Bi-Establishing an international collaboration to investigate the impacts of drill cuttings and waterbased drilling fluids on marine sponges

Currently, three sponge experts work in Norway, they include: Dr Hans Tore Rapp (University of Bergen), Dr Raymond Bannister (SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture), and Dr Friederike Hoffmann (Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology). Collectiv ely, they have experience in sponge cultivation and measuring physiological, molecular and ecological responses of sponges to environmental changes. To get a broader perspective of the impacts of drill cuttings and drilling fluids on deep-sea sponges, it is necessary to incorporate international and additional national experts. These experts should have expertise in deep-sea sponges, molecular/microbial techniques with marine organisms or knowledge regarding the impact of oil drilling activities to marine habitats. Therefore, this project establishment support will facilitate the development of a consortium of experts from Canada and Norway to investigate the impact of oil drilling activities on sponges. This will be achieved by inviting selected researc hers from Canada and Norway to attend a two-day workshop held jointly by SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture and the International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS) in Trondheim. The workshop will drive discussions on the potential impacts of drill cutt ings and drilling fluids on sponges. It will focus on the type of exposures sponges will likely encounter and the responses of sponges to these exposures. This workshop will facilitate knowledge and skill transfer to increase the scientific competence in Norway in regard to deep-sea sponges and the impact of drill cuttings and drilling fluids. At the conclusion of the workshop, one research scientist at SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture (Dr Raymond Bannister) will collate the research ideas presented and w rite a formal research proposal. This proposal will be submitted to the HAVKYST research program under the "long-term effects of discharges to the sea from petroleum-related activities" sub-programme in June 2009.