OTHER PROGRAMMES - IDEM project

Programme: DG ENV/MSFD Second Cycle/2016

Project title: Implementation of the MSFD to  the deep Mediterranean Sea

Acronym: IDEM

Duration: April 2017 – March 2019

EU contribution to the project: EUR 960.000

EU contribution to ISMAR: EUR 99.761

Web site: in progress

Summary:

Deep-sea ecosystems represent the largest part of the biosphere on the planet, thus play fundamental roles in global biogeochemical cycles and in mitigating climate change impacts. The deep ocean encompasses several hotspots of biodiversity such as submarine canyons, seamounts, cold water corals, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, among those represented in the Mediterranean basin.

Presently, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive fails in capturing such huge dimension and it is mostly focused on coastal habitats or those impacted/reached by fishery activities such as trawling, which is banned in the Mediterranean below 1000 m of depth (GFCM, 2006). Managing the deep sea, through the implementation of our knowledge on its ecosystem function and services, is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of coastal zones and their resources, which rely on the functioning of deep-sea ecosystems. Still, the deep sea acts as a major CO2 reservoir and again will play an essential role in the future climate change scenario. This gap must be adequately assessed for appropriate ecosystem-based management (EBM). While EBM is already included in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, there is currently a lack of standards for offshore and deep waters and a harmonized methodology is needed.

In this context the project IDEM aims to support the next phase of MSFD implementation, in particular to achieve regionally coherent, coordinated and consistent updates of the determinations of GES, initial assessments and sets of environmental targets by July 2018 for the deep Mediterranean sea (below 200 m of depth). Understanding and quantifying drivers, pressures and impacts in the deep sea, together with cumulative impacts, is a crucial step towards developing a comprehensive set of environmental targets and associated indicators that can be used to extend the concept of Good Environmental Status (GES) to the deep sea. To achieve this main objective IDEM will review and update the current determinations of GES, environmental targets and indicators to be adapted to the Mediterranean deep-sea basin. This will be done through literature/existing data review and oceanographic surveys (one/two surveys in four areas of the Mediterranean, encompassing the whole basin in order to fulfil existing gaps for the implementation of MSFD in the deep sea).

Furthermore, an integrative analysis of all indicators will be performed in order to establish key-areas for monitoring. Overall IDEM will provide also crucial information for conservation and management, including the identification of Special Areas of Conservation and the design of Marine Protected Area networks.

Contact person in Ismar: marco.taviani@ismar.cnr.it, federica.foglini@ismar.cnr.it

Partnership:

1. Polytechnic University of Marche, (Italy)
2. Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), (Spain)
3. The Republic of Cyprus represented (in this agreement) by the Department of Fisheries Marine Research (DFMR) (Greece)
4. Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile (ENEA) (Italy)
5. Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) (France)
6. Tel Aviv University (TAU) (Israël)
7. Universität de Barcelona (UB)  (Spain)
8. University of Malta (UM) – (Malta)