Thirty-six (42 %) of the 86 species that live and breed in the Mediterranean are threatened. Of these, fourteen species are Critically Endangered, nine are Endangered, and eight are Vulnerable (Abdul Malak et al. 2011). This compares with ap- proximately 20 % of cartilaginous fishes being threatened at a global level (Abdul Malak et al. 2011). Ten Mediterranean species are Near Threatened, while only ten are classified as of Least Concern. A further 25 species are considered Data Defi- cient – not enough information exists to assess their condition. Twenty-four species are protected by the Barcelona Conven- tion through listing in Annex II of the SPA/BD Protocol (see List of Endangered or Threatened Species in Annex of this report). The greatest threat to these cartilaginous fishes is from fisher- ies by catch, followed by pollution, habitat loss and degrada- tion, and human disturbance. Their vulnerability is increased by their life history characteristics. They are slow growing, late to mature, and have low fecundity and productivity and long gestation periods.
Seabirds of conservation concern nest in the Western Mediter- ranean. The Spanish Mediterranean, in particular, has one of the most diverse communities of breeding and migratory seabirds in Europe, including all three endemic seabird species (Yelkouan shearwater, Puffinus yelkouan; Balearic shearwater, Puffinus mau- retanicus; and Audouin’s gull, Larus audouinii) (UNEP/MAP 2012). In the Eastern Mediterranean, seabirds are threatened by habi- tat loss due to drainage, water diversion, changes in annual wa- ter regime, eutrophication, reed cutting, and landfills, chemical pollution, and hunting (UNEP/MAP 2012).
Benthic communities including seamount communities, vol- canic vent communities, bryozoans, corals, hydroids and spong- es are vulnerable to human disturbance. The mechanical distur- bance of marine habitats that occurs with some activities such as trawling, dredging, dumping, and oil, gas, and mineral explo- ration and extraction can substantially change the structure and composition of benthic communities (Froude 1998).
As in other heavily fished areas of the world, these benthic impacts are apparent in the Mediterranean (Dayton et al. 1995; Thrush et al. 1998). Fishing practices that have deleterious effects on the sea- bed involve the use of bottom trawling gears, namely otter trawls, beam trawls, and dredges. Some aggressive fishing practices that affect rocky bottoms are dynamite fishing and fishing for coral and date mussels (Tudela 2004). GFCM recommendation 2005/1 on bottom trawling in the Mediterranean leaving off-limits depths greater than 1.000 m may provide significant protection for ben- thic marine biodiversity if it is efficiently enforced. However, trawl- ing also affects shallow-water sea grass beds, both by stirring up sediments and by directly damaging the mass of vegetation. These fisheries are a major threat to Posidonia beds.
Overall, there are still considerable gaps in the knowledge of ma- rine species and habitats in the Mediterranean, and the knowl- edge that does exist is patchy in distribution (UNEP/MAP 2012). The SPA & Biodiversity Protocol identifies over 100 species that are of special conservation interest in the Mediterranean. Even the information on these species and their habitats, however, is sometimes limited (UNEP/MAP 2012).
HUMAN PRESSURE, STATE AND IMPACTS ON MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS