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The primary purpose of this document is to report the recommendations resulting from the ICES WORKSHOP ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHANGING OCEAN CO2 AND PH IN ICES SHELF SEA ECOSYSTEMS held between 2 and 4 May 2007 in London. Some excel‐ lent reports have already been published in this field, first by the Scientific Commit‐ tee on Oceanic Research (SCOR; Arvidson, 2005), then by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Science Foundation/US Geological Survey (NOAA/NSF/USGS; Kleypas et al., 2006), the Royal Society (The Royal Society, 2005), the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU; WBGU, 2006), and most recently by the OSPAR Commission (OSPAR, 2006) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC; Metz et al., 2005). Cognizant of these recent efforts, the ICES Workshop set out with a slightly different aim to investigate the links between potential changes in pH and its effects on marine ecosystem components, such as plankton, fish and shellfish, and cold‐water corals. To this end, the Workshop covered ground already considered by others, to provide a sound base for the prediction of likely impacts. The present report will outline those relevant issues, but the reader is advised to refer to other reports for greater detail. The novel focus of this report is the potential effects on ecosystem functions with links to fisheries, with a recommendation for work to be done to better understand the impact of this problem on the entire ecosystem, and specifically on fisheries. Most of the material used was presented at the Workshop, with Annex 1 being the most significant exception

Nutrient enrichment of tropical waters constitutes an increasing threat to the health and biodiversity of coral reefs. In order to manage these ecosystems effectively, the onset of nutrient pollution has to be closely monitored. This thesis examined the possibility of using some physiological responses of hermatypic corals as an early-warning bio-assay, to detect nutrient enrichment before reef deterioration has taken place. To this aim, the physiology of the common branching coral Porites porites and the massive coral Montastrea annularis was studied both in the laboratory and on the reef under different nutrient conditions. By measuring the organic and inorganic productivity of corals and by constructing carbon budgets, it was hoped to relate differences in the fixation, allocation and utilisation of carbon to differences in nutrient regimes. Nubbins of Porites porites and explants of Montastrea annularis were chosen as the experimental units. Nubbins were obtained by cutting coral tips (approx. 20 mm), grounding their cut surface flat, and gluing them onto a perspex tile with cyanoacrylate glue. To obtain explants, a coral head was cored under a drill press fitted with a hole saw. Cores were then cut to fit, and sealed into polyethylene cups with underwater epoxy putty. A new culturing system was developed to grow corals successfully in the laboratory under completely controlled and repeatable conditions. This system (the 'photostat') consisted of glass aquaria (30x21x18 cm) placed in a constant temperature water-bath under metal halide lamps. The aquaria were fitted with specially designed air lines and coral trays to maintain a strong water motion around the corals, independent of the rate of water-flow. A peristaltic pump ensured a daily water turn-over. A new improved carbon budget methodology was developed by comparing the well established methods of Davies (1984) and Muscatine et al (1984) on Porites porites. These methodologies differed in the measurement

Nutrient enrichment of tropical waters constitutes an increasing threat to the health and biodiversity of coral reefs. In order to manage these ecosystems effectively, the onset of nutrient pollution has to be closely monitored. This thesis examined the possibility of using some physiological responses of hermatypic corals as an early-warning bio-assay, to detect nutrient enrichment before reef deterioration has taken place. To this aim, the physiology of the common branching coral Porites porites and the massive coral Montastrea annularis was studied both in the laboratory and on the reef under different nutrient conditions. By measuring the organic and inorganic productivity of corals and by constructing carbon budgets, it was hoped to relate differences in the fixation, allocation and utilisation of carbon to differences in nutrient regimes. Nubbins of Porites porites and explants of Montastrea annularis were chosen as the experimental units. Nubbins were obtained by cutting coral tips (approx. 20 mm), grounding their cut surface flat, and gluing them onto a perspex tile with cyanoacrylate glue. To obtain explants, a coral head was cored under a drill press fitted with a hole saw. Cores were then cut to fit, and sealed into polyethylene cups with underwater epoxy putty. A new culturing system was developed to grow corals successfully in the laboratory under completely controlled and repeatable conditions. This system (the 'photostat') consisted of glass aquaria (30x21x18 cm) placed in a constant temperature water-bath under metal halide lamps. The aquaria were fitted with specially designed air lines and coral trays to maintain a strong water motion around the corals, independent of the rate of water-flow. A peristaltic pump ensured a daily water turn-over. A new improved carbon budget methodology was developed by comparing the well established methods of Davies (1984) and Muscatine et al (1984) on Porites porites. These methodologies differed in the measurement

