MESH+