Even though the equivalent parameter (population) for Delphinus delphis under the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) was determined to be ‘unknown’, the MSFD assessment of status on the basis of this criterion, which is indicated as ‘stable’ acknowledges that such status is based on the limited data available, and that future long-term monitoring is required.

Malta notes that the outcome of the assessment for the equivalent parameter (range) under the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) is ‘stable’. Such inconsistency with the ‘not assessed’ under the MSFD processes is attributed to the fact that, under such processes due consideration was given to the fact that any assessment at a local scale may not contribute to a robust assessment of status or achievement of GES for this species at a sub-regional level. In view of the fact that T. truncatus is a wide-ranging, highly mobile species, assessment of trends in range at the level of Malta’s national waters may not reflect the actual status in terms of distributional range at a subregional/regional level. Nevertheless, the data confirms that this species occurs regularly throughout the majority of the MSFD Marine Reporting Unit (25nm boundary).

D1C5: Malta notes that the outcome of the assessment for the equivalent parameter (habitat for the species) under the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) is ‘stable’. Such inconsistency with the ‘not assessed’ under the MSFD processes is attributed to the fact that, under such processes due consideration was given to the fact that any assessment at a local scale may not contribute to a robust assessment of status or achievement of GES for this species at a sub-regional level. While T. truncatus is widely distributed across Malta’s MRU, and is likely to use Maltese waters as migratory routes, the status of the habitat extent and quality at regional/subregional level would not reflect that at a sub-regional/regional scale.

D1C5: Malta notes that the outcome of the assessment for the equivalent parameter (habitat for the species) under the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) is ‘stable’. Such inconsistency with the ‘not assessed’ under the MSFD processes is attributed to the fact that, under such processes due consideration was given to the fact that any assessment at a local scale may not contribute to a robust assessment of status or achievement of GES for this species at a sub-regional level. While T. truncatus is widely distributed across Malta’s MRU, and is likely to use Maltese waters as migratory routes, the status of the habitat extent and quality at regional/subregional level would not reflect that at a sub-regional/regional scale.