Ocean Observation

A) We concur to the fact that the split responsibility into different ministries and agencies makes it problematic to get a good overview of the different needs and planned activities, and that more oceanographic parameters could be collected at the same time during survey campaigns.

Observational oceanographers are integral to the Blue‑Action consortium. The Blue-Action project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 727852.

The coordination team of SHAREMED fully supports the Commission’s initiative for the development of a coherent, shared, transnational, European Ocean Observation. SHAREMED is a Interreg MED Strategic Project led by OGS– Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, born from the specific request of the Med Secretariat, and with the specific goal to define and test the implementation of a…

The National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics- OGS welcomes the opportunity to react to the European Commission Inception Impact Assessment, Ocean observation, and fully supports the Commission’s initiative for a coherent and consistent approach to European Ocean Observation.

The French Research Infrastructure (RI) for Coastal Ocean and Nearshore Observation (ILICO) thanks the DG Mare for the invitation to comment on the Ocean Observation Initiative. ILICO supports the views of CNRS-INSU, Jerico-RI (of which ILICO is the French hub), EuroGOOS & EOOS and other partners (as contributions are still coming). A.

The BOOS (Baltic Sea Operational Oceanographic System) welcomes the opportunity. BOOS consists of 22 operational marine agencies from 9 Baltic Sea countries, carrying out Baltic Sea observing for operational, environmental, climate and research monitoring. Since established in 1997, BOOS members have focused on improving the coordination for providing Baltic Sea observations for operational oceanography.

EMSO ERIC fully embraces the European Commission (EC) initiative to support integration and harmonisation of ocean observations in an interdisciplinary frame. This contribution aims to reinforce a shared common vision and contribute for optimising the use of pan-European infrastructure and sea operation resources.

We very much appreciate this initiative to move the European marine monitoring capacity forward. These days marine waters are more and more intensively used, for example for: energy production (wind farms), food production (aquaculture) and recreation. This leads to stronger impacts on the functioning of marine ecosystems and larger societal impacts of changes in marine ecosystems.

The European e-Science and Technology European Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem (LifeWatch ERIC) receives the news on the EC initiative to achieve a coherent ocean observation approach with great enthusiasm.

By Prof. Ed Hill CBE Part A NOC appreciate the opportunity to comment on this important EU initiative that promotes a one ocean perspective, spanning institutions, ministry portfolios, countries and political constructs. Acknowledgement is required that while fragmented, good collaborations exist that bridge responsibilities and funders to meet collective requirements.

The sharing and harmonisation of spatial and environmental data must be at the basis of ocean observation. The HOs, thanks to International Hydrographyc Organitation, are in progress to the standardization of a part of these observations but there is still a long way to reach a full sharing and use of environmental data.

‘Ireland has systematically been mapping the Irish seabed over the last 20 years with a view to using the ‘collect once – use many times’ principle. The data is therefore acquired to IHO standards for charting with additional self imposed constraints to maximise the usefulness of the data for ground discrimination (backscatter) and other geophysical properties.

The Eurofleets+ Consortium welcomes the initiative of the European Commission with regard to the Inception Impact Assessment. EUROFLEETS+ and its predecessors Eurofleets and Eurofleets2, EU funded projects have facilitated open free of charge access to an integrated and advanced research vessel fleet, designed to meet the evolving and challenging needs of the user community for Ocean Observation.

The Shom welcome this initiative coming from the Commission as a piece of the European strategy for marine data. Different examples for sharing efforts and means for the acquisition and sharing of marine data were done in the past and are running, but it’s a complex process. The impulse given by the Eu level in national acquisition and diffusion of data could help to progress in the sense of more synergy.

Molecular approaches such as metagenomics, metabarcoding and eDNA (environmental DNA) are increasingly being used for biodiversity monitoring due to efficiencies in sample collection, processing and the capability to identify and monitor taxa or functional biological markers that are otherwise very difficult to assess.

EU regulation – “Initiative Ocean Observation – sharing responsibility” - Input by Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia - Introduction: The hydrographic institute of the Republic of Croatia (CHI) is Croatian authorized public institution under the SOLAS Convention and national Hydrographic Act responsible for providing hydrographic service including charting activities primarily for safety of marine…

The following feedback represents the approach of the POSEIDON System's (HCMR, Greece) leading team: We welcome the initiative which addresses a very important issue. The problems listed in the inception note are significant with more characteristic in our opinion that of sustainability.

