Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Innovative and participatory decision-making method for the identification of common measures in the Mediterranean

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the European Commission's flagship initiative for the protection of the European Seas, and the first holistic approach to ensuring that European Seas reach and are maintained at what is called a ‘Good Environmental Status’ by the year 2020. Regional cooperation, especially between neighbouring countries, and involvement of all interested parties, are horizontal principles of the MSFD, and particularly apply to the definition of programmes of measures, the principal instrument through which each Member State will implement its marine strategy. This paper presents the results from a dedicated, participatory, structured decision-making process that was implemented within the framework of the ActionMed project, which aimed to bring experts and policy/decision-makers from Mediterranean neighbouring countries together, to discuss and agree upon common measures for implementation in their sub-regions. It shows that a participatory approach, supported by customised, case specific intelligent tools, that follows expertly facilitated, structured workshops can be a successful way to enhance sub-regional collaboration. The paper also presents the top ranking measures, selected by experts and decision-makers for common implementation in two Mediterranean sub-regions.     

Complementary roles of European and national institutions under the Common Fisheries Policy and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Exploited fish and shellfish stocks in European marine waters underlie the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The next round of reform of the CFP is due for completion in 2012. The exploitation at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) may be confirmed as the common environmental objective for good environment status (GES) of exploited fish and shellfish stocks of the reformed CFP and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The foreseen time horizon to achieve or maintain GES by 2020 appears inconsistent with the World Summit on Sustainable Development UN agreement in 2002, which stipulates that maintenance or restoring of stocks to produce MSY be realized by 2015. The MSFD requires instead that by 2015 the national programmes of measures be designed in order to become operational the following year (2016).     

Marine conservation challenges in an era of economic crisis and geopolitical instability: The case of the Mediterranean Sea

In the Mediterranean Sea, socio-economic drivers may accelerate the process of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) declarations. Despite the challenges, the EEZ declarations may provide important opportunities for leveraging change to national policy towards the development of large-scale conservation of marine ecosystems and biodiversity in this zone. Using the Mediterranean Sea as a case study, we aim to highlight a set of best practices that will maximize the potential for the development of large-scale marine conservation initiatives. These include a range of approaches, such as using surrogates to fill the many biodiversity data gaps in the region, further the development of consistent and open access databases, and the utilization of technological developments to improve monitoring, research and surveillance of less accessible and under-explored marine areas. The integration of Mediterranean-wide and local conservation efforts, the facilitation of transboundary collaboration, and the establishment of regional funds for conservation will further enhance opportunities for marine conservation in this region.     

Cost-benefit analysis in the context of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive: The case of Germany

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU member states (MS) to develop and implement marine strategies containing programs of measures to protect and preserve the marine environment. Prior to their implementation, impact assessments, including Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA), need to be carried out. While the costs of introducing such measures are often relatively easy to determine, the economic valuation of the benefits derived from environmental improvements is much more challenging, particularly in the marine context. Still, it remains an important prerequisite for conducting CBA. The aim of this paper is to evaluate to what extent benefits can be quantified for use in CBA focusing on the German marine waters. The results indicate that there are still considerable gaps in the scientific knowledge about many of the pressures mentioned in the MSFD. Moreover, few economic studies exist that evaluate the benefits of marine protection measures, and many of them are not applicable in the German context. In addition, there is the risk that some benefits accruing from marine protection measures are systematically omitted in CBA. This raises the question to what extent comprehensive CBAs as required by the MSFD are possible in Germany, but also in other EU MS.     

Institutional ambiguity in implementing the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive

This article addresses the institutional ambiguity that exists between the European, Regional and Member State levels in the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The two main reasons for the emergence of institutional ambiguity are (1) the MSFD being a framework directive and (2) Member States are required to coordinate the implementation of the MFSD through the Regional Sea Conventions. Institutional ambiguity refers to the interference zone between different institutional settings that come together in new policy practices. New rules of the game are needed to bring these institutional settings together and the room to manoeuvre for the actors who negotiate these rules is a defining feature of institutional ambiguity. This article analyses the institutional ambiguity associated with MSFD implementation on the European and regional level for four European Seas: the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The results indicate different levels of institutional ambiguity in each of the four regions, with the lowest level of ambiguity in the Baltic Sea and the highest in the Mediterranean Sea. Institutional ambiguity also exists on the European level, as coordination efforts have not resulted in clear directions for the implementation of the MSFD as yet. The level of institutional ambiguity is influenced by the relative number of EU member states bordering the particular sea and whether they consider implementation of the MFSD to be urgent. Member States bordering the Mediterranean and the Black Seas lack the support of Regional Sea Conventions in addition to receiving limited direction from the European level.     

Implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: A policy perspective on regulatory,institutional and stakeholder impediments to effective implementation

The implementation of the European Union (EU) Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU Member States to draft a program of measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES). Central argument of this paper, based on an analysis of the unique, holistic character of the MSFD, is that social and political factors are having a major influence on this MSFD implementation process. More specifically, four potential impediments have been identified that are curtailing the drive towards the effective implementation of the scheme advanced by the Directive. First, scientific uncertainty about aggregated ecological pressure and drivers in relation to the different sectors clouds the definition of national programmes of measures and this in turn may lead to implementation-drift in achieving GES. Second, the scale of the ecosystem is different from the political and socio-economic scales of individual, sectoral decision-making and activities. Third, policy coordination is required on several levels, i.e. at the EU level, within the Regional Sea Conventions, at national level and between these three levels. Finally, the coming together of both stakeholder involvement organized for the MSFD and those of existing, sectoral policy domains makes fair and efficient stakeholder involvement challenging. This paper concludes that more attention should be rendered to establishing appropriate coordination and communication structures, which facilitate greater engagement with the different Directorates-General in the European Commission, the European Council and the Parliament, the Member States, sectoral decision making institutions as well as stakeholder interest groups.     

Sometimes you cannot make it on your own; drivers and scenarios for regional cooperation in implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive explicitly calls for regional cooperation between the EU Member States in the different regional seas. This regional cooperation, although set in a general framework of EU Member States and non-EU states utilising existing Regional Sea Conventions as focal point, develops along different tracks. Based on a series of interviews with different stakeholder groups in the different regional seas the drivers for this regional cooperation were determined. These drivers were used to develop a set of scenarios to depict possible ways and structures for cooperation at the different regional seas. In this paper the result of this analysis and the different scenarios developed are presented. The five scenarios developed were very helpful in elaborating alternative governance models for regional cooperation. From the validation by the stakeholders it became clear that both the drivers used, as the scenarios developed were found to be relevant. There is no single solution that is going to fit all regional seas, or that is going to appeal to all stakeholders within a regional sea. Especially in this setting the scenario approach does help people to explore the full range of possibilities that exists for the development of alternative governance models that address two issues raised but not detailed in the MSFD: cooperation and participation.     

Marine strategy framework directive: Defining joint monitoring opportunities for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea,through dedicated decision making workshops and innovative policy tools

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is an important milestone for the preservation of the European marine environment. However, Member States can find its monitoring requirements challenging, particularly where it regards the definition and implementation of joint monitoring programmes between neighbouring countries. The challenges are even greater in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where many countries are not members of the European Union and where Regional Sea Conventions face greater difficulties in coordinating monitoring activities. This paper presents the results from two regional workshops, within the framework of IRIS-SES project, which aimed to inform policy- and decision-makers in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea on what key stakeholders, including scientists, academia and local authorities, consider the main gaps, needs and opportunities for the MSFD joint monitoring regarding eutrophication and contaminants. It shows that a bottom-up approach, guided by structured workshops, can be a successful means of enhancing cooperation.     

Evaluating conditions for transboundary Marine Spatial Planning: Challenges and opportunities on the island of Ireland

Transboundary cooperation is viewed as an essential element of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). While much of the MSP literature focuses on the need for, and benefits of, transboundary MSP, this paper explores the political and institutional factors that may facilitate the effective transition to such an approach. Drawing on transboundary planning theory and practice, key contextual factors that are likely to expedite the transition to transboundary MSP are reviewed. These include: policy convergence in neighbouring jurisdictions; prior experience of transboundary planning; and good working relations amongst key actors. Based on this review, an assessment of the conditions for transboundary MSP in the adjoining waters of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is undertaken. A number of recommendations are then advanced for transboundary MSP on the island of Ireland, including, the need to address the role of formal transboundary institutions and the lack of an agreed legal maritime boundary. The paper concludes with some commentary on the political realities of implementing transboundary MSP.     

