Updating the Master Management Plan for El Cachucho MPA (Cantabrian Sea) using a spatial planning approach

Located in the Cantabrian Sea (NE Atlantic), 30 nm off the Asturian coast, “El Cachucho” was the first off-shore Marine Protected Area (MPA) to be declared in Spain. The area includes Le Danois Bank and its intraslope basin. It joined the OSPAR Network of MPAs in 2009 and, thereafter, was included in the Natura 2000 Network in 2011. The main reason for its declaration as MPA was the presence of the 1170 Reefs habitat included in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive. In 2018, the MPAs Master Management Plan was under revision and its design criteria were subjected to evaluation. We used Marxan decision support tool to evaluate the MPA's management design criteria. This tool selects the most important conservation features, while minimizing the socioeconomic cost. First, the 1170 Reefs habitat was defined as the main environmental value. Specifically, we took into account the six large sized target species that are more representative of this habitat in the area: the sponges Asconema setubalense, Geodia cf. barretti and Phakellia robusta, the anthipatarian Leiopathes glaberrima, and the gorgonians Placogorgia sp. and Callogorgia verticillata. A spatial distribution map was produced for each species using Generalized Additive Models (GAM). We also considered the presence of spawning stocks of fish species which are present in the area as an important conservation value. Their spatial distribution was modeled through Maxent software. Additionally, for the socioeconomic cost, fishing effort of the different fisheries operating in the area was estimated linking VMS/Logbook data before and after the MPA was declared. The first results obtained with the Marxan tool were presented in public consultation, in the context of the LIFE + INTEMARES Project, to help in decision making within the new Management Plan. Thus, to improve the management measures aimed at the conservation of the environmental values of the MPA, an enlargement of the protected area to the West was proposed, and a more reasonable use of the buffer area to fishermen than that defined in the former Management Plan was suggested. Involving all stakeholders in the development of the management plan for this MPA is a decisive step for the creation and consolidation of an important network of MPAs in Spain.En prensa2,08

Underwater noise studies in the Gulf of Lions region. Anthropogenic contributions to underwater noise due to maritime traffic and offshore windfarm operation

En el marco del proyecto MSPMED se ha llevado a cabo un caso de estudio transfronterizo entre España y Francia en relación al estado de los ecosistemas, el desarrollo de la eólica marina y el ruido submarino,. Este deliverable analiza cómo podría ser el impacto del ruido submarino producido por el tráfico marítimo y la eólica marina en el componente pelágico

MSP Plans in MSPMED; main facts

El objetivo de este informe es la creación de fichas comparativas de los planes nacionales de ordenación del espacio marítimo de los países socios de MSPMED con el fin de detectar los puntos comunes y las principales diferencias entre ellos

TPEA PROJECT: MARITIME SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE GULF OF CADIZ

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is coming to prominence as a new approach to the governance of the seas and oceans. It is taking on international importance as maritime nations exert greater control over their territorial waters and, in many cases, over much more extensive exclusive economic zones (Jay, 2010; Schaefer & Barale, 2011). This is in the interests of reversing the environmental degradation of the seas and facilitating the sustainable use of marine resources, both for traditional uses, such as fishing and navigation, and newer uses, such as renewable energy and mariculture (Douvere, 2008). MSP is being encouraged worldwide by inter-governmental bodies, NGOs, stakeholder organisations and marine scientists and managers (Agardy, 2010; De Santo, 2011; HELCOM & OSPAR, 2003), and a growing number of nations are drawing up spatial plans to regulate the use of their marine territories, in a way analogous to land-use planning

Marine knowledge as a basis for Maritime Spatial Planning: TPEA Project

Comunicación oral presentada en SIEBM XVIII Simposio Ibérico de Biología MarinaThe Transboundary Planning in the European Atlantic (TPEA) project is developing as response to the European Commission (DG Mare’s) call for a Project on Maritime Spatial Planning in the Atlantic, including Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay, in order to reflect the aim of the project, which is to deliver a commonly-agreed approach to cross-border MSP in the European Atlantic region.DG MARE - E

