Scientific watch

2020 is a key year for the EU in terms of meeting conservation objectives under the 2011 biodiversity strategy, the CFP (Common Fisheries Policy) and the MSFD (Marine Strategy Framework Directive). 2021 should see the Conference of the Parties to

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are playing a central role in the achievement of ocean sustainability and, since 2000, their global coverage has increased over ten times. The success of MPAs, and therefore the delivery of their potential outcomes for human

Sustainable development (SDG) 14* provides a vision for the world’s oceans; however, the management interventions that are needed to achieve SDG 14 remain less clear. This study assessed the potential contributions of seven key area-based management tools (such as fisheries

Despite notable successes in helping to protect the ocean, the scale of actions is simply not now meeting the overriding scale and nature of the ocean’s problems that confront us. Moving into a post-COVID-19 world, new policy decisions will need

Ecosystems provide many services to humans, with marine systems contributing a significant proportion of those. These services include provision of food and raw materials, climate regulation and opportunities for recreation, amongst others. This paper describes the work that progresses the

The Mediterranean marine region is considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities due to the high occurrence of rare and threatened species, endemism and high species richness. However, several pressures are ongoing and in order to increase

Acute climate events like marine heatwaves have the potential to temporarily or permanently alter community structure with effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study aimed to quantify the magnitude and consistency of climate driven community shifts inside and outside

The number of protected areas that restrict or prohibit harvest of wild populations is growing. However, the underlying assumption that harvest has actually ceased is rarely tested directly. Determining whether illegal harvest (poaching) has continued in a protected area is

Pinna nobilis is suffering a widespread mass mortality linked to the pathogen Haplosporidium pinnae. At present, only one population along the Spanish Mediterranean coast located in Fangar Bay (North Ebro Delta) remains clean of pathogens. A few kilometers south, the

Past events of mass mortality in Mediterranean sponge communities have been linked to extended periods of high-temperature anomalies, yet it is unknown how a gradual change, such as the constant rise in global seawater temperatures, will affect biodiversity. This study