The main objective of the EnviEFH Project is to facilitate the spatial component of fisheries management by applying an environmental approach to the mapping and designation of Essential Fish Habitats in the Mediterranean Sea.

The specific objectives are as follows:

  • To collate and use existing environmental and biological data in order to develop the basis for an Essential Fish Habitat Designation Tool that will facilitate the spatial component of fisheries management

  • To identify and map the spatiotemporal distribution of ocean production processes that affect species distribution and create favouring habitats throughout the various stages of species life cycles

  • To introduce species life history information to the description of environment-species interactions in order to identify spawning, nursery and feeding aggregation regions as well as over-exploited areas and alternative fishing grounds

  • To validate and disseminate project research results to fisheries managers and scientists as well as to coastal fishing communities through the Internet, hardcopy habitat maps and stakeholder workshops


    The objectives of the EnviEFH project target the responsible and sustainable fisheries activities that contribute to healthy marine ecosystems by allowing the growth of an economically viable and competitive fisheries industry.

    EnviEFH objectives are related to SSP Priority objectives and the CFP in 3 main ways:

  • Use new concepts in fisheries management (those based on the ecosystem approach) by introducing the spatiotemporal mapping of Essential Fish Habitats (EFH) as a process that is based on the identification of certain EFH environmental characteristics that are preferred by species (species-specific environmental habitat descriptors)

  • Make extensive use of new scientific developments (use of Remote Sensing and GIS technologies and new advanced methodologies in EFH mapping)

  • Enhance technical measures (like measures to map and protect essential fish habitats and identify overfished areas and alternative underfished fishing grounds)