Los Casos Piloto de Ordenación del Espacio Marítimo Transfronterizos y su Implicación en el Proceso Nacional en España

Maritime Spatial Planning processes are already being implemented in many parts of the world being Europe one of the hot spots due to the approval of the Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning, which oblige every coastal Member State to have approved plans by March 2021. This Directive does not allocate specific funds for the development of these plans but it supports national processes by funding Maritime Spatial Planning transboundary projects among neighbouring countries. These projects have mainly two benefits, one is to provide states with knowledge, capacity and methodologies to apply in MSP national processes, and another one is to facilitate the coherence along plans of neighbouring countries sharing a sea basin region. As biological and ecological processes in the marine environment are not limited by administrative borders, the transboundary component of Maritime Spatial Planning is of extremely importance to manage marine resources in a sustainable wayVersión del edito

Maritime Spatial Planning Transboundary Pilot Projects and their implication in the national process in Spain

Los procesos de Ordenación del Espacio Marítimo (OEM) ya se están aplicando en muchas partes del mundo siendo Europa un punto caliente debido a la aprobación de la Directiva 2014/89/UE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 23 de julio de 2014, por la que se establece un marco para la OEM, que obligaba a todos los Estados miembros costeros a tener planes aprobados para marzo de 2021. Para facilitar esto, se asignan fondos europeos específicos para apoyar el desarrollo de proyectos transfronterizos de ordenación del espacio marítimo entre países vecinos. Estos proyectos tienen principalmente dos objetivos, uno es proporcionar a los Estados conocimientos, capacidad y metodologías para aplicarlos en los procesos nacionales de ordenación del territorio, y otro es facilitar la coherencia entre los planes de los países que comparten la misma cuenca marítima. Este trabajo presenta una visión general del proceso español de MSP, y cómo algunos de los resultados que surgieron de estos proyectos piloto pueden ser incorporados al proceso nacional

Morphostructure at the junction between the Beata ridge and the Greater Antilles island arc (offshore Hispaniola southern slope)

Oblique convergence between the Caribbean plate's interior and the inactive Greater Antilles island arc has resulted in the collision and impingement of the thickened crust of the Beata ridge into southern Hispaniola Island. Deformation resulting from this convergence changes from a low-angle southward-verging thrust south of eastern Hispaniola, to collision and uplift in south-central Hispaniola, and to left-lateral transpression along the Southern peninsula of Haiti in western Hispaniola. Using new swath bathymetry and a dense seismic reflection grid, we mapped the morphological, structural and sedimentological elements of offshore southern Hispaniola. We have identified four morphotectonic provinces: the Dominican sub-basin, the Muertos margin, the Beata ridge and the Haiti sub-basin. The lower slope of the Muertos margin is occupied by the active Muertos thrust belt, which includes several active out-of-sequence thrust faults that, were they to rupture along their entire length, could generate large-magnitude earthquakes. The interaction of the thrust belt with the Beata ridge yields a huge recess and the imbricate system disappears. The upper slope of the Muertos margin shows thick slope deposits where the extensional tectonics and slumping processes predominate. The northern Beata ridge consists of an asymmetrically uplifted and faulted block of oceanic crust. Our results suggest that the shallower structure and morphology of the northern Beata ridge can be mainly explained by a mechanism of extensional unloading from the Upper Cretaceous onward that is still active residually along the summit of the ridge. The tectonic models for the northern Beata ridge involving active reverse strike–slip faults and transpression caused by the oblique convergence between the Beata ridge and the island arc are not supported by the structural interpretation. The eastern Bahoruco slope an old normal fault that acts as a passive tear fault accommodating the sharp along-strike transition from low-angle thrusting to collision and uplifting.Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Proyecto Plan Nacional: GEODINÁMICA DEL NORTE DEL CARIBE: SECTOR REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA-HAITI (NORCARIBE).Versión del edito