NEWS: Mapping the Sea’s Most Vulnerable Areas to Protect Marine Life

Identification of high-risk areas for sentinel species, given different applications and knowledge of legislative frameworks, in the EUSAIR Region

As part of Activity 1.1 of the SAMESEA project, partners analysed the current legislation in the Adriatic-Ionian region related to the protection of key marine species and identified areas where these species are most likely to come into contact with human activities.

The bio-ecological characteristics of these species make them particularly exposed to human pressures. Therefore, understanding how this interaction is most likely to occur at a regional scale remains a knowledge gap, making it essential to identify ecologically critical areas to support effective conservation and management strategies.

After an intensive collaboration involving the entire SAMESEA partnership under the guidance of the LP-CoNISMa probabilistic maps of the sentinel species’ distribution and vulnerability to interactions with human activities were produced. This allowed us to identify potential conflict hotspots that require priority attention.

Some of the maps obtained (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2), after a long and complex process of ecological analysis and modeling and available in Deliverable 1.1.1, are reported here and highlight the main areas of occurrence of the bottlenose dolphin and the areas most likely to interact with trawling. Although interpreting the results requires a thorough understanding of the potential and limitations of the analytical techniques used, the findings may support future research, conservation efforts, and the development of effective management strategies.

Fig. 1 – Map of predicted presence of T. truncatus across the study area, derived from the RF model.

Fig. 2 – Probability of interaction between T. truncatus and trawlers in the study area.