Description
The main objective of the project is to facilitate the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive concerning the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the environmental status in the marine areas under the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Republic. The project will deliver the following: • Upgrade and expand the existing monitoring platforms with new sensors and technologies, • Data-sets and quality assessed time-series that estimate qualitative descriptors such as eutrophication, alternations of hydrography, noise and distribution and abundance of small pelagic fish, This will result in an increase in the area covered by marine waters’ monitoring programs. The project will deliver data through web tools and applications deriving from operational marine observations and forecasting. It will also improve the fisheries data collected within the current monitoring programs and harmonize the estimation of the small pelagic fish stocks with the ecosystem approach to fisheries.
Summary of project results
The main target of the project was to facilitate the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC) according to the Article 11, concerning the continuous monitoring and the evaluation of the environmental status in the marine areas under the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Republic. According to the requirements of the MSFD implementation in EU waters, the Member States have to complete an initial assessment of their marine waters and to determine their environmental policy. An indicative list of characteristics including physical, chemical and biological features are given in the Directive for the initial assessment of the environmental status. Under the above framework, the following activities were carried out during the project’s lifetime: a) Major upgrade of the observing components of the Greek marine monitoring system (POSEIDON system-
http://www.poseidon.hcmr.gr) through an extended renewal of its recording capabilities through the installation of new and more advanced sensors together with the addition of new supporting hardware, b) Major upgrade of the existing echo sounder system for the recording of fisheries population data, c) Major upgrade of trawl scanning instrument that is used for the collection of advanced fisheries data. After the above capacity building activities, the series of marine and atmospheric parameters that are routinely collected by the POSEIDON observatory stations together with the advanced underwater acoustics that will provide information for fisheries purposes on both fish stock assessment and fisheries indicators, are expected to provide a solid background for the implementation of the monitoring requirements of the MSFD. More information on the project’s website,
http://immp-eea.hcmr.gr
Summary of bilateral results