Download Factsheet: Western Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea
case studies
Western Mediterranean Sea:
The Catalan Sea
VECTORS Fact sheet series
Vectors of change in European Marine
Ecosystems and their Environmental
and Socio-Economic Impacts
The VECTORS project seeks to develop
integrated, multidisciplinary research - based
understanding of changes taking place in our
marine environment, the mechanisms for
them and the ecological impacts expected
from them. VECTORS will examine how
these changes may affect the range of goods
and services provided by the oceans, the
ensuing socio - economic impacts and some
of the measures that could be developed to
reduce or adapt to these changes.
Regional Seas Case Studies
VECTORS studies three regional seas, the
North Sea, Baltic and Western Mediterranean,
as research areas for investigating the impacts
of human activities and how multiple pressures
can have combined and interacting effects
for the marine environment, society and
economy. Within each of the regional seas
several case studies are taking place to allow
more targeted investigation of the causes
and impacts of these pressures in particular
environments. This series of fact sheets
provides an overview of each case study and
the varying scientific approaches used.
Mediterranean Sea case studies
Drivers of change in the Mediterranean Sea
include eutrophication, fishing, tourism,
pollution, shipping and renewable energy
generation.
These activities can result in changes in
species distribution, impacts on biodiversity
and ecosystem function and a decrease in
fishing revenue, resources and tourism.
The Catalan Sea is facing increasing challenges as a consequence of an
intensification of use by a highly industrialised human population. These
uses are wide ranging, often compete for space and frequently impact on
biodiversity and species distribution, which is compromising the sea’s main
asset: the attractive and diverse coastal and marine ecosystems heavily
visited by residents and tourists.
One of the key challenges affecting tourism is an increase in jellyfish blooms
and coastal strandings, which have made marine issues more relevant to
the coastal population and visitors. A positive outcome of increased public
awareness is that this has led to new monitoring policies allowing frequency,
distribution and interactions with human uses to be measured. These
blooms also impact on the fishing industry as jellyfish are interacting with
marine food-webs and interrupting some of the early stages of commercial
fish species development by predation, adding one more dimension of
complexity in the already intricate state of fishing activities in the region.
Tourism is essential to the economy of Catalonia with more that 10% of the
regional GDP generated through touristic activities. This has led to a rapid
development of coastal areas in
the form of accommodation and
infrastructure, which is impacting on
coastal ecosystems. The Catalan
beaches attract a huge number of
visitors every year, mainly during
the summer season. The quality
of these assets is changing due to
human interventions, future energy
generation needs, and biodiversity
changes. Understanding how
these features are perceived and
intervening in individual decision
making processes will help to
improve recommendations for new
policies aimed at conserving the
cultural and recreational ecosystem
Tourism in Catalonia.
services in the region.
Fisheries production has declined during recent decades but is still a
significant pressure on the marine environment with consequences being
seen in the destruction of the seabed and stock depletion. Highly diverse
coastal ecosystems are being driven to a process of simplification which,
together with other climate and hydrodynamic related drivers, is favouring
the appearance of jellyfish blooms in the open sea and strandings on the
Catalan coasts. The cumulative effects of overfishing, climate change and
other stressors on the socio-economic system are causing a reduction
in the importance of the fishing sector as profits decrease, the extinction
of traditional ways of fishing as a cultural heritage, and a possible loss of
visitors due to an increase in jellyfish or reduction in the quality of the touristic
experience.
Institutions have not satisfactory dealt with these complex, multidimensional
and interrelated issues. Disciplinary knowledge is not enough to fully
understand the complexity of these processes. VECTORS aims to provide
more informed decision making tools through simulation of potential future
scenarios that allow analysis of future trade - offs as a base for developing a
shared vision for the future.
Contact
Project coordinator: Mel Austen
Project manager: Jenny Lockett
VECTORS Project Office
VECTORS
V1: Feb 2013
Coordinated by Plymouth Marine Laboratory
[email protected], www.marine-vectors.eu
Why
The interaction between the socio - economic system and its
environment is a complex relationship requiring interdisciplinary
approaches. Human use of ecosystems is impacting on their capacity
to support biodiversity. The ways in which biodiversity, fishing and
recreation interact are complex and dynamic. There’s a challenge in
approaching these issues in more comprehensive ways in order to
visualise possible futures and assess their consequences and reflect
about their desirability.
The interactions between biodiversity, fishing and
recreation are complex in the Catalan Sea
Where
The Catalan Sea is located in the NW Mediterranean, comprising of the area between
Cape Nao and Cape Cerbere in coastal Mediterranean Spain. For practical purposes, the
VECTORS scientists will consider the coasts and the near maritime domain of Catalonia
as the study site. The Catalan Sea has more than 500 km of diverse coasts ranging
from sandy to rocky profiles and attracts around 18% of the foreign tourism received by
Spain. Fisheries are in decline but still relevant with more than 120 commercial categories
exploited, and around a dozen high value species captured and sold daily in local markets.
In addition, two ports of national importance are located in Barcelona and Tarragona,
attracting a huge share of the international trade of Spain including oil imports.
Catalan Sea (image courtesy of NASA World Wind)
How
Through the application of different monitoring, modelling and valuation techniques, consequences of different paths for
the future can be tested. Climate change, energy supply changes, major economic changes or the effect of the growth of
human population will shape the way in which the Catalan Sea will be used in the next decades.
The trophic relevance of jellyfish with regards to commercial fish species, the role of over - fishing, and their influence in one
of the most important economic sectors of the region are at the core of the interest in this study area.
The future
How tourism can be affected by conditions favouring jellyfish blooms
and arrivals to the Catalan beaches is a major issue considering the
economic impact of this hypothetical situation. In addition, if jellyfish
interact with food-webs related with commercially relevant fish species,
will the depletion of stocks become irreversible? What will be the effect
of energy supply infrastructures for local economies?
Not all possible futures are equally desirable. The consequences of
different paths in selected variables can be assessed by using models
and simulations. Through the analysis of scenarios, trade - offs are made
explicit, and a base for a shared vision of the future can be built through
better informed policy design in relevant fields such as Marine Spatial
Planning.
Jellyfish blooms are affecting tourism in the Catalan Sea
VECTORS
VECTORS is a European project (26455) supported within
Themes 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the European Commission
Seventh Framework Programme
Authors
The authors of this fact sheet are
Sergio Sastre (CSIC, Spain, [email protected]) Ben Tomlinson
(CSIC, Spain) and Francesc Maynou (CSIC, Spain)