support of the European Maritime Policy. The EU has stated that, as concerns the Maritime Policy, the relations between science and policy ought to reflect a ‘new form of governance’. Far from being an easy task, however, the EU has observed that there are problems of credibility and legitimacy in the relations between science and society (including policymakers), which first need to be overcome. Against this background, the article draws on some of the newest conceptual and empirical research on science-policy relations, which has sought to analyse and ultimately provide frameworks for overcoming such challenges. On this basis, the article investigates the principles that need to be applied to constitute a ‘new form of governance’ as a means of paving the way toward a more credible and legitimate use of scientific data, information and knowledge within policymaking and implementation processes.     

Ocean governance in post-modern society—a geographical perspective

The contradiction between the claim for integrated management of the coastal areas by the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, 1992), on the one hand, and the persistence of analytical epistemological approaches by the scientific community on the other, is discussed. In this context, it is emphasised how the modern approach led to the desegregation of the ocean into two realms, namely the coastal ocean subject to national jurisdiction, and the international ocean, making it difficult to design and operate integrated management. Moreover, the international ocean is vertically subdivided into two realms, namely the water column, having the status of res nullius, and the deep seabed, claimed as patrimony of mankind; hence the increasing difficulty in operating the protection of the ocean ecosystem and the efficient use of its resources while the human pressure on the ocean is growing without precedent. A positive feedback is needed between science and policy, the former being encouraged to overcome the analytical, modern approach; the latter being keen to consider the long term humankind-sensitive interest above the national interests. The role of geography in contributing to these prospects is discussed in the final part.     

Water exchange of the Stockholm archipelago—a cascade framework modelling approach

The Stockholm archipelago spans roughly a semicircular area with a radius of approximately 60 km, traditionally partitioned into three parts: the inner, the middle and the outer archipelago. This subdivision coincides with differing water exchange regimes. The inner and middle archipelagos are characterised by comparatively larger basins which are interconnected by a limited number of straits. This configuration is well suited for a discrete basin (DB-) model approach by partitioning the area into a set of sub-basins that are only resolved vertically. The advantage of this approach over 3D-models is the possibility for enhanced vertical resolution and improved strait exchange formulation, outweighing the disadvantage of neglected horizontal gradients within the basins. In the inner archipelago the dominating exchange process is estuarine circulation, induced by the marked freshwater discharge and the vertical mixing. In the outer and middle archipelagos the density fluctuations due to Ekman pumping along the Baltic boundary interface produce another type of baroclinic process that clearly dominates. Measurements to adequately resolve these density variations do not exist. Missing forcing data are provided by linking the middle archipelago's boundary straits to a 3D-model of the Baltic with a grid resolution of 0.5 nautical miles (n.m.). This fine resolution model (FR-domain) is in turn driven by the atmospheric forcing and the density variation at the rectangular boundary of the FR-domain which acceptably resolves both the interfacial straits and the outer archipelago's complex hypsography. Massive computing resources would be demanded if the FR-domain were extended to comprise the entire Baltic. The FR-domain is thus interfaced with an existing coarse resolution model of the entire Baltic (CR-domain) with a grid size of 5 n.m., the open boundary of which is located in the Kattegat. This 3-fold model set-up has been run for one whole year (1992) with a one-year spin-up time to make up for the lack of initial data. The model concept is at this stage to be regarded as a framework for further development in anticipation of improved formulations, particularly for the strait exchange formulation. Therefore only primary validation experiments and a few sensitivity analyses have been performed.     

新世纪大洋钻探"三角鼎立"中的欧洲联合体

欧洲为了与美国、日本在IODP中处于同等重要的地位，成立了由ODP成员参加的欧洲大洋钻探科学指导委员会（ESCOD）和JEODI组织，并开展了IODP之前的一系列准备活动。在其中的APLACON会议上，论证了IODP中第三类特定钻探平台的必要性，讨论了该类平台在某些研究范围内的重要作用，包括研究地球历史中的极端气候（北极海区）、重建白垩纪－第三纪的水文地理学、气候的快速变化、沉积盆地形成与过程以及固体地球过程等。     

The European Marine Strategy: Contribution and challenges from a Portuguese perspective

