MSFD regions and subregions - version 2, Oct. 2022

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is implemented through an ecosystem-based approach, requiring cooperation amongst Member States and non-EU states sharing a marine region or subregion. For this purpose, MSFD Article 4 lists the following four marine regions: the Baltic Sea, the North-east Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Two of these regions are further divided into four subregions each:North-east Atlantic Ocean:- The Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat, and the English Channel;- The Celtic Seas;- The Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast;- Macaronesia.Mediterranean Sea: - The Western Mediterranean Sea;- The Adriatic Sea;- The Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea;- The Aegean-Levantine Sea.The present map provides the spatial extent of MSFD regions and subregions, as agreed by the MSFD Committee in November 2016. It is provided in ESRI Geodatabase and ESRI shape format, and OGC Geopackage formats.

IdentificationAbout this resource

Alternate Identifier: 5c8bc3a9-d8f3-4275-b4ee-fb942f411aa8

Publication Date: 2022-10-14

Title: MSFD regions and subregions - version 2, Oct. 2022

Short Name: MSFD regions and subregions

Abstract: The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is implemented through an ecosystem-based approach, requiring cooperation amongst Member States and non-EU states sharing a marine region or subregion. For this purpose, MSFD Article 4 lists the following four marine regions: the Baltic Sea, the North-east Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Two of these regions are further divided into four subregions each:North-east Atlantic Ocean:- The Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat, and the English Channel;- The Celtic Seas;- The Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast;- Macaronesia.Mediterranean Sea: - The Western Mediterranean Sea;- The Adriatic Sea;- The Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea;- The Aegean-Levantine Sea.The present map provides the spatial extent of MSFD regions and subregions, as agreed by the MSFD Committee in November 2016. It is provided in ESRI Geodatabase and ESRI shape format, and OGC Geopackage formats.

Dataset Language: English

Dataset Creator: European Environment Agency - (Point of contact)

Metadata Provider: SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics - Chiara Bortoluzzi (Data Manager)

Dataset Contact: European Environment Agency - (Point of contact)

Keywords (GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0)

Bio-geographical regions

Keywords (GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0)

Sea regions

Keywords (GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0)

Oceanographic geographical features

Keywords (GEMET)

Marine environment

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Aegean Sea

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Ionian Sea

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Black Sea

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Northeast Atlantic Ocean (40W)

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Baltic Sea

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Bay of Biscay

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Adriatic Sea

Keywords (Continents, countries, sea regions of the world)

Mediterranean Sea

Keywords (Spatial scope)

European

Keywords (EEA topics)

Water

Geographic Coverage

Geographic Description: Europe

Bounding Box

West Bounding Coordinate: -16.59

East Bounding Coordinate: 45.20

North Bounding Coordinate: 69.98

South Bounding Coordinate: 28.45

Temporal Coverage

Range of Dates

Begin Date: 2016-11-01

End Date

resourceLicensesLicense Information

Intellectual Rights: Copyright holder: European Environment Agency

Resource License

License Name: Creative commons CC-BY 4.0

URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Acknowledgements

Distribution

Online

A brief description of the the content of online URL.: MSFD regions and subregions - version 2, Oct. 2022

URL: https://sdi.eea.europa.eu/datastore/public?path=/eea_v_3035_100_k_msfd-regions-subregions_p_2016-now_v02_r00

• Project

Title: MSFD regions and subregions - version 2, Oct. 2022

Abstract: The present map provides the spatial extent of the regions and subregions defined under the MSFD. The delineation of the marine regions and subregions under the MSFD was developed over the period 2010-2016 through the MSFD Common Implementation Strategy, supported by the EEA and the ETC-ICM. The map was adopted by the EU Member States in the MSFD Committee in November 2016. The basis for the boundaries between the marine regions and subregions is described in the EEA report (Jensen, H.M., Panagiotidis, P., Reker, J. 2017. Delineation of the MSFD Article 4 marine regions and subregions. Version 1.0 EEA, Copenhagen).

Personnel

Organization Name: European Environment Agency

Individual Name

Given Name

Surname

Position Name: Point of contact

• Method

Method Step

Description: The landward boundary of all regions and subregions has used the 'EEA coastline for analysis', this is a practical solution because the MSFD inner boundary formally follows that defined for coastal waters under the Water Framework Directive, for which a consistent boundary is not yet available for all reporting countries. This map includes MSFD regions and subregions with a total of 10 units (8 subregions and 2 regions). The map does not include dissolved (aggregated) MSFD-region polygons for the Black Sea, North-east Atlantic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea. The extent of the map is EU27 (following Brexit, United Kingdom marine waters have been excluded).

Citation: Jensen, H. M., Panagiotidis, P., Reker, J. (2015). Delineation of the MSFD Article 4 marine regions and subregions. European Topic Centre. Inland, coastal, marine waters.

• Data Table

Name: MSFD_Regions_and_Subregions_LAEA_20221003

Physical

Data Format

Externally Defined Format

Format Name: GDB

• Data Table

Name: MSFD_Regions_and_Subregions

Physical

Data Format

Externally Defined Format

Format Name: Geopackage

• Data Table

Name: MSFD_Regions_and_Subregions_LAEA_20221003

Physical

Data Format

Externally Defined Format

Format Name: Shapefile