The maintenance costs of marine natural capital: A case study from the initial assessment of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in France

There are two ways of assessing the costs of environmental degradation: as the costs associated with the loss of benefits resulting from the degradation of natural capital, and as the maintenance costs required to compensate for the actual or potential degradation of natural capital. The first of these methods is based on the Total Economic Value (TEV) of benefits forgone because of the depletion of ecosystem services delivered by marine biodiversity. The second method is based on the costs required to maintain a good state of marine biodiversity, one which makes it possible to deliver ecosystem services.This paper gives an illustration of this second approach. It details how these maintenance costs have been calculated in the initial assessment of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in France. It addresses nine problem areas – corresponding to nine sources of environmental degradation – from non-native invasive species to oil spills. It gives a total figure for these degradation costs (around 2 billion Euros). The results are compared with those of other Member States who have taken similar approaches in the context of the MSFD. One key conclusion is that it is not really possible to make meaningful comparisons at this stage, since the methods of data collection and the nature of the costs are very different. The need to develop such assessments in a standardised way is noted.     

The European Atlas of the Seas: Relating Natural and Socio-Economic Elements of Coastal and Marine Environments in the European Union

The European Atlas of the Seas is a web-based information system aimed at the general public, but it is also capable of supporting selected nonspecialist professionals in addressing environmental issues, human activities, and policies related to the coast and sea. It includes a collection of maps and associated fact sheets based on data originating primarily from the European Commission and its agencies, which present a snapshot of key natural and socio-economic elements of the coastal and marine regions of the European Union. It provides a suite of basic instruments for map analysis and data combination to derive ad hoc maritime indicators.     

Stratigraphy of the sediment infill in Bosphorus Strait: water exchange between the Black and Mediterranean Seas during the last glacial Holocene

The sediment infill over the Paleozoic bedrock in the Bosphorus Strait consists of four sedimentary units which were deposited in the last 26,000 ¹⁴C years B.P. The stratigraphy of these units suggests that this part of the Bosphorus was a freshwater lake between 26,000 and 5,300 ¹⁴C years B.P., depositing sands with a freshwater mollusc fauna of Black Sea neo-euxinian affinity (Dreissena rostriformis, Dreissena polymorpha, and Monodacna pontica). The first appearance of euryhaline Mediterranean molluscs (e.g., Ostrea edulis, Mytilus edulis) was observed at 5,300 ¹⁴C years B.P. in this part of the Bosphorus. Deposition of coarse Mytilus-bank and Ostrea-bank units suggests that the establishment of the present dual-flow regime in the Bosphorus took place at about 4,400 ¹⁴C years B.P.     

Being heard: Thinking through different versions of rationality,epistemological policing and dissonances in marine conservation

Emerging from ethnographic research conducted on the west coast of South Africa, this paper explores the ways in which fishers contrast their experience of fishing prior to the implementation of the Marine Living Resources Act, and the rise of fortress style conservation in fisheries management. Conservation as rhetoric has been used as a powerful means of supporting and justifying fisheries management objectives. The paper argues that fishers engage with their environments in ways that are different from how management understands human–nature relations. As a consequence, fortress style fisheries management and policing disallow fishers to engage with the sea in the ways that are intrinsic to their fishing practices. This results, in many instances, in curtailing the ways in which fishers are allowed to think about and interact with the sea. With the impending implementation of EAF in South Africa and the global call for working with multiple knowledges, the paper calls for relational ways of engaging in conservation.     

The Adaptive Marine Policy (AMP) toolbox: Supporting policy-makers developing adaptive policies in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

Adaptive management is essential to the practical application of the Ecosystem-Based Approach (EBA). Despite there are frequent assertions that adaptive management is being used, evidence on its success is still limited. Indeed, it is difficult to bring the different elements of adaptive management together in a robust way and to choose the appropriate tools to do it. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a practical framework for adaptive policy action, consistent with the EBA. Accordingly, to operationalize the design and implementation of adaptive policies on the basis of the EBA, the Adaptive Marine Policy toolbox has been developed. The objective of the toolbox is to provide policy-makers a practical framework to design and implement adaptive policies. To show the functionality of the toolbox, the guidelines and resources provided within the toolbox have been applied to the marine litter issue in the Mediterranean and Black Sea as an example. The example application has shown that the toolbox is a useful and operational framework to build a science-policy interface according to the EBA. Despite some resources could be missing from the toolbox, they provide a practical and useful starting point to support the application of the different steps and key activities.     