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is considered to be the environmental pillar of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy, establishing a framework within which member states must take the necessary measures to achieve, or maintain, good environmental status in their marine waters. This study presents Portugal's contributions to the Directive development, describes the Portuguese institutional framework within the MSFD and, finally, highlights the opportunities and threats to the success of the MSFD implementation in Portugal. The latter entails an analysis of the Directive's long term adequacy in its link to (1) marine spatial planning, (2) climate change and (3) the economic/financial crisis. With one of Europe's largest exclusive economic zones. Portugal's interest in the MSFD is paramount. Efforts towards the approval of the final document were assured during the Portuguese presidency of the European Council of Ministers, in 2007, while chairing a thorough discussion between the Council and the European Parliament. In the Portuguese context, the Directive implementation will rely on the Water Institute as the authoritative entity, which will be responsible for coordinating all necessary efforts at the national level. The success of such process depends on a close cooperation among the institutions involved as well as on how approved measures account for long term issues. In addition, the MSFD implementation must be built on lessons learned within the Water Framework Directive, in order to be successful. Although it poses a methodological challenge to Portugal, the MSFD implementation is expected to contribute significantly to the improvement of coastal/marine conservation and management at the national level.     

Ocean governance and maritime security in a placeful environment: The case of the European Union

Adopting a critical geopolitics approach that accounts for the mutually reinforcing link between geo-informed narratives and projection practices, this article proposes that ocean governance and maritime security have translated into states' and regional organisations' increasing control over maritime spaces. This leads to a certain territorialisation of the sea, not so much from a sovereignty and jurisdictional perspective but from a functional and normative perspective. The article starts by discussing the ways oceans have been represented and shows that they are far from a placeless void, both in practice and in discourse. The article then frames the analysis of ocean governance and maritime security within critical geopolitics, and elaborates on the case of the European Union's narrative and practice. It concludes on the mutually reinforcing link between discourse and practice in the field of ocean governance and maritime security in general, and on the consequences for the EU in particular. Scholars working on ocean governance and maritime security are encouraged to challenge the traditional view that oceans are placeless.     

The European vision for oceans and seas—Social and political dimensions of the Green Paper on Maritime Policy for the EU

The EU Green Paper on Maritime Policy is the European response to the new generation of ocean strategies based on science, technology and innovation aimed at new objectives, such as the strengthening of security and access to new resources. The European character of the proposal is found in the presence of social, cultural and historical elements, what is called the “European vision”. The viability of a European vision of the oceans and the idea of maritime empire as an extension of the current concept of empire within the general context of emerging ocean strategies are the elements offered up for debate on this European Union initiative.     

Response of the Baltic Sea to climate change—theory and observations

The dynamics controlling the response of the Baltic Sea to changed atmospheric and hydrologic forcing are reviewed and demonstrated using simple models. The response time for salt is 30 times longer than for heat in the Baltic Sea. In the course of a year, the Baltic Sea renews most of its heat but only about 3% of its salt. On the seasonal scale, surface temperature and ice-coverage are controlled by the atmospheric conditions over the Baltic Sea as demonstrated by e.g. the strong inter-annual variations in winter temperature and ice-coverage due to variations in dominating wind directions causing alternating mild and cold winters. The response of surface temperature and ice-coverage in the Baltic Sea to modest climate change may therefore be predicted using existing statistics. Due to the long response time in combination with complicated dynamics, the response of the salinity of the Baltic Sea cannot be predicted using existing statistics but has to be computed from mechanistic models. Salinity changes primarily through changes in the two major forcing factors: the supply of freshwater and the low-frequency sea level fluctuations in the Kattegat. The sensitivity of Baltic Sea salinity to changed freshwater supply is investigated using a simple mechanistic steady-state model that includes baroclinic geostrophic outflow from the Kattegat, the major dynamical factor controlling the freshwater content in the Kattegat and thereby the salinity of water flowing into the Baltic Sea. The computed sensitivity of Baltic Sea surface salinity to changes of freshwater supply is similar to earlier published estimates from time-dependent dynamical models with higher resolution. According to the model, the Baltic Sea would become fresh at a mean freshwater supply of about 60 000 m³ s⁻¹, i.e. a 300% increase of the contemporary supply. If the freshwater supply in the different basins increased in proportion to the present-day supply, the Bothnian Bay would become fresh already at a freshwater supply of about 37 000 m³ s⁻¹ and the Bothnian Sea at a supply of about 45 000 m³ s⁻¹. The assumption of baroclinic geostrophic outflow from the Kattegat, crucial for the salinity response of the Baltic Sea to changed freshwater supply, is validated using daily salinity profiles for the period 1931–1977 from lightship Läsö Nord.     

