A four-year European research project has developed a set of tools designed to help marine managers evaluate fishing alongside climate change, pollution, and other pressures affecting ocean ecosystems.
The GES4SEAS project, funded through the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, brought together 21 organizations from 15 countries to examine how marine managers can consider multiple environmental and human pressures together.
For fisheries, the approach could provide managers with a broader picture of what is driving changes in marine ecosystems rather than examining fishing, warming waters, pollution or other factors independently.
One of the project's primary tools, called Tikta, combines spatial, environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic information. Users can examine factors including fisheries, climate change, pollution, and invasive species, account for uncertainty, and explore potential future scenarios.
According to GES4SEAS, assessments that considered several pressures at the same time identified larger areas potentially at risk than assessments focused on a single stressor.
The tools were tested at 11 sites across European waters and French Polynesia, with roughly 25 pilot applications using ecological modeling, environmental observations and spatial analysis. The case studies examined issues ranging from harmful algal blooms and invasive species to changes in predator populations and the combined effects of climate change and human activity.
The project is built around ecosystem-based management, an approach that considers human activities, biodiversity, and ecosystem conditions together when making management decisions. The research is primarily aimed at European marine governance and supporting environmental requirements under European Union policies.
GES4SEAS researchers said marine managers and government organizations were involved in developing and evaluating the tools. Participants included national authorities, the European Environment Agency, the European Commission's Joint Research Center and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
The project has now concluded after four years of research, leaving its software, methodologies, datasets, and training materials publicly available.
