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Marine life has been and is still under pressure from human activities across Europe’s seas. The combined effects from multiple pressures on marine species and habitats reduce the overall resilience of marine ecosystems. This section of WISE Marine reports assessment summaries, mainly based on literature, of the major pressures affecting the marine ecosystems.

  • The target of achieving good environmental status of European marine waters by 2020 will not be met in relation to key pressures such as contaminants, eutrophication, invasive alien species, commercial fish and marine litter.
  • The most extensive combined pressure effects were detected in the coastal and shelf areas of the North Sea, parts of the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea. All of these areas are under several anthropogenic pressures from pollution, physical loss and disturbance due to intensive fishery and coastal activities.
  • The combined effects of multiple pressures on marine species and habitats reduce the overall resilience of marine ecosystems. This is aggravated by climate change-related systemic changes that further erode marine ecosystems' resilience.
  • Regional cooperation to reduce specific pressures has been implemented consistently in some places and has worked, for example, by decreasing levels of nutrients and selected contaminants or limiting introductions of new non-indigenous species.
  • Europe’s marine areas and marine life are unequally vulnerable to climate change. Recent research indicates that climate change may account for up to half of the combined impacts on marine ecosystems.