A regional analysis of new production on the northwest European shelf using oxygen fluxes and a ship-of-opportunity

Seasonal new production (g C m⁻²) estimates obtained from dissolved oxygen and nitrate concentrations in surface waters (5 m depth) along a track between the UK (Portsmouth) and northern Spain (Bilbao) are compared. An oxygen flux method, in combination with a ship of opportunity (SOO), was tested on the northwest European shelf for its value in distinguishing high production in frontal regions. Dissolved oxygen, nitrate and chlorophyll a samples were collected monthly from February to July 2004, alongside continuous autonomous measurements of salinity, temperature and chlorophyll fluorescence. Depth integrated new production estimates for all the individually analysed hydrographic regions of the route were produced.Results from three widely used gas-exchange parameterizations gave seasonal (February–July) new production estimates of 54–68 g C m⁻² for the Ushant region of the western English Channel and 31–40 g C m⁻² for the shelf slope, averaging 24–31 g C m⁻² for the route. This is double the route average obtained using the nitrate assimilation method (17 g C m⁻²) and within the ranges of previous estimates in the same region. The oxygen flux method gave a fivefold enhancement compared to the nitrate method in the Ushant frontal region and a threefold enhancement in the English Channel and shelf break regions. Determining oxygen fluxes to estimate new production may be more reliable than nitrate assimilation in active tidal or frontal regions of shelves where nitrate may be added to the system post-winter through advection or entrainment.     

Multi-stakeholder perspectives on the use and influence of “grey” scientific information in fisheries management

Scientific information on the shrimp and groundfish resources of the Brazil–Guianas continental shelf has been produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), in collaboration with the national governments exploiting the resources, since the early 1970s. In spite of the availability of such information, largely as grey literature, there is limited evidence as to the extent it is being used in fisheries management in Trinidad and Tobago. The flow of information between multiple stakeholders − fishing industry, scientists, fisheries managers, policy makers, and fisheries advisory bodies − was studied based on responses to a survey of key individuals to document each of their roles in the creation, distribution, and use of fisheries information. Content analysis of responses was completed to determine the opportunities and barriers for using scientific information in fisheries management. Salience, credibility, and legitimacy of the information were shadowed by barriers that decreased these attributes. Knowledge about the fishery has increased and technical capabilities have been strengthened through research. At the same time, advances in digital technology have made information more accessible. Yet, the high technical content of fisheries information reduced its usefulness to some stakeholders and formal systems do not exist for distributing or measuring the use and influence of such information in decision making. Communication strategies to promote awareness of the scientific information and aligning scientific information with fisheries policy could increase its use and influence. Institutional support for partnerships and education to encourage stakeholder involvement could also facilitate increased influence of scientific information.     

Local community training and education in southern Tanzania—a case study

Local coastal communities are highly dependent upon the marine environment not only for protein but also as a primary source of income. In addition, there are growing economic opportunities offered within the coastal zone. As populations increase in these areas there is an increasing demand on coastal resources. This in turn requires effective management initiatives at regional, national and local levels.The Marine Education and Training Programme in Mtwara, southern Tanzania was a small scale capacity building project that incorporated two elements; a primary schools field day education programme and a marine coastal resources course for fishermen and women from the Mtwara District. The programme ran for a period of 1 year and during that time 14 schools, 198 children, 34 fishermen, 2 women and 14 villages participated. Results from preliminary evaluation indicated that such education is not only welcome by the local government offices, teachers, village chairmen and fishermen as an expansion of the knowledge base, but is also an important and valuable stepping stone for the local communities to become active in issues regarding the management of coastal resources.     

Incentivising selective fishing under a policy to ban discards; lessons from European and global fisheries

The reduction of discards in European fisheries has been identified as a specific objective of the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. To reduce the uncertainty in catch data and the socially unacceptable waste of resources that results from the disposal of catch at sea, a policy to ban discards has been proposed. Discard bans are currently implemented in Alaska, British Columbia, New Zealand, the Faroe Islands, Norway and Iceland. Experience from these countries highlights that a policy of mandatory landings can result in a reduction in discards, but relies upon a high level of surveillance or economic incentives to encourage fishers to land more of their catch. Discard bans will also not result in long term benefits to stocks unless total removals are reduced, through the avoidance of undersized, non-commercial or over quota catch. Experience shows that additional management measures are required to incentivise such a move towards more selective fishing. Success has resulted from the use of area closures and bycatch limits, with potential applications in EU fisheries. However, selective fishing will not be a panacea for the current state of European fisheries; discard bans and accompanying measures must be embedded in a wider management system that constrains fishing mortality to reasonable levels before sustainable exploitation can occur.     

