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...
The EMOD-network participated in force at the second edition of the International Ocean Data Conference (IODC-II) on 20-21 March 2023 where the recent EMODnet unification of services was presented, together with dialogues on EMODnet’s contribution to FAIR data and the Global Ocean Data Ecosystem, together with its active input to the UN Ocean Decade Data and Information Strategy. EMODnet was also well represented at the 27th session of the International Oceanographic Data and Information...
EMODnet Seabed Habitats have published a new a story map on EUSeaMap and its applications in an EU Reporting context. It also gives insights into why the map has changed since its first iteration in 2012.