Major MSFD Workshop on Research Needs with regard to Pressures and Impacts on Marine Ecosystems
The workshop is organised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre (JRC), L’Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (IFREMER), and el Centro Tecnológico del Mar – Fundación CETMAR; all of which are partners in the STAGES project.
The workshop report will form the basis of the STAGES science-policy report on needs for further research for the implementation of the MSFD. This report will be used to inform future research, as well as programme managers and decision makers.
The format of the Pressures and Impacts workshop will mirror that of the first STAGES workshop, The Identification of Research Needs with Regard to the Implementation of Monitoring Programmes (held in Brussels, Belgium, in May 2013), in that a consultation process is underway prior to the workshop that will help to develop an understanding of the main knowledge gaps and identify the research needs with regards to the current pressures and their impacts on marine ecosystems under the MSFD. The compilation of information has been organised on the basis of the 11 descriptors of GES.
This consultation will inform the focus of the workshop discussions of the five Thematic Groups: the Biodiversity Group; the Contaminants & Nutrients Group; the Disturbances Group; the Commercially Exploited Fish Group; and the Hydrographical Conditions Group. Results from the workshop will be presented thematically as general considerations highlighting where specific knowledge gaps occur and providing short-term, medium-term and long-term recommendations for further research per theme.
“This second workshop will inform the state-of-the-art knowledge on pressure relations and the accumulation of their impacts in the marine environment. It will also allow the identification of knowledge gaps and research needs for the design of more efficient pressure control measures with the aim to progress towards GES,” explained Marisa Fernández, from CETMAR, the STAGES coordinator.
The final STAGES workshop, The Identification of Research Needs with Regard to Socio-Economic Analysis, will be held later this year (October 2013).
For more information about STAGES and The research needs with regard to the pressures and their impacts on marine ecosystems, please visit www.stagesproject.eu or contact Marisa Fernández Cañamero, STAGES Coordinator (mfernandez@cetmar.org) or Raquel Diez Arenas (rdiez@cetmar.org), Centro Tecnológico del Mar - Fundación (CETMAR) www.cetmar.org.
Notes for Editors
The STAGES project is being carried out by a consortium of eight partners in seven countries and is being coordinated by the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR) in Spain. STAGES has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 308473.