Development of the science plan for the Black Sea Integrated Coastal and Shelf Zone Monitoring and Modeling (INCOM) Program

Pilot countries: USA+Turkey
Duration: started in 1999 and put into its final form in October 2000
Participants: Bulgaria, Georgia, Luxembourg, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States of America. 
Publication: CCMS Report No. 248

The primary emphasis of the plan is to carry out scientific research relevant to the study of environmental and socio-economic changes in the coastal and shelf zones of the Black Sea. It aims to answer questions for ultimate rehabilitation of the environmental degradation and its sustainable development. It is envisioned that the scientific studies described in the plan, when and if realized, will provide a unique data base on the present day conditions of the Black Sea, and assist managers, decision-makers, and the industry in the decision-making process. In this respect the INCOM program contribute to the implementation of the Black Sea Strategic Action Plan (BSSAP) by providing a scientific basis for the actions proposed by BSSAP, by helping to establish long term monitoring and forecasting capabilities, strengthening and promoting scientific research and technology transfer in the region. 

INCOM main objective is to observe, monitor and predict ecological variables that relate to exploitable living marine resources and control water quality- and ecosystem-related health issues. INCOM is concentrated particularly on the western coastal and shelf waters, which are under direct pressure of the anthropogenic-based pollution. 

In accordance with its goals, INCOM encompasses a series of sub-programs:

  • Pollution monitoring program: It focuses on biogeochemical-ecological measurements for understanding the present status and future trends in ecosystem processes (i.e. productivity, nutrient fluxes, plankton biomass, species composition, etc.), biodiversity and habitat loss and degradation, changes in community structure, and industrial organics and trace metals. The measurement program includes sampling and monitoring in "hot spots" at coastal and near-shore water, across selected transects, continuous monitoring at platforms, ship-of-opportunity measurements, drifters and satellites.
  • Interdisciplinary modeling program: It complements the monitoring program and focuses on a quantitative assessment of important processes controlling biogeochemical fluxes, evaluation of the carrying capacity of coastal ecosystem to store and transform particulate and dissolved matter, quantification's of the effects of changes in external conditions on the structure and functioning of the coastal ecosystem. In addition to budget models for estimating fluxes of water, nutrients and other material, INCOM also includes process-oriented and system-oriented modeling studies. While process models are designed to understand specific physical, chemical and biological processes, system models attempt to simulate present (nowcast) and/or future (forecast) state of the system as a whole (physical as well as biogeochemical) as realistic as possible.
  • Coastal zone management program: This program includes plans for development of a coordinated strategy for allocation of environmental, socio-cultural, and industrial resources to achieve the conservation, rehabilitation and sustainable multiple use of the coastal zone. To this end, coastal zone management program ultimately seeks to improve the state of coastal environment. 
  • Fish stock assessment program: It is designed for the purpose of partially meeting the needs of the governments in their efforts to increase the contribution of fisheries to their national economies. The main thrust of the program is the development of proper methodology and continuous monitoring capabilities, including training of personnel, for acquisition of accurate data and information on fish stocks, for assessment of possible levels of these stocks and environment conditions affecting the stocks.
  • Oil spill monitoring and control program: The risks involved in transporting oil, together with poor state of preparedness of the Black Sea countries to coup with possible catastrophic accidents are a major environmental concern, demanding further scientific studies in the Black Sea. This program considers carrying out further work on establishment of a regional oil spill response mechanism and of a well-designed regional oil contingency plan.
  • Data base management program: This supplementary program is designed to establish an integrated, international database which is flexible enough for users to locate and recover the information they require in the form of more user-oriented products, to increase quality of data products by better utilization of existing data and implementing advanced data quality control and validation systems, to decrease production costs by sharing the workload, to secure archival methods that retain the value of historical data, and to establish links to other data- and modeling centers for retrieval of boundary and forcing fields.

Participating Black Sea research Institutions

  • The Marine Hydrophysical Institute of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine. 
  • The Institute of Biology of Southern Seas of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine.
  • The Ukrainian Scientific Centre of the Ecology of Sea (UkrSCES), Ukraine. 
  • The Southern Production Association for Marine Geological Operations (Yuzhmorgeologiya) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Russia.
  • The Azov Research Institute of Fisheries of the Russian Federation State Committee for fisheries, Russia.
  • The P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russian Federation), Russia. 
  • The Southern Branch of the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia. 
  • Centre "Dynamics of the Near-shore Zone", established by Moscow State University, Moscow Physical- Technical Institute, RAS, and Russian Foundation of Basic Research, Russia.
  • The Romanian Marine Research Institute, Romania. 
  • The Institute of Oceanology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria.
  • The Central Laboratory of General Ecology, Bulgaria.
  • The oceanographic research Center of the Tbilisi State University (Faculty of Geography and Geology), Georgia. 
  • The Institute of Marine Sciences of the Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

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