Assessing fish quality status in transitional waters,within the European Water Framework Directive: Setting boundary classes and responding to anthropogenic pressures

Validation of the AZTI's Fish Index (AFI), proposed for the Basque Country (northern Spain), in assessing fish quality within the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is undertaken. The response to anthropogenic pressure is investigated, in setting the boundaries between the different quality status classes. Hence, 12 estuaries were sampled, at different frequencies, between 1989 and 2007, by means of a beam trawl. Significant (p < 0.0001) correlations were found between the AFI and oxygen saturation and ammonia. Oxygen quality standards are used to set boundaries between quality classes. Then, the AFIs obtained are compared with different anthropogenic pressures, including urban and industrial discharges, engineering works and dredging. The effects of the removal of some of these pressures are also studied. The total number of pressures within an estuary shows significant (p < 0.009) negative correlation with AFI, explaining between 51 and 62% of the variability in fish quality. The impact of pressures upon fish and demersal assemblages is detected as required by the WFD. Nonetheless, further investigation and intercalibration of the methods used, are necessary.     

Assessing the ecological status of the North-western Adriatic Sea within the European Water Framework Directive: a comparison of Bentix, AMBI and M-AMBI methods

In this paper we looked for the most suitable method for benthic ecological quality status (EcoQS) assessment of the North-western Adriatic Sea. Taking into account the historical and present information, we inter-compared our expectations in terms of EcoQS, with the Bentix, AMBI and M-AMBI classification metrics results, and investigated the sensitivity of these indices to the spatial, seasonal and inter-annual variability of benthic communities. The sampling sites were located at increasing distances with respect to the Po River mouth, along an (inverse) gradient of eutrophication. Moreover, a 2-year monthly monitoring plan (October 2004–September 2006) was carried out at the CEBEB site, located in a central position with respect to the investigated area. The results highlighted that the three indices differed in the sensitivity to spatial and temporal variability of the benthic communities. The strong seasonal and inter-annual changes in the benthic communities had a significant effect on the Bentix, whereas no relevant modifications were observed on the EcoQS assignation obtained using the M-AMBI and AMBI methods. The environmental quality ratios (EQR) values and EcoQS classification obtained by the Bentix and AMBI did not match expectations, as they were not inversely correlated with the site distances with respect to the Po mouth, whereas the M-AMBI clearly discriminated the most and the least eutrophicated sites. It thus appears that the M-AMBI could be considered to be the most valuable method for the ecological-status assessment of the North-western Adriatic Sea benthic ecosystem.     

Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea: Objectives, Effectiveness and Monitoring

Abstract. The number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is continuously increasing worldwide because of the increasing recognition of the profound effects that humans can have on marine systems. A large body of literature deals with marine reserves and their potential as conservation and management tools. In several cases, empirical evidence demonstrated that reserves can harbour greater diversity, higher abundance, and larger organisms than unprotected areas. In most cases, however, reserve design and site selection involved little scientific justification, with no direct test of most of the mechanisms assumed to work in a marine reserve. Field investigations of subtidal marine reserves are generally confounded by intrinsic ecological differences between sites investigated inside and outside reserves, by a lack of site and reserve replication, or by the absence of information about the biota before reserve establishment. This is particularly true in the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this paper is to show that, at least in the Mediterranean basin, the effectiveness of MPAs has been rarely demonstrated because of lack of appropriate sampling designs. An MPA can be considered as a zone subjected to human impact, presumably a positive one. As a consequence, we propose the use of experimental procedures generally utilised for detecting environmental impacts.     

He who hesitates is lost: Why conservation in the Mediterranean Sea is necessary and possible now

Although significant advancements on protecting marine biodiversity and ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea have been made, much remains to be done to achieve the targets set by the Convention for Biological Diversity (and the Barcelona Convention) and ratified by the 21 Mediterranean governments. Particularly, these targets require the design and implementation of an ecologically representative network of marine protected areas that covers 10% of the Mediterranean surface by 2020. Despite the many efforts to gather spatial information about threats to the Mediterranean and conservation planning initiatives that identify sensitive areas for conservation, we are far from achieving this target. In this paper, we briefly review existing and proposed conservation initiatives at various scales throughout the Mediterranean to recognise those that have political endorsement and those that serve more as lobbying tools. We then propose a model process that can be applied to advance marine spatial planning within the eleven ecologically and biologically significant areas (EBSAs) through a multi-step process designed for moving conservation forward in this particularly complex region. The proposed process combines tenets of professional urban/regional planning and systematic conservation planning. As shown with two specific examples, despite some conventional wisdom, there is enough information on the Mediterranean Sea to move forward with ecosystem-based marine spatial management for conservation purposes using the EBSAs as a starting point - and the time is right to do so.