Objectives

The overarching objectives of the proposal are to:

  • Upgrade and expand an integrated and sustained system for the Greek Seas
  • Upgrade and expand the existing monitoring platforms with new sensors and technologies
  • Integrate new datasets and quality assessed timeseries that estimate qualitative descriptors such as eutrophication, alternations of hydrography, noise and distribution and abundance of small pelagic fish.
  • Increase the area coverage of marine waters’ monitoring programs through the inclusion of the above activities into MFSD implementation plans
  • Deliver data through web tools and applications deriving from operational marine observations and forecasting
  • Improve the fisheries data collected within the current monitoring programs and harmonize the estimation of the small pelagic  fish stocks with the ecosystem approach to fisheries

Work Breakdown:

Task 1: Purchase of atmospheric and oceanographic sensors for the POSEIDON monitoring buoys (International Tender)

Task 2: Purchase of an echo sounder system for the recording of fisheries population data (International Tender)

Task 3: Purchase of trawl scanning instrument that will be used for the collection of advanced fisheries data (International Tender)

Task 4: Purchase of spare parts and supporting hardware for the operation of the POSEIDON monitoring buoys (International Tender)

Task 5: Implementation of an integrated marine monitoring program – Coordination of the project’s implementation activities

Deliverables:

Del. no.

Deliverable title

D.1

Announcement of the tender for the purchase of atmospheric and oceanographic instruments and other equipment for the upgrade and maintenance of POSEIDON’s mooring network- evaluation and acceptance of new components

D.2

Announcement of the tender for the purchase of the echo sounder system and the trawl scanning instrument that will be used for the collection of advanced fisheries data

D.3

Upgrades of selected observatories with new sensors and expansion of the present network’s observing capacity

D.4

Installation of echo sounder system and the trawl scanning instrument in the R/V “Philia”

D.5

Harmonization of QC and validation procedures of data collected through observation systems

D.6

Final report on the implementation and outcomes of the project

Expected Outcome

The POSEIDON oceanographic units together with the new fisheries monitoring equipment will provide the facilities for the routine recording of the following characteristics, pressure and impacts referred to Annex III of MFSD (related also with MSFD Articles 5(2iv) and 11 (1)):

Characteristics - Physical and chemical features

  • annual and seasonal temperature regime, current velocity, upwelling, wave exposure, mixing characteristics, turbidity, residence time

  • spatial and temporal distribution of salinity

  • spatial and temporal distribution of oxygen

Characteristics – Biological features

  • information on the structure of fish populations, including the abundance, distribution and age/size structure of the populations

Pressure and Impacts – Other physical disturbance

  • Underwater noise (e.g. from shipping, underwater acoustic equipment)

Pressure and impacts - Interference with hydrological processes

  • Significant changes in thermal regime

  • Significant changes in salinity regime

Regarding the geographical coverage, the system will provide data for the following marine subregions (defined in MSFD Article 4(2) :

  • the Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea

  • the Aegean-Levantine Sea.

According to the above, the project’s results will comply with the following expected outcomes and indicators for outputs described in Annex I of the Progamme Agreement:

Expected Outcome: Improved monitoring of marine waters

Output: Upgrades of existing systems for an integrated marine monitoring programme.

Output indicator: Number of integrated marine monitoring programmes implemented, cf. MSFD Article 5 (2iv), Target: 1

Output: Increased area coverage of marine waters' monitoring programmes

Output indicator: Number of marine sub-regions [cf MSFD, Article 4(2)] where a monitoring programme has been implemented, Target: 3