Abstract
PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES.
Highlights
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC, European Commission 2008) (MSFD) is one of the several legal instruments existing worldwide (Oceans Act in the USA, Australia or Canada; EC Water Framework Directive (WFD), National Water Act in South Africa, European Regional Sea Conventions etc.) that have been adopted in order to protect more effectively the marine environment
PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
The results will be discussed in an aggregated way, even if a sub-regional approach has been followed in PERSEUS, since substantial homogeneity in the results emerged despite the geographical approach
Summary
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC, European Commission 2008) (MSFD) is one of the several legal instruments existing worldwide (Oceans Act in the USA, Australia or Canada; EC Water Framework Directive (WFD), National Water Act in South Africa, European Regional Sea Conventions etc.) that have been adopted in order to protect more effectively the marine environment. The MSFD requires that all EU Member States (MSs) take measures to maintain or achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) in their seas by 2020 It calls for an ‘‘ecosystem-based approach’’ whereby management of marine activities is expected to protect and preserve the marine environment as a whole. The concept of GES sensu MSFD integrates physical, chemical and biological aspects, together with the services provided by ecosystems, including elements on the sustainable use of marine resources by society Another difference is spatial overlapping between the MSFD and the WFD, which covers the coastal waters only (up to 1 nautical mile, except for chemical status, where 12-mile territorial waters are included) making the MSFD a new challenge for environmental protection strategies for the open seas.
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