Standards on Marine Biological Investigation

Published standards:EN ISO 16665 Water quality - Guidelines for quantitative sampling and sample processing of marine soft-bottom macrofauna (2005)EN ISO 5667-19 Water quality - Sampling - Part 19: Guidance on sampling in marine sediments (2004)

Drafts:prEN ISO 19493 Water quality - Guidance on marine biological surveys of littoral and sublittoral hard bottomprEN 15204 Water quality - Guidance standard for the routine analysis of phytoplankton abundance and composition using inverted microscopy (Utermöhl technique)

EN ISO 16665 - Soft-bottom macrofauna

• Guidelines describe quantitative surveys of sublittoral soft-bottom fauna in coastal areas and on the shelf.

• all areas of a floor where is possible to collect samples by grab (or box core) are considered as soft bottom

• limited to sampling (and analysis) of macrofauna which retained on a 0,5 mm to 1,0 mm mesh screen

EN ISO 5667-19 Sampling in marine sediments

Guidance for the sampling of sediments in marine areas for analyses of their physical and chemical properties for monitoring purposes and environmental assessments. It encompasses:

• sampling strategy;• sampling devices;• observations made and information obtained during

sampling;• handling sediment samples;• packaging and storage of sediment samples.

prEN ISO 19493 survey of hard bottom

The standard covers:– development of the sampling programme; – survey methods;– taxon identification;– storage of data and collected material

The standard specifies the minimum requirements for environmental monitoring.

Needs

• Water quality — Guidance on sampling, preservation and storage of marine phytoplankton

• Fluorimetric estimation of chlorophyll a-/calculation of biovolum/algae carbon

• Identification of species• Visual surveys in deep water (Habitats

Directive)

Estimation of chlorophyll a

• OSPAR-Guidelines: Chlorophyll a in water

Norwegian standards:• Determination of chlorophyll a,

spectorphotometric determination in methanol extract

• Determination of chlorophyll a, spectorphotometric determination in acetone extract

Phytoplankton

• Norwegian draft translated to English• Commented by CEN/TC 230 TG 3 and TG 7

The draft comprises:• developing of sampling programme;• requirements for sampling equipment;• procedures for sampling and treatment of

samples in the field; • storage of sampled material