Ecosystem services sustainability in the Mediterranean Sea: assessment of status and trends using multiple modelling approaches

14 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, supplementary information https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep34162Mediterranean ecosystems support important processes and functions that bring direct benefits to human society. Yet, marine ecosystem services are usually overlooked due to the challenges in identifying and quantifying them. This paper proposes the application of several biophysical and ecosystem modelling approaches to assess spatially and temporally the sustainable use and supply of selected marine ecosystem services. Such services include food provision, water purification, coastal protection, lifecycle maintenance and recreation, focusing on the Mediterranean region. Overall, our study found a higher number of decreasing than increasing trends in the natural capacity of the ecosystems to provide marine and coastal services, while in contrast the opposite was observed to be true for the realised flow of services to humans. Such a study paves the way towards an effective support for Blue Growth and the European maritime policies, although little attention is paid to the quantification of marine ecosystem services in this context. We identify a key challenge of integrating biophysical and socio-economic models as a necessary step to further this researchPeer Reviewe

Targeting fin whale conservation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea : insights on movements and behaviour from biologging and habitat modelling

Open Access via the Royal Society Agreement The fieldwork was supported by Giancarlo Lauriano/ISPRA, who provided transmitters for the 2021 season, and the Friedlaender Lab (UCSC), who provided tags for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, together with SPA-RAC and Tethys Research Institute who contributed with partial funding.Peer reviewe

Regional dynamic co-management for sustainable fisheries and ecosystem conservation: a pilot analysis in the Catalan Sea

The complexity of coastal fisheries, which often involve many gears with cross-impacts on various species and life stages, requires a management system that is able to integrate these multiple interactions in order to gradually achieve sustainability. In this paper, we argue that regional co-management can appropriately address the complex interactions between fisheries, including those with other potentially conflicting human activities. Our results, notably obtained through a questionnaire to local fishers’ representatives mainly on bottom trawl fisheries in the Catalan Sea region, show, however, that improved mutual understanding through effective communication and long-term collaboration between stakeholders, and in particular between fishers and scientists, is essential to ensure the successful implementation of fisheries co-management. In addition to balancing the voices of the many stakeholders, co-management needs to be further improved by developing multi-species, multi-gear and multi-use approaches to the oceans. This improvement could in turn support the effectiveness of co-decisions, as they would be based on the recognised administrative structure of co-management committees and sound scientific guidance that addresses both ecosystem protection and sustainable fisheries profitability. Dynamic management over time and space, using real-time essential fish habitat from operational oceanography, can help to make the co-management process more robust by improving collaboration between stakeholders and the effectiveness of measures in a changing environment. The decision-making, social and ecological components are described as integral and dependent parts of the co-management system, with priority given to mutual understanding between stakeholders. This integrated co-management framework is flexible enough to take into account regional complexity, but also national legislation and the EU Common Fisheries Policy, which all promote sustainable use of the oceans and protection of the ecosystem

Status of pelagic habitats within the EU-Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Proposals for improving consistency and representativeness of the assessment

Anthropogenic activities have transformed the pelagic habitat in the last decades with profound implications for its essential functions. While the EU-Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC and the Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 have set criteria and methodological standards for the assessment and determination of Good Environmental Status (GES) for pelagic habitats in EU waters, there is strong evidence that Member States have not yet harmonized the pelagic GES assessment across EU marine waters. Today, pelagic habitats are assessed by evaluating whether good status is achieved by each of the pelagic indicators, but this approach fails to observe the high variability of the pelagic environment. To this end, GES is not estimated at pelagic habitats scale but only for each individual indicator. This paper synthesises the latest developments on pelagic habitats assessment and identifies the main factors limiting the consistency of the assessment across Member States: i) coarse spatial and temporal scales of sampling effort as regards to the pelagic habitat dynamics, ii) little consideration of the whole range of plankton (and, to some extent, of zooplankton) size and trophic spectra, iii) lack of integrated hydro-biogeochemical and biological studies and collaboration among experts from different scientific fields, iv) limited availability of pressure-based indicators, and v) lack of integration methods of the pelagic indicators’ status for the GES determination. This analysis demonstrates the importance of maintaining a consistent sampling frequency and a spatially extensive network of stations across the gradient of anthropogenic pressures, where spatial environmental data can help objectively extrapolating field data.The authors would like to thank the Pelagic Habitats Experts, part of the MSFD Biodiversity Expert Network for the fruitful discussions on the harmonisation of the MSFD assessment and monitoring for pelagic habitats. CM, MP, JND, and AP were funded by the Joint Research Centre of Ispra (Italy). IV wishes to acknowledge support from the program “Monitoring and recording the situation of the marine sub-regions of Greece / Upgrading and functional updating of the MSFD monitoring network”, funded by national and EU funds under National Strategic Reference Framework 2014–2020 (MIS 5010880), and the European project ABIOMMED: Support coherent and coordinated assessment of biodiversity and measures across Mediterranean for the next 6-year cycle of MSFD implementation, funded by DG Environment (11.0661/2020/839620/SUB/ENV.C2), coordinator Dr. Kalliopi Pagou, HCMR.Peer reviewe

