LivingLab West & Kattegatt-Skagerrak

Area characteristics

Ecosystem: The area is characterized by its extensive archipelago, oceanic salinity, generally well-oxygenated bottom-water and very high benthic and pelagic biodiversity as well as a complexity of food-webs. This is due to the area’s connectivity to the North Sea and the Atlantic, contributing to large biodiversity through dispersal of (1) deep-sea species; (2) shallow-water and pelagic species through coastal and oceanic currents; and (3) populations of marine sea-birds from the North Sea. Despite present and emerging environmental problems and user-conflicts, this area has generally been classified as the Swedish region having the best environmental status (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) as well as ecological status (Water Framework Directive). The area hosts Sweden’s only marine national park (Kosterhavet, bordering the Norwegian national park Hvaler) and substantial parts of the Swedish contribution to the Habitats Directive Natura 2000-network of protected areas.

Economy and users: There are numerous overlapping interest such as shipping, energy production, pipelines/cables, fisheries, recreational interests and conservation values. Ships bunker fuel here both at port and out at sea and the main part of Sweden´s fishing fleet is located and operating from here. Vessels from Norway, Denmark and Germany also fish here on EU agreements. Port of Gothenburg is by far Scandinavia’s largest industrial port and many shipping companies and related businesses has their base for operations here. In many ways, this sea is the “gateway” to the other ocean basins.

Society and governance: The West coast hosts both Sweden’s second largest city as well as rural coastal areas, the latter often with very high seasonality in population. The area features governance innovation and experiments with integrative and participatory character such as collaboration plans for coastal sustainability and conservation, coastal planning and integrated coastal zone management in the Gothenburg region and Northern Bohuslän. In northern Bohuslän a unique cooperative model for fisheries regulation has been accomplished by the “Koster-Väderöfjord agreement” and Co-management Norra Bohuslän (Cedergren et al. 2020, Piriz, 2004 and 2005). Moreover, the municipalities in the area were the first in Sweden to carry out extensive physical planning of their ocean space. The closeness to Norway and Kosterhavets National park’s “sister” park of Hvaler has sparked numerous cross border collaboration projects. The Boarder Committee of Svinesund (a border committee under the Nordic Council of Ministers) has taken a particular interest in the blue economy and its possibilities as a cross border growing business-sector (Lundgren et al 2020). Although many human activities occur along the coastline, it is for example common for recreational sailors to cross over to Denmark via Kattegat or to Norway via Skagerrak and many coastal people and tourists have a relation also to the open sea.

Issues: Conflict of goals between conservation of biodiversity and both old and emerging blue sectors, as well as between fisheries and the emerging offshore wind power sector. Keeping the relatively high environmental status at the same time as the blue economy is growing. This includes looking at the land-sea interactions to analyze how infrastructure on land affects the possibilities of development in the offshore zone. Strong ocean currents and rapid bio-fouling means that data acquisition is especially challenging. Currents also cause a massive occurrence of marine litter in the area.

Area stakeholders

Public sector:   County Administrative Board Västra Götaland and Koster Sea National Park, Region Västra Götaland, City of Gothenburg,, Sotenäs Municipality and Symbiosis Center, Fiskekommunerna, Svinesundskommittén, 8-Fjords, OSPAR, SwAM, SEPA, SMA, Svenska kraftnät, Geological Survey of Sweden

Private sector: Fisheries Co-Management North Bohuslän, Sweden Pelagic federation, SeaTwirl AB, Hitachi Energy, Vinga Konstruktion AB Bottenlusen, LifeFinder Systems International AB, Sensative, Ecobarge Sweden AB, Clinton Marine Survey AB, Terntank, Cetasol AB, Zephyr Renewable AB, Inocean AB, Combine AB, Mooringo AB

Civil society:   Sportfiskarna, Gullmarn secondary school, Koster Seafloor Observatory, Sailing4Science, The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC), WWF, Keep Sweden Tidy, Strandstädarna

Academia:        SIME, IHE, UGOT, Lighthouse (Chalmers), SWPTC (Chalmers)

LivingLab objectives

Scientific – ecosystem & climate: Improved understanding on the effect of fisheries and offshore wind farms on biodiversity based on additional/new data sources.

Technological: Improved offshore data coverage, by expanding both acquisition and uptake of data from robots, ships-of-opportunity and offshore installations. Expanded usage of methods critical for biodiversity (e.g., eDNA, image analysis by AI). Effective socio-ecological models and digital twins.

Governance & adaptive mgt: Incorporating socio-ecological models and digital twins in local and regional governance. Develop mechanisms for high stakeholder involvement and acceptance for resolving competition between fisheries, offshore wind power and conservation.