Seafloor integity thresholds: a co-creation exercise with stakeholders

Various policy frameworks require the protection of the seafloor. For example the habitats directive requires the conservation of 10% of coastal and marine areas while the marine strategy framework directive aims to reduce the spatial extent of each habitat type which is “adversely affected ”. For the Dutch EEZ the main stakeholders disagree on the extent to which the current management resulted in the protection of the seabed habitats. Their different interpretations result the perception that by 2020 only 5% (NG)), 11% (National government) up to 30% (fishing industry) is conserved. We present here the methodological developments that we applied in order to come up with an agreed perception of the level of protection that will be achieved by 2020. The relevance of these outcomes to set “Good Environmental Status” thresholds for the MSFD descriptor of seafloor integrity will be discussed.