International Harmonisation of Approaches to Define Underwater Noise Exposure Criteria

The potential negative effects of high levels of underwater sound on marine life have been identified and acknowledged, and this issue has been incorporated in various international agreements over the past decade. Several countries have already issued regulation to limit the incidence and level of anthropogenic noise in the oceans. The development of regulations of noise exposure in marine environments has, to date, focused on two groups - marine mammals and fishes. In the absence of sufficient data and a comprehensive understanding of all relevant dose-response functions, existing regulations are based on extrapolation from the limited amount of available data, expert judgement, precautionary approach or a mix thereof.

Nevertheless, our understanding of the complexity of acoustic and behavioural effects improves rapidly. And,  in light of new data that will certainly also be presented at the AN2013 conference in Budapest, it may be possible to take the existing noise exposure criteria a step further. More importantly, new regulation, or at least the approaches taken, could be internationally harmonized to provide a better protection of the marine fauna.

This workshop aims to provide:

• Science input for the regulations, i.e. harmonizing methods and threshold values to assess impact ranges for the effects of anthropogenic sound sources on marine life (Lucke 2013)