EMODnet Seabed Habitats participated in the recent GEOHAB 2024 Conference held in Arendal, Norway from 6-10 May 2024. This event was co-hosted by GRID-Arendal/University of Tasmania and the Geological Survey of Norway, in partnership with Ophelix Scandinavia AS.
The annual meeting of EMODnet Biology focused on providing all the partners an update of the progress so far and plans for the coming year and future. It was also an opportunity for the consortium partners to provide feedback on the work they have been doing for the different Work Packages they are involved in. The meeting counted with 35 colleagues from all but two partner organisations, with roughly 54% of those on site and the remaining 46% online.
EMODnet Seabed Habitats continues to expand geographical coverage of the project to selected EU territories in the Caribbean (Anguilla, Sint Maarten, Guadeloupe and Martinique). The process of collating data for the Caribbean began during Phase 4 of the project (2021-2023).
The data published increased our holdings by roughly 1.5 million records and includes data from 1970 to 2022 from the North Atlantic and the North Sea. These data provide information on all groups except reptiles and ranging from methodologies to abundance or habitats.
The EMODnet Biology course hosted by the Ocean Teacher platform has been updated. This new version is open to self-enrolment until May 2025 and includes a new section on how to provide information on seabed habitats.
On 27-30 November over 340 partners, associated partners, and stakeholders of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) gathered in Brussels for the third EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree. The week kicked off with a Partner Jamboree with the >120 partners exchanging on their latest service developments and joint activities. The Open Conference was a public event, moderated by Karen Coleman.
On 29th November, the two EC marine data services EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service launch a joint statement on the EU in situ marine data landscape. The statement explains the complementarity between the two EU marine knowledge assets, and explains how the services work together, following a high-level agreement between DG DEFIS and DG MARE and the signature of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2016.
The Finnish Environment Institute, Syke Finland are the new Coordinator for Phase 5 of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which commenced in September 2023, and will run for two years through to 2025.
OSPAR, the Regional Sea Convention for the Northeast Atlantic Ocean is a key user of EMODnet data, data products and services. EMODnet data and data products are regularly used as evidence to support regional sea-basin assessments.
The European Marine Board (EMB) has released a new report on sustainable management of the offshore renewable sector, titled " Future Science Brief No. 9 European offshore renewable energy: Towards a sustainable future ". While the report highlights the need for increased offshore renewable energy capacity, it also emphasizes the importance of managing the expansion sustainably and responsibly. Furthermore, the report notes that access to industry data remains a significant barrier for offshore…