Future Ocean Observations to Connect Climate, Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

Advances in ocean observing technologies and modeling provide the capacity to revolutionize the management of living marine resources. While traditional fisheries management approaches like single-species stock assessments are still common, a global effort is underway to adopt ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) approaches. These approaches consider changes in the physical environment and interactions between ecosystem elements, including human uses, holistically. For example, integrated ecosystem assessments aim to synthesize a suite of observations (physical, biological, socioeconomic) and modeling platforms [ocean circulation models, ecological models, short-term forecasts, management strategy evaluations (MSEs)] to assess the current status and recent and future trends of ecosystem components. This information provides guidance for better management strategies. A common thread in EBFM approaches is the need for high-quality observations of ocean conditions, at scales that resolve critical physical-biological processes and are timely for management needs. Here we explore options for a future observing system that meets the needs of EBFM by (i) identifying observing needs for different user groups, (ii) reviewing relevant datasets and existing technologies, (iii) showcasing regional case studies, and (iv) recommending observational approaches required to implement EBFM. We recommend linking ocean observing within the context of Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and other regional ocean observing efforts with fisheries observations, new forecasting methods, and capacity development, in a comprehensive ocean observing framework

Habitat mapping of the Atlantic bluefin tuna derived from satellite data: Its potential as a tool for the sustainable management of pelagic fisheries

The feeding and spawning habitats of the overfished Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) are mapped in the Mediterranean Sea and used in the present proposal for selecting restricted fishing grounds. The feeding habitat is mainly traced by oceanic fronts of satellite-derived temperature and chlorophyll while the spawning habitat is mostly characterized by an important heating of surface waters. The proposal recommends opening the fishery in feeding areas in case the BFT stock is low (current situation). Only spawning areas at its latest stage could be opened once the stock has recovered to its optimum yield. Due to the possible concentration of fishing vessels if fishing areas are restricted (e.g. four-fold increase with a 1/16th restriction of the Mediterranean Sea) the inspection activities could be better targeted. Identified spawning grounds, opened or closed to fishing, could also be particularly monitored by control operations. Within the authorized areas, the habitat maps would guide fishermen to the favourable habitat reducing their costs. The habitat guided management could be able to adapt the spatial and temporal distribution of the effort to the requirements of both the fisheries' control and the resource. Its implementation is likely to protect the stock (a) by apparently decreasing illegal fishing which accounts in the recent years for more than 1/3rd of total catches, (b) by protecting the spawners to ensure a suitable recruitment and (c) by distributing the effort to respect the population structure. The first species studied is the emblematic bluefin tuna which is at high risk of collapse due to overfishing. The approach is a priori transposable to other epipelagic species of commercial importance.Habitat mapping Thunnus Thynnus Fishery Management Control Remote sensing

Geospatial identification of stakeholders to support dynamic ocean management in transboundary areas

International audienceDynamic ocean management (DOM), a new frontier in the field of operational ecology for marine resource management, is a means of protecting the dynamic features and species in the ocean by allowing management measures to move and adapt in space and time. Most DOM applications have been implemented within the jurisdictional waters of single nations, avoiding the potential issues and challenges arising from coordination in transboundary regions, which can be challenging due to the overlap of multiple and diverse jurisdictions and governance systems. This study focuses on the implementation of DOM in transboundary regions. A novel approach is presented using a geospatial information system to automatically identify relevant stakeholders from two sectors (i.e., marine traffic and marine fisheries) across multiple maritime boundaries. The objective of this study was to test the geospatial information system and examine the variability of stakeholder networks when DOM was applied in a transboundary marine region. We tested our approach in a complex geopolitical region, the Western Mediterranean Sea, building on simulated management strategies for two highly mobile species, the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Substantial differences in stakeholder networks were identified depending on the focal species, highlighting the widespread responsibility among marine users for bluefin tuna compared to fin whale. Potential issues and solutions for identifying the most suitable stakeholder and governance frameworks are discussed, allowing recommendations to support the implementation of DOM in complex geopolitical contexts