Monitoring pelagic habitats to support future EU Policies Strategic view on how the daily monitoring of marine water-column habitats will support the future EU Integrated Maritime Policy (MSP, CFP, MSFD) to stimulate ecosystem health and blue growth.
2014
DRUON Jean-Noel
This report is a prospective document which aims at showing the potentials of marine productivity and fish habitat monitoring to support the EU Integrated Maritime Policies. The main proxy for marine productivity relies on the daily tracking of productive frontal systems of the surface ocean (chlorophyll-a fronts) and of the hydrological tolerance of a specific species by physical ocean models. The monitoring of pelagic habitats allows to introduce the still lacking spatial and environmental dimensions in the fisheries management to a) improve stock assessments, b) adjust fishing opportunities to the productivity of marine ecosystems, c) identify in space and time the essential fish habitats to preferably protect for sustainable catches and d) limit by-catch by differentiating target from non-target species habitats. Other applications such as the risk of ship strike with large cetaceans or the eutrophication detection illustrate the capacities of the pelagic habitat monitoring to support the integration of multiple human activities within the EU Maritime Spatial Planning. The policy exploitation of this field of research requires the integration of the fishery and environmental scientific disciplines.
Show more [+] Less [-]JRC.G.4 - Maritime affairs
Show more [+] Less [-]Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by European Union