As part of the Scapa Flow Ballast Water Management Policy the Harbour conducts comprehensive marine non-native species monitoring.
As part of the Scapa Flow Ballast Water Management Policy (available online at www.orkneyharbours.com) the Harbour conducts comprehensive marine non-native species monitoring.
There are specific designated sites within Scapa Flow which have been visited annually since 2013. Various types of samples are collected from these sites; e.g. plankton tow, sediment grab and scrape samples of biofouling using methods described in the Kakkonen et al. 2019, guide.
The samples are sent to a taxonomic laboratory for full analysis. The results are reported annually to the Orkney Marine and Environmental Protection Forum. Results are also reported to the local Orkney Biodiversity Records Centre for long term record keeping and open access.