CONSULTATION BRIEF
Start date: 26 June 2023
Closing date: 24 July 2023
Title of the Public Consultation: Updated Marine Monitoring Programme pursuant to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD)
Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise (MEEE)
Entity: Environment and Resources Authority (ERA)
- Background
The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) calls for the establishment and implementation of coordinated monitoring programmes to assess the status of the marine environment.
The Monitoring Programme is established in accordance with Article 11 of the Directive, on the basis of the descriptors and elements set out in the Directive and related Commission Decision 2017/848 laying down criteria and methodological methods for monitoring and assessment.
Malta’s first marine monitoring programme was established in 2015 and implemented over the period 2017 – 2019. The data collected was used for Malta’s Update to the Initial Assessment, GES and environmental targets, published in 2019. Additional monitoring and assessment focusing on marine mammals and reptiles, seabirds and food webs, was undertaken in 2020 – 2022 to inform the updating of the monitoring programme.
In accordance with Article 17 and Article 19 of the Directive, all the elements of the marine strategy should be reviewed every six years after their initial establishment and the updates made available to the public for comments. Within this context, the updated monitoring programme is being issued for public consultation.
- Consultation
The MSFD marine monitoring programme has been reviewed and updated, taking into consideration the experience gained from the first implementation cycle, as well as policy developments that have taken place in the interim, such as the requirements of Commission Decision 2017/484, as well at the 2019 update to the Initial Assessment, including identified data gaps and established environmental targets.
The Monitoring Programme incorporates monitoring strategies and programmes that cover the features, activities and pressures relevant for GES, including monitoring of characteristics as per Annex III to the MSFD and Decision 2017/848. These include benthic habitats, pelagic habitats, seabirds, marine mammals, turtles and fish, as well as the various pressures including marine litter, contaminants, eutrophication, commercially exploited species, non-indigenous species, hydrographical change and underwater noise.
The programme builds on existing monitoring procedures emanating from other policies (e.g. Common Fisheries Policies, Food Safety Regulations) to avoid duplication of monitoring effort. Monitoring requirements emanating from various marine-related policies, including requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive and the EU Nature Directives as applicable to the marine environment, and also those of the Barcelona Convention [Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean] and its relevant protocols have also been considered and integrated in the national monitoring programme.
ERA invites the public to submit any feedback on the MSFD Monitoring Programme.
- Documents
The MSFD Monitoring Programme consists of the following Monitoring Strategies:
D1 Biodiversity – fish and cephalopods
D1 Biodiversity – pelagic habitats
D1 Biodiversity – benthic habitats
D3 Commercial fish and shellfish
D4 Food webs/D1 Biodiversity – ecosystems
D8 Contaminants & D9 Contaminants in seafood
- Submission of feedback
Comments are being invited through the feedback form at publicconsultation.gov.mt or otherwise by email through [email protected]
- Further notes
Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.
All comments submitted shall be duly considered.