Design of a prototype ocean current turbine—Part I: mathematical modeling and dynamics simulation

The “C-Plane” is a submerged variable depth ocean current turbine that is tethered to the sea floor and uses sustained ocean currents to produce electricity. As part of the development of a $\frac{1}{30}$th scale physical model of the C-Plane, a mathematical model and dynamics simulation of the prototype was developed and is presented in this paper. This three-dimensional mathematical model represents the C-Plane as a rigid body with moveable control surfaces that is moored with three linear elastic cable elements. Gravitational, buoyancy, hydrodynamic, cable, gyroscopic, and inertial forces are included and a PC-based dynamics simulation is created. The simulation demonstrates that the C-Plane is stable and capable of changing depth in all expected operating conditions. The C-Plane prototype can fly level from a height of 3 to 6 m using the configuration suggested in this paper. The maximum ascent rates of the C-Plane with a water speed of 0.3 m/s are 0.015 m/s when the pitch is fixed at 0° and 0.030 m/s when the pitch is fixed at 4°. The maximum descent rates of the C-Plane are 0.018 m/s when the pitch is held at 0° and 0.031 m/s if the pitch is held at −4°.     

Benthic macrofauna and productivity regimes in the Barents Sea — Ecological implications in a changing Arctic

Benthic faunal assemblages were analysed from 47 stations in the central and southern parts of the Barents Sea, together with sedimentary and water column parameters, daily ice records and modelled integrated primary productivity. Sampling spanned areas influenced by Atlantic Water (AW) to those lying under Arctic Water (ArW), and included stations with mixed water masses. Ice cover suppressed water column productivity in the northern areas. Three main faunal groups were identified, based on similarity of numerical faunal composition. The northern and southern faunal groups were separated by the northernmost penetration of AW in the bottom water and the third group, the Hopen group, was influenced by modified bank water. Faunal abundances were significantly higher within the southern faunal group relative to the northern group, but the numbers of taxa present were similar. The particularly rich fauna of the Hopen group reflected sediment heterogeneity and tight pelagic–benthic coupling. These results suggest that a retreat and thinning of the ice cover in the Barents Sea likely will result in the northern parts of the Barents Sea becoming more Atlantic in character, with a higher productivity at the sea floor.     

Measurement and evaluation of the hydrodynamics and secondary currents in and near a strait connecting large water bodies—A field study

The straits connect two large water bodies show highly strong and stratified currents related to meteorological, morphological and hydrodynamic conditions. In some cases, spatial and temporal changes of the stratified currents and their thickness, direction and magnitude are so complex. This complexity directly affects the circulation pattern in the region, water exchange between both ends of the straits and migration of fish species. In order to understand general characteristics of this kind of straits and identifying the complexity of the hydrodynamics of the region and evaluate the secondary currents and recirculation need long term, intensive, field work and measurement studies. As an example of this kind of hydrodynamically complex straits, Bosphorus strait is selected for a field study. The Bosphorus strait has a strongly stratified two-layer system and a unique case of the maximal exchange regime typical of strait flows, which is largely determined by conditions at the Black Sea. Although the Bosphorus strait has distinct two-layer stratification with an associated two-layer system exchange, no continuous current measurements have been made so far, previous measurements all having been random sampling.In this paper, a detailed measurement program has been applied to Bosphorus strait. In the measurement program, a short-term current profile measurement at selected locations at southern part of the strait has been conveyed. Additionally a long-term measurement of current profile has been performed at a selected critical location (in front of the Dolmabahçe Palace) where a recirculation flow exists in the strait. The scope of this paper is to present the techniques and the results of analysis of measurement data. In the measurements the current profile (magnitude and direction) has been determined at every 1 m depth intervals from the surface to the sea bottom at 3 min duration at every hour. Measurements provide that lower-layer flows in northward direction from the Sea of Marmara towards the Black Sea, whereas the upper-layer flow comes from the Black Sea and flows towards the Sea of Marmara in the opposite direction of lower layer. The Bosphorus strait exhibits distinctive features associated with variations in its width and depth. The meandering features of Bosphorus also cause recirculation flows. These results of measurements are presented, discussed and compared with previous studies.