The seas of the EU are still far from achieving ‘good environmental status’. This is shown by a new study in which researchers have summarised and evaluated the data required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) from all EU Member States. This includes data on biodiversity, fish stocks, marine litter and underwater noise. The results show that biodiversity is in poor condition in almost all waters. In addition, there are large data gaps in many regions. These make it considerably more difficult to draw up action plans for the protection of these waters. The authors of the study call for immediate action to improve monitoring and action plans both regionally and across the EU.

The European Union wants to achieve ‘good environmental status’ in all European waters with the help of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD 2008/56/EC). Water bodies are complex natural systems that are affected by a variety of human impacts and pressures. The MSFD has defined 11 qualitative descriptors that Member States must use to assess the environmental status of their waters every six years. The new study compiles all of this data to evaluate the status of all European waters. The results show, on the one hand, that biodiversity in all European waters is in poor condition and, on the other hand, that there are large data gaps in many regions, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. Here, ecosystems can be structurally changed and damaged by pressures without anyone noticing, and without measures being taken to improve and protect them. In the Baltic Sea, on the other hand, eutrophication has been counteracted with the help of measures to reduce nutrient inputs. This has been preceded by decades of studies. But it is clear, that the ecosystem here will also take a long time to recover. The study concludes by calling for the gaps and weaknesses in the current directives to be addressed immediately at regional and European level.

The study was supported by the GES4SEAS-Project (EU funding number 101059877). GES4SEAS is a project that uses an ecosystem-based management toolbox to better assess pressures and their impacts on marine ecosystems. Twenty-three partners from 14 countries are working on this EU-funded project. The toolbox is being tested at 11 sites in five regional seas and is intended to serve as a guide for policy decision-making.

Since its founding, the MariLim GmbH has paid attention to the observance of high quality standards, both in the implementation of its projects, as well as with regard to the working conditions for its employees.

After the first certification in 2017 according to the standards DIN EN ISO 9001 : 2015 and BS OHSAS 18001 : 2007, we transferred the management system “Safety and Health at Work” to the new German standard during the recertification in 2020.

In June 2023, the MariLim GmbH was again successfully recertified by TÜV CERT GmbH in accordance with the following standards:

Management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001 : 2015
Management system according to DIN ISO 45001 : 2018

The scope still reads:

Preparation of biological expert reports on environmental impact assessments, intervention assessment, baseline investigations, appropriate assessments according to the habitats directive, reports on species protection and water law as well as environmental monitoring and consulting in marine and limnic fields.

The certification is valid for three years and can be extended passing audits once again.

Since September 2022, MariLim works in the new EU innovation project GES4SEAS. It aims at predicting and assessing cumulative impacts from anthropogenic pressures (including climate change) on the coastal and marine ecosystems and their biodiviersity and on their ecosystem services. MariLim is one of 20 project partners which come from all over Europe and also include a partner from Canada. The project lasts for four years and aims to develop a practically oriented software toolbox for the prediction and assessment of these cumulative impacts. This will make it possible to assess the impacts in an ecosystem-based way in order to take the specific measures for achieving good environmental status and maintaining biodiveristy. The toolbox is targeted towards competent authorities and organisations on national, regional and european scale.

The project is part of the EU’s comprehensive Horizon Europe programme which aims to help stopping climate change, implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and strengthening growth and competitiveness in Europe.

The GES4SEAS project has been approved under HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-04 call: “Assess and predict integrated impacts of cumulative direct and indirect stressors on coastal and marine biodiversity, ecosystems and their services”

In 2022, the atlas on the distribution of underwater macrophytes will be published, which was authored in large part by MariLim employees Karin Fürhaupter and Torsten Berg and managing director Thomas Meyer.

For the distribution atlas, historical and current data of macrophyte species of the German Baltic Sea coastline were compiled, georeferenced and presented in species-specific maps. In total, data of 257 taxa from 249 references of different types (environmental monitoring, research reports, doctoral, diploma and master theses, herbarium vouchers, environmental assessments for maritime constructions, …) were evaluated. In addition to the cartographic representation of the data, extensive taxonomic and ecological information was added and is presented in species-specific fact sheets.

