The successful and cost-effective implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) depends on regional cooperation between EU Member States and other countries. The aim of the European Union's ambitious MSFD is to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe.
So an 18 month pilot project has been setup to build a strong network between all organisations that have a responsibility for monitoring the areas of fisheries and environmental monitoring. It is an international affair that's being coordinated by The Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment/Rijkswaterstaat.
This new consortium has a few objectives. The most important being to create long lasting cross-border working for the current and future implementation of the MSFD.
So the two aims of this pilot project are to:
- find ways to better use and maximize all marine monitoring efforts across the organisations involved
- develop a proposal for a joint monitoring programme for the North Sea and Celtic Sea.
As part of Cefas’s involvement, I've organized a two day workshop, which starts today, to discuss opportunities to work on these aims by bringing together a group of European scientists and policy makers. This workshop is the first attempt to discuss how we can work together and pool our resources to provide the best implementation of the MSFD. And it will be great to bring colleagues from different disciplines from across EU countries to promote integration, which will only help improve the current marine monitoring.
It’s through these workshops and networks that we will ensure the best possible outcome for the EU's policy teams and best use our monitoring resources.
For more information about this workshop and final report, please get in touch by either signing up to email alerts from this blog or contact silvana.birchenough@cefas.co.uk.
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