Oceans regulate the Earth’s climate and are integral to all known sources of life. Ocean processes are of biological, geological, chemical or physical nature, occurring at micro- to kilometre scales, from less than seconds to centuries, turning the understanding and the sustainable management of the ocean into a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary effort.

The Portuguese Hydrographic Institute, Instituto Hidrográfico, welcomes and very much appreciates this initiative. We clearly see the two major areas to address: data collection and data dissemination/reuse. Within these two major topics there is the identification of type of data to be collected, when, where, and the synchronization and planning of data acquisition between several stakeholders.

The coordination of JERICO-RI welcomes the opportunity to react to the European Commission Inception Impact Assessment, Ocean observation – sharing responsibility. Since its preliminary stage and in a series of 4 EU funded project, the community of JERICO-RI involves about 40 partners from 17 EU countries to elaborate an integrated pan-European multidisciplinary and multiplatform (more than 500) research…

Instituto Hidrográfico de la Marina (IHM) is the Spanish Hydrographic Office, responsible for official cartographic production covering Spanish coastal waters and seas. IHM welcomes and very much appreciates this initiative.

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Secretariat welcomes the proposal by the EU to develop mechanisms to optimise, enhance and lead to more coherence in the coordination of ocean observation and marine monitoring at national, and trans-national levels.

Coastal ocean is the most productive and dynamic part of the world ocean but will undergo in a close future higher pressure in many fields such as desoxygenation, acidification, increased erosion due to climate change, overfishing, increased population in coastal area, offshore electricity or seafood cultivation.

The proposed document describing the Ocean Observation initiative is considered very relevant by the CNRS-INSU, well documented and timely. Ocean observations are generally well developed at the national level, although they are still highly heterogeneous among States and do not yet meet the major current needs in terms of coverage in space, time and variables.

The achievement of the European Green Deal is time sensitive. The seas and ocean are common resources, as water and animals are not constrained by national borders. The European Ocean Observing System framework (EOOS, http://www.eoos-ocean.eu) Steering Group (http://www.eoos-ocean.eu/eoos-steering-committee-members/) welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to achieve coherent ocean observations in Europe by…

The European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC-ERIC) welcomes the European Commissions initiative to organise and coordinate marine observation efforts in Europe. The landscape is currently complex and many observation efforts are under-funded and unsustainable. The lack of cross-border collaboration makes data sharing and sampling approaches difficult and inefficient.

EuroGOOS welcomes the opportunity to react to the European Commission Inception Impact Assessment, Ocean Observation – Sharing Responsibility. EuroGOOS is a unique voice of European oceanography representing national and regional interests, well established in the Global Ocean Observing System.

The Euro-Argo European Research Infrastructure Consortium (Euro-Argo ERIC https://www.euro-argo.eu/ ) welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to instigate better coordination within and between Member States , complemented by EU funding, to achieve a coherent approach to European ocean observation.

The Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System -SOCIB-, a spanish marine research infrastructure, fully supports the Commission's initiative for a coherent approach to European Ocean Observation.

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is and intergovernmental organization composed of 93 Member States from the five continents. The IHO works to ensure all the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted, and coordinates the activities of national Hydrographic Offices (HOs), promoting uniformity in nautical charts and documents.

We welcome the European Commission’s efforts to centralise the information on what ocean variables are measured where, how often, and by whom. We also find the broad definition used for marine observation, including all survey and monitoring campaigns and sampling programmes currently conducted for different purposes (e.g. military, environmental and fisheries monitoring, research, navigation, etc.) beneficial.

An effective management of marine resources requires a good knowledge of the variability of marine ecosystems and their ultimate causes (climatic, direct anthropogenic impacts, geologic,…) and feedbacks. This knowledge must be critically based on direct observations of ocean properties and predictive models validated with these observations.

To understand and conserve ocean is fundamental to observe it in a sustainable and long term way in an appropriate temporal and spatial resolution. This could not be funded by projects but should be fund with a structural long term budget (> 10 years).

Systematic and continuous ocean observation is a scientific (baselines, variability over time, trends, climate change, etc.) and social need (advice, prognosis, planning, sustainable development, UN SDGs and other international policies including various EU directives).

Filed in Spanish · English published by the European Commission