Nutrient enrichment of tropical waters constitutes an increasing threat to the health and biodiversity of coral reefs. In order to manage these ecosystems effectively, the onset of nutrient pollution has to be closely monitored. This thesis examined the possibility of using some physiological responses of hermatypic corals as an early-warning bio-assay, to detect nutrient enrichment before reef deterioration has taken place. To this aim, the physiology of the common branching coral Porites porites and the massive coral Montastrea annularis was studied both in the laboratory and on the reef under different nutrient conditions. By measuring the organic and inorganic productivity of corals and by constructing carbon budgets, it was hoped to relate differences in the fixation, allocation and utilisation of carbon to differences in nutrient regimes. Nubbins of Porites porites and explants of Montastrea annularis were chosen as the experimental units. Nubbins were obtained by cutting coral tips (approx. 20 mm), grounding their cut surface flat, and gluing them onto a perspex tile with cyanoacrylate glue. To obtain explants, a coral head was cored under a drill press fitted with a hole saw. Cores were then cut to fit, and sealed into polyethylene cups with underwater epoxy putty. A new culturing system was developed to grow corals successfully in the laboratory under completely controlled and repeatable conditions. This system (the 'photostat') consisted of glass aquaria (30x21x18 cm) placed in a constant temperature water-bath under metal halide lamps. The aquaria were fitted with specially designed air lines and coral trays to maintain a strong water motion around the corals, independent of the rate of water-flow. A peristaltic pump ensured a daily water turn-over. A new improved carbon budget methodology was developed by comparing the well established methods of Davies (1984) and Muscatine et al (1984) on Porites porites. These methodologies differed in the measurement

Nutrient enrichment of tropical waters constitutes an increasing threat to the health and biodiversity of coral reefs. In order to manage these ecosystems effectively, the onset of nutrient pollution has to be closely monitored. This thesis examined the possibility of using some physiological responses of hermatypic corals as an early-warning bio-assay, to detect nutrient enrichment before reef deterioration has taken place. To this aim, the physiology of the common branching coral Porites porites and the massive coral Montastrea annularis was studied both in the laboratory and on the reef under different nutrient conditions. By measuring the organic and inorganic productivity of corals and by constructing carbon budgets, it was hoped to relate differences in the fixation, allocation and utilisation of carbon to differences in nutrient regimes. Nubbins of Porites porites and explants of Montastrea annularis were chosen as the experimental units. Nubbins were obtained by cutting coral tips (approx. 20 mm), grounding their cut surface flat, and gluing them onto a perspex tile with cyanoacrylate glue. To obtain explants, a coral head was cored under a drill press fitted with a hole saw. Cores were then cut to fit, and sealed into polyethylene cups with underwater epoxy putty. A new culturing system was developed to grow corals successfully in the laboratory under completely controlled and repeatable conditions. This system (the 'photostat') consisted of glass aquaria (30x21x18 cm) placed in a constant temperature water-bath under metal halide lamps. The aquaria were fitted with specially designed air lines and coral trays to maintain a strong water motion around the corals, independent of the rate of water-flow. A peristaltic pump ensured a daily water turn-over. A new improved carbon budget methodology was developed by comparing the well established methods of Davies (1984) and Muscatine et al (1984) on Porites porites. These methodologies differed in the measurement