15/2023
Sustainable Development Goals (14/17)
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
In this number...
The “2030 Agenda Indicators for Sustainable Development” are an operation of the National Statistics Plan drawn up by the INE in partnership with the statistical services of the ministries. Its results can be viewed at: https://www.ine.es/dyngs/ODS/en/index.htm.
By means of Goal 14 countries commit to: 1) Prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly any produced by activities carried out on land, including marine debris and nutrient pollution; 2) Sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems in order to prevent significant adverse impacts and take measures to restore them so as to re-establish the health and productivity of the oceans; 3) Minimise and address the effects of ocean acidification, including by means of greater scientific cooperation at all levels; 4) Effectively regulate fishing exploitation, put an end to overfishing, unlawful, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement management plans to restore fish stocks; 5) Conserve at least 10% of coastal and marine areas in accordance with national laws and international law, upon the basis of the best available scientific information; 6) Prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to over-capacity and overfishing, eliminating those that contribute to unlawful, unreported and unregulated fishing, and refrain from introducing new subsidies of the above nature; 7) Increase the economic benefits that the least developed countries obtain from the sustainable use of marine resources; 8) Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology in order to improve the health of the oceans and enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries; 9) Facilitate artisanal fishermen’s access to marine resources and markets; and 10) Improve the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources by applying the international law reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The global framework contains 10 indicators for the monitoring of Goal 14. 4 subindicators corresponding to 3 global indicators have been published on the national platform of SDG indicators. Therefore, the coverage rate of the SDG 14 indicators stands at 30%.
Marine waters affected by eutrophication
The Europen indicator "Marine waters affected by eutrophication" shows the proportion of eutrophic marine waters in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). An area is classified as eutrophic if, for over 25% of the observation days in a given year, chlorophyll concentrations as an indicator of eutrophication lie above the 90th percentile of the 1998-2017 reference baseline. The Copernicus Marine Monitoring Service (part of the EU’s Earth Observation Programme) has calculated the indicator based on satellite images.
In 2022, the proportion of marine waters in the EU-27 affected by eutrophication stood at 1.02%, set against 0.54% in 2015.
Sweden, Denmark and Portugal were the countries with the highest values for this indicator, with 6.67%, 2.44% and 1.91%, respectively. At the other end of the scale, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Lithuania were the countries with the lowest percentage (0.00%).
As for Spain, 0.60% of its marine waters were affected by eutrophication in 2022, a fall of 1.01 percentage points since 2015 (1.61%). However, this fall has not been constant in the 2015-2022 period, given that in 2017 the percentage was 0.00%, whereas it stood at 2.71% in 2018 and 0.91% in 2021.
54,920 km2 of marine waters in the EU are regarded as affected by eutrophication and 6,058 km2are regarded as affected in Spain?
Average sea acidity (pH)
The indicator 14.3.1.1 Average sea acidity (pH) in Spanish territorial waters is calculated by the State Agency and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The indicator is broken down into five demarcations. Marine demarcations are regarded as subdivisions of the marine regions and subregions that constitute the spatial scope with which each marine strategy will be developed. There are five: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Strait and Alborán, Levantine-Balearic and Canary Island Demarcation (Article 6.2 of Law 41/2010 of 29 December on the protection of the marine environment).
In 2020, the pH value that measures the average sea acidity in Spanish territorial waters was 8.062. This figure represents a fall of 0.009 with respect to 2015, when the pH value stood at 8.071.
By demarcations, in 2020 those with the highest pH values were the marine demarcation of the Strait and Alborán and the North Atlantic marine demarcation, both with 8.070. They were followed by the Levantine-Balearic region (8.067) and the South Atlantic region (8.063). Finally, the Canary Island marine demarcation was the one with the lowest pH value (8.053).
Sustainable fish stocks and vulnerable marine ecosystems
Subindicator 14.4.1.2 Number of vulnerable marine ecosystem areas and subindicator 14.4.1.1 Number of fish stocks managed at maximum sustainable yield levels are the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The former measures the number of areas closed to bottom fishing and the latter is a proxy for global indicator 14.4.1 Proportion of fish stocks whose levels are biologically sustainable.
In 2022 there were 52 vulnerable marine ecosystems in Spain, a figure which represents an increase of 16% with respect to 2015 (45). However, the number remained constant from 2015 to 2020.
Moreover, the number of fish stocks managed at sustainable yield levels in 2022 was 62, 17% more than in 2018 (53). Between 2018 and 2020 the number rose to 62, but in 2021 it fell to 55.
Did you know that…?
fishing pressure has undergone a downward trend since 2015 in the Northwest Atlantic (falling from 0.91 to 0.76 in 2021) and the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea (falling from 2.00 to 1.71 in 2020)? (Values below 1 are regarded as sustainable fishing.)
Marine protected area
Subindicator 14.5.1.1 Marine protected area measures the marine surface area that enjoys some form of protection. The values of the total protected marine surface area are determined upon the basis of the digital mapping of the protected spaces included in the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity (Protected Natural Spaces, Natura 2000 Network or Areas protected by international instruments), without any overlapping between the different typologies of areas. The source of the indicator is the Natural Spaces or Areas of Interest statistic, managed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
With regard to the 2016-2021 period, the protected marine area in Spain measured in thousands of square kilometres increased from 84.4 in 2016 to 132.13 in 2021, representing an increase of 56.6%.
The percentage of protected marine surface area in the EU-27 and Spain stood at 12% during 2021.
Measuring progress on Goal 14
Progress in Spain on the SDG 14 subindicators is presented, distinguishing between short-term progress (latest year available compared to the previous year) and medium-term progress (since 2015, i.e. the baseline year). In both cases the compound annual growth rate has been used.
For indicators with positive normative direction (increases are desirable) we have: growth rates greater than or equal to 0.5% are considered progress (), rates in the range [0% - 0.5%) slight progress (
), rates in the range [-0.5% - 0) slight decline (
) and for rates less than -0.5%, a decline (
). For indicators that do not evolve,
is used.
For indicators with a negative normative direction, the categories are reversed.
Of the four subindicators shown in the table, in the medium-term, three are progressing favourably and one is displaying a slight regression.
| Subindicator | Unit | Last year | Last year’s figure | Medium-term progress |
Short term progress (last two years) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14.3.1.1. Average marine acidity (pH) in Spanish territorial waters | pH value | 2020 | 8.062 | -0.02% | -0.02% | ||
| 14.4.1.1. Number of fish stocks managed at maximum sustainable yield levels | Number | 2022 | 62 | 4.0% | 12.7% | ||
| 14.4.1.2. Number of vulnerable marine ecosystem areas | Number | 2022 | 52 | 2.1% | 0.0% | ||
| 14.5.1.1. Marine protected area | Thousands of square kilometres | 2021 | 132.13 | 9.4% | 0.3% |
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