– Now they have to be fed! Researcher Susanna Strömberg pours a soup of freeze-dried crayfish into a tub of cold water, where specimens of the coral Lophelia pertusa are lined up. They get the same dish three times a week. Susanne Strömberg works full-time with research on corals that have been retrieved from Tislerrevet. They are fed three times a week with a liquid crayfish mixture. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news The coral research takes place at the Tjärnö marine laboratory, which is located at the very edge of the sea in the municipality of Strömstad, and is part of the University of Gothenburg. – It was researchers from here who discovered the coral reef at Hvaler in the 1990s, says project manager Ann Larsson. They are researching how the corals reproduce, in order to try to rebuild dead coral reefs on the Swedish side. Kosterhavets National Park is located here, which was created at the same time as Ytre Hvaler National Park in Norway. The condition of the coral reefs here is worse than on Hvalersiden. Project manager Ann Larsson at the Tjärnö marine laboratory in Strömstad has rows and rows of corals that they hope will contribute to restoring coral reefs. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news The Swedish researchers are allowed to collect five kilos of coral a year from Tislerrevet, which is located just outside Kirkøy and Skjærhalden in Hvaler municipality. Here there are large quantities of living coral, but also many dead ones. Larsson explains that they have received 30 million Swedish kroner from the EU Life program and the Swedish Ocean and Water Authority to research corals, and around one million is spent annually on the Norwegian side. Clear goals set on the Norwegian side In 2009, Tislerrevet became part of Ytre Hvaler National Park, which is mainly located in the sea and below the sea surface. Clear goals were then set for the conservation of what is defined as the world’s largest known inland cold-water coral reef, 1,200 meters long and 200 meters wide, located at a depth of 70 to 130 metres. Coral reefs in Norway There are two main types of coral reefs: the tropical coral reefs that live in the light in shallow water and in warm water, and the deep-living ones that can live very deep and in the dark, like we have in Norway. Coral reefs can be found all along the Norwegian coast. These reefs are among Norway’s most species-rich nature types, and are important habitats for many species of fish. The Røstrevet is the largest, it is located on the edge of the shelf outside Lofoten and is around 45 km long. Another large complex is Sularevet by Frøya. Tislerrevet in Ytre Hvaler National Park is considered the world’s largest inner reef cold-water coral reef and is 1,200 meters long and 200 meters wide. The reefs are found from the Swedish coast up to and including Finnmark, in the fjords and coastal sea areas and on the continental shelf and slope down to approx. 400 m. The corals eat live zooplankton as well as dead organic matter caught from the water with their tentacles. Source: The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research The conservation plan states that in 2021 there should be as much living coral as in 2009, and preferably more. But it has been shown that money to follow up and check whether things are going the right way is sitting deep in the Norwegian Environment Agency. National park manager Monika Olsen is frustrated that it is difficult to get funds for continuous monitoring of the important Tislerrevet. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news Monika Olsen is a national park manager in the Ytre Hvaler National Park. She says she doesn’t really know how things are down there. – No, we mapped the reef when the national park was established. And some scattered investigations have been done since. But we do not carry out any systematic monitoring of the health of the reef. We don’t get money for that, she says. But something has happened, and is happening. Several times a year, Swedish researchers are down and have a look, and on a rare occasion someone from the Institute of Marine Research comes and examines the reef. It is the systematic monitoring of the state of health of Tislerrevet Olsen is calling for. – We don’t need to do it every year, but we need to have more regular monitoring of the reef to be able to tell if it is going in the right direction, she says. The corals host other species, and create a living environment in the sea that can resemble the forest on land, say the Swedish researchers. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news Climate change and fishing Coral reefs want stable, cool temperatures in the sea and a flow of clean water to thrive. Both parts are under pressure. – Bottom sludge from the outlet of Glomma is a threat to the corals. Then there is the situation with increased sea temperature and acidification, which are the biggest threats, Olsen explains. The vulnerable reef is close to the main fairway to Fredrikstad, where there are also plans to dredge and widen the fairway so that larger ships can call at Borg harbour, one of Norway’s largest. But this is also an area of trawling for prawns, and this has in the past caused significant damage to the coral reef. A ban on trawling has been introduced in the most vulnerable coral areas in the national park, and there are discussions to extend this. Leader of the Østfold fishermen’s association, Frank Askeli, believes it is no longer right that shrimp trawling takes a heavy toll on the corals. – No, we claim that. And we have asked to examine the areas we trawl in, and how it looks there today compared to a few months ago. Then one would gain a greater understanding of whether our bottom trawling is harmful. Askeli says the shrimp fishermen today use trawl gear that goes on top of the bottom and in the water above the bottom. – Today we have technology and equipment that means we are better known on the seabed than in the center of Fredrikstad. The shrimp fishing outside the Hvalerøyene takes place with a trawl, but in a more gentle way than before, the fishermen themselves claim. Photo: Even Moland / Havforskningsinstituttet Lack of funds It is expensive to monitor coral reefs that lie deep in the sea. Far more expensive than checking the state of nature in the national parks on land. Swedish environmental authorities have realized this and prioritized it, but it does not happen on the Norwegian side, where we have far more coral reefs than in Sweden. Norway has four marine national parks, Ytre Hvaler national park we have three. – The Norwegian Environment Agency agrees that there is a need for better knowledge of the status and development of protected areas in general, not least in light of climate change. The need is greater than what we are currently able to finance from the Environment Agency’s side, writes section leader Knut Fossum to news. From 2022, it is nevertheless possible to allocate funds for the mapping of marine protected areas, and several such areas have been allocated funds in 2022.
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Ytre Hvaler National Park does not receive money for coral research – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
