Delpeche-Ellmann, N.C., Soomere, T., 2013. Using Lagrangian models to assist in maritime management of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas

Several previous attempts to mitigate current-driven environmental risks to the nearshore via a concealed structure of surface Lagrangian transport have assumed a constant value to the entire nearshore. We extend these attempts towards more realistic accounting for the Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (MPA). We investigate the effects shifting the present fairway would have on the amount of current-driven pollutants the MPA may receive. The Rossby Centre Ocean circulation model, the TRACMASS Lagrangian trajectory model and statistical methods were employed to identify patterns of current-driven transport in the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, for the period 1987–1991. Pollution point sources were assumed to occur along the fairway. An analysis was made on how much of the pollution travelled to each of the MPA and the time frame involved. The existing fairway passes extremely close to one of the MPA. Shifting the fairway by a small distance to the south leads to a huge decrease in the amount of pollution. However deciding to shift a fairway requires several other factors to be considered, for this may also increase the risk of pollution for other MPAs or be incompatible with the national legislation.