Bibliographic data:

Fürhaupter K, Berg T, Meyer T and Schilling P (2022): Distribution atlas of submerged macrophytes along the German Baltic Sea coastline. Koeltz Botanical Books. 407 p. [in English] (ISBN 978-3-946583-40-0) 
The print version is expected to be published in November 2022; the open access version follows in 2023.

Supplement (2024): The atlas is now available as PDF here: Distribution atlas of submerged macrophytes along the German Baltic Sea coastline.

Since its founding, the MariLim GmbH has paid attention to the observance of high quality standards, both in the implementation of its projects, as well as with regard to the working conditions for its employees.

After the first certification in 2017 according to the standards DIN EN ISO 9001 : 2015 and BS OHSAS 18001 : 2007, we transferred the management system “Safety and Health at Work” to the new German standard during the recertification in 2020. During the surveillance audit in 2021 the TÜV CERT GmbH once more confirmed that this changeover was successful.

The MariLim GmbH is now certified according to the following standards:

Management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001 : 2015
Management system according to DIN ISO 45001 : 2008

The scope still reads:

Preparation of biological expert reports on environmental impact assessments, intervention assessment, baseline investigations, appropriate assessments according to the habitats directive, reports on species protection and water law as well as research, environmental monitoring and consulting in marine and limnic fields.

The certification is valid for three years and can be extended passing audits once again.

The assessment systems for the open (BALCOSIS) as well as for the inner (PHYBIBCO) coastal waters of the German Baltic Sea according to the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive were updated by the MariLim GmbH (BALCOSIS: Version 4, Status: May 2019; PHYBIBCO: Version 2, Status: May 2019).

For the assessment of depth limits of both seagrass beds and Fucus spp. a new method has been established and implemented in the BALCOSIS system, Version 4. In this method, depth limits are assessed via a definition of plant stocks and evaluation criteria that consider the different reproduction processes and growth habits of both vegetation elements. The criteria do no longer apply coverage percentages as this method can lead to a high uncertainty depending on the experience and interpretation of the person evaluating the data.

Both implementation guidelines were edited and updated regarding literature references, taxonomic names, maps and tables for sampling stations as well as technical reforms like the reclassification of certain water bodies.

Further information for the assessment system BALCOSIS can be found on our own website:
https://www.marilim.de/en/information/water-framework-directive/balcosis

as well as for the assessment system PHYBIBCO:
https://www.marilim.de/en/information/water-framework-directive/phybibco

In sorting, species determination and counting of selected taxa from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, MariLim once more proved its high expertise.

In 2018, the Quality Assurance Authority of the German Marine Monitoring Programme for the North and Baltic Seas (BLMP) at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) organized the 7th Macrozoobenthos Ring Test. Now, the final report is published.

The ring test was conducted between the end of August and the middle of October 2018 with 14 institutions processing 16 sample sets. From the North Sea, 12 small glasses with 21 pre-defined taxa had to be sorted out and determined. The Baltic Sea was represented by a Kautex bottle filled with sediment containing 11 taxa (156 individuals). This samples had to be rinsed and sorted, before the individuals found could be determined.

The aim of the ring test was to evaluate the performance, i.e. the sorting and counting accuracy as well as the taxonomic expertise of the participating institutions.

Members of the MariLim laboratory staff, Galyna Cherednichenko, Sandra Dittmer and David Johannes, processed these samples using 18 hours (generally the time frame is 10–20 hours). They determined the North Sea taxa with 98 % and the Baltic Sea taxa with 100 % accuracy; only one North Sea species was not correctly identified.

Regarding the Baltic Sea taxa, an overall assessment of the quantitative and qualitative performance was calculated by combining accuracy rates. MariLim belongs to the top 4 of all participants. Our laboratory team correctly determined all taxa. The counted numbers of individuals were within the pre-defined tolerance range.

Together with Angel Borja (AZTI – Tecnalia, Spain) and Heliana Teixeira (university of Aveiro, Portugal), MariLim is doing a training course on 8.–9. Mai 2018 in the application of the assessment software NEAT. In the course, the background of the assessment method will be explained, the use of the software demonstrated, and the attendants will have the possibility to perform environmental assessments using their own data with the help of the lecturers. More information about the course is located on the course website.

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