Bottom trawl fisheries targeting shrimp and halibut generate most of Greenlands export revenue. However, bottom trawling disturbs the seabed and its invertebrate communities, with effects varying by habitat and being most severe for long-lived sessile epifauna. This study assesses trawling impacts across 461662km² of Greenland waters. Greenland fisheries are unusual, as the majority of them operate in deep waters (>200 m). The benthic sensitivity, estimated based on samples from 1510 stations, was high (median longevity 5.615.2years). Generally bottom trawling was spatially patchy: while some small areas showed high bottom trawling intensity, 83% of 1km² cells were untrawled. We evaluated seabed status using two indicators: RBS_tot (total benthic biomass relative to carrying capacity) and RBS_sen (biomass of the 10% most sensitive taxa relative to carrying capacity). RBS_tot was generally high, and only <0.5 in a small proportion of heavily trawled cells. RBS_sen was consistently lower than RBS_tot and reached zero where swept-area ratio (SAR) ranged from 2 to 5, though this only applied to <1% of the area. High trawling impact on RBS_sen occurred even at low SAR (0.3year¹) in highly sensitive habitats. Despite the high sensitivity, overall trawling impact was limited because of the low mean SAR, compared to more intensively fished regions globally. Nonetheless, some habitats were severely affected, particularly for the most sensitive benthic components. This study presents a spatially explicit, quantitative framework to evaluate trade-offs between fishery production and ecosystem sustainability, offering science-based tools for environmental and fisheries management in Greenland.

Jan Geert Hiddink, Karl B Zinglersen, Sissal Vágsheyg Erenbjerg, Nadescha Zwerschke, Quantifying the impact of bottom trawling on Greenlands seabed ecosystems, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 83, Issue 6, June 2026, fsag110, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsag110

Phthalates are a series of widely used chemicals in a large range of products and have endocrine disruption potentials being detrimental to human health. To our knowledge, there are no reports on phthalate exposure in the general population in Greenland. This study evaluates the phthalate exposure profiles and the influence of characteristics of 602 adults across Greenland recruited during 2000-2019. The urinary concentrations of eleven metabolites of phthalates and the phthalate alternative di-(iso-nonyl)-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) were measured using solid phase extraction prior to ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in negative electro-spray mode and standardized by the urinary creatinine concentration. Health risk assessment was performed by comparison of urinary metabolite levels of phthalates and DINCH using available health-based human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GV). The influence of characteristics on metabolite levels was assessed by multiple linear regression models. Metabolites of phthalates and DINCH were detected in more than 25 % of the spot urine samples. For certain phthalate metabolites, less than 3 % exceeded HBM-GV. Females had higher concentrations of phthalate metabolites than males. Participants from east and west regions had higher concentrations of some phthalate metabolites than those from north, Disko Bay and south regions. Age positively associated with metabolites concentrations of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP). DEHP metabolites concentrations increased with BMI and biomarker of marine food intake. Pregnancy and parity may influence the concentrations of phthalate metabolites. The phthalate exposure was age- and sex-dependent likely due to differences in lifestyle habits. Urinary concentrations of DINCH metabolites were higher in Greenlandic adults compared to other populations.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2025.114695

Macroalgal carbon export estimates make assumptions about lateral transport away from the coast and vertical export to deep ocean sinks. Yet, few studies have resolved these pathways. This paper tests lateral surface transport and vertical export assumptions using the Southwest Greenland continental shelf and the Labrador Sea as a testbed. Macroalgae grow on Greenland's rocky shoreline and previous studies have documented oceanographic connectivity between coastal and offshore regions. This study analyzed 1380 Sentinel-2 satellite images to find 7973 patches of floating macroalgae on the SW Greenland shelf and in the Labrador Sea, providing evidence of their presence on the shelf and offshore waters. Since satellite imagery provides a snapshot of macroalgal positions at a given time, 305 surface drifter trajectories and a Lagrangian particle tracking model (LPTM) are used to quantify residence times and transport pathways. The average drifter-derived surface residence times on the SW Greenland shelf and the Labrador Sea are 12.1 days and 63.6 days, respectively. Applying results from studies of macroalgal longevity, the drifter-derived residence times suggest that macroalgae can remain intact during their transit of the shelf, allowing them to sink in deeper water offshore. The LPTM traced the origins and pathways of selected patches in June 2018. To explore vertical export mechanisms, a Large Eddy Simulation revealed that deep convection can transport buoyant macroalgae to depths where their gas vesicles implode, expediting sinking. These interdisciplinary findings indicate that Greenland's macroalgal ecosystems can supply detrital carbon to the adjacent shelf and open ocean and highlight the importance of testing key transport assumptions used to estimate macroalgal contributions to carbon sequestration.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181247