Programme: DG MARE – Mare/2014/41- Marine protected areas:networks for enhancement of sustainable fisheries in EU Mediterranean waters
Project title: Towards the establishment of Marine Protected Area Networks in the eastern Mediterranean
Acronym: PROTOMEDEA
Duration: December 2015 – November 2018
EU contribution: EUR 666.886
ISMAR budget: EUR 35.529
Web site: http://www.protomedea.eu/
Summary:
The ultimate goal of the project is to design a Marine Protected Area (MPA) network in the study areas (Greece and Cyprus), taking into account the protection of ecological characteristics and Essential Fish Habitats (EFH), significant areas for fisheries, as well as their socio-economic impacts through a participatory bottom-up process. More specifically, the project focuses on proposing Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks aiming to achieve the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Within this context, mapping of existing MPAs and EFHs is foreseen, while the development of ECOPATH models in selected MPAs will be considered, using previous and new data, in order to assess the current overall contribution of MPAs in fisheries sustainability. Additionally, what-if scenarios of MPAs’ impacts on MSY and ECOPATH/ECOSPACE models will be evaluated and discussed with a wide range of stakeholders in order to propose commonly agreed and more effective MPAs in the study areas. Different management schemes will be finally developed and examined in order to support the optimization of fisheries management.
Contact person in Ismar: g.scarcella@ismar.cnr.it
Partnership:
- Hellenic Centre for Marine Research HCMR, (Greece)
- University of the Aegean, (Greece)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, (Greece)
- Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre ENALIA, (Cyprus)
- National Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades, NMPANS, (Greece)
- National Research Council, Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR ISMAR, (Italy),
- University of Cyprus, (Cyprus)