Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are often prescribed during pregnancy. It has long been debated whether adverse neonatal effects described after maternal SSRI use1–4 are caused by serotonin toxicity or withdrawal.5 Recently, the information of a database analysis of 93 suspected cases of SSRI induced neonatal withdrawal has been regarded as enough information to confirm a possible causal relation.6 We describe six infants with neonatal symptoms …

agencies to maximise benefits from operational monitoring programmes (e.g. EuroGOOS, ECOOP GMES). As pressure upon national resources mount and growing awareness of environmental problems with a transboundary nature continues, for example at a catchment level in the Water Framework Directive and for a prospective European marine directive, the need for (international) collaborative regional initiatives have begun to be realised. As the first step towards establishing a wider regional initiative a European Marine Ecosystem Observatory (EMECO) has been established within the North Sea. To develop EMECO (www.cefas.co.uk/emeco) a bottom – up approach has been adopted based upon collaboration between agencies with statutory responsibilities for a range of environmental pressures from monitoring and assessment of nutrients and hazardous substances, wave monitoring to fish stock assessments. The monitoring programmes associated with such activities are by nature long-term and these programmes form key components of EMECO. However, there are a range of other programmes with either a relevant North Sea component (EU Ferry Box programme, International CPR programme, Smart-Buoy programme) or are part of wider initiatives (e.g. satellite remote sensing) that will also contribute to the observatory. It will also embrace initiatives to protect and conserve renewable and sustainable resources such as Marine Protected Areas and closed area for fisheries such as the Dutch Cod Box. The observatory will provide an opportunity to integrate research with monitoring and assessment programmes and to undertake reviews at a regional level to identify gaps in information and develop strategies to address shortcomings. Within the ecosystem approach, ICES is increasingly aware of the need to include ecosystem considerations in its fisheries assessment models in order to enhance their predictive properties. Moreover, ICES’ preparedness to carry out integrated assessments could be greatly enhanced by the scientific framework embedded in EMECO. This paper will describe the approach taken so far with EMECO, will explore the relationships and chances for collaboration with other initiatives (ECOOP GMES, EuroGOOS) and will examine how EMECO might contribute to ICES’ needs for environmental information in fisheries and ecosystem advice. Keywords: ecosystem observatory, monitoring, Ferry Box, Smart-Buoy, remote sensing

In the NOWESP project historical data from the Northwest European Shelf were compiled and evaluated to estimate the variability and trends in water movements, concentrations of dissolved and particulate constituents, and fluxes of the relevant substances across the shelf. As an integral part of the project, the NOWESP Research Data Base was created as a research tool to provide the data and data products needed for the analyses within the project. The tasks of the NOWESP Research Data Base group were the acquisition of the relevant data sets, with the intensive support of all partners, organization of the data sets in the NOWESP Research Data Base, merging of the specific data sets for the ten main state variables used in NOWESP, and the provision of data products for analysis within NOWESP.

Analyses of long-term trends in physical, chemical. and biological parameters at selected locations along the residual current represent one of the objectives of the North-West European Shelf Programme (NOWESP). Within this framework, trends in chlorophyll concentrations at two of these localities, the Irish Sea and the Dutch coastal zone, were analysed. The results show an increase in the Irish Sea from the end of the 1960s onwards. Chlorophyll concentrations increased from the early 1980s at two stations in the Dutch coastal zone (Marsdiep and 6 km offshore of Goeree), followed by a decrease during the end of the 1980s and 1990s to values comparable with those of the 1970s. In both areas, the increase in chlorophyll is almost exclusively due to higher summer values. Estimates of gross annual primary production calculated from the relation between chlorophyll and primary production measurements indicate a 50 to 100% increase in the Irish Sea over the last three decades. Estimated mean annual production between 1976 and 1992 at Goeree 6 was 375 gC m(-2). Marsdiep estimates are influenced by an increase of suspended particulate matter (SPM) during the 1980s followed by a marked reduction during the past 5 years. These changes in SPM may mask effects of changes in nutrient input. (C) 1996 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

In this study an overview is given of the time series analysis of monthly mean data of physical, chemical and biological parameters. The time series are available at eight locations on the Northwest European Shelf. The integrated evaluation of those time series gives the opportunity to look for connections between the different parts of the shelf. Temperature and salinity seem to be externally forced. For the nutrients and biological parameters the local forcing is dominating the time series. It is concluded that there are areas that are comparable to each other (freshwater dominated boxes along the Belgian and Dutch coasts and German Bight; Atlantic dominated boxes in the English Channel and off the Scottish coast), although significant cross-correlations are hardly found. The Irish Sea can be regarded as a separate ecosystem.

Seasonal cycles of salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll and Zooplankton at 8 locations on the W estEuropean shelf were analysed with respect to their timing and magnitude in the period 1980-1984. A late spring bloom with low chlorophyll values (2-4 mg.m '3) is observed in the Irish Sea, off the Scottish east coast and the Channel entrance. An early spring bloom and relatively high chlorophyll values (7-12 mg.m'3) are found in the southern Bight and the Skagerrak, whereas a late spring bloom with high chlorophyll concentrations (24 m g.m '3) is found along the Dutch and Belgian coast. In contrast to the other regions, the peak of the phytoplankton cycle in the German Bight (Helgoland) occurs in the summer period instead o f the spring period. The peak in the yearly abundance of copepods shifts from M ay-June in the south to July-August in the north of the shelf. In the Irish Sea and the Channel entrance two seasonal copepods peaks are observed. The January nitrate values in Irish Sea, the southern Bight and the Skagerrak are about 20 % higher than those in the Atlantic input signal in the Channel entrance and east off Scotland. The January DIP values in these regions are com parable to those of the input signal, but the Irish Sea forms an exception here the level is increased by 10-20%. If compared with the Atlantic input signal the January values for nitrate and DIP at the Dutch and Belgium coast are about 10 and 4, and in the German Bight This paper has been submitted to Deutsche Hydrographische Zeitschrift as part of a special issue on NOWESP NOWESP Final Report Bot ef al. (Helgoland) 4 and 3 times higher, respectively. At most sites changes in the seasonal cycles o f chlorophyll coincide with changes in nutrient concentrations, whereas the m aximum level of the seasonal signal is related to the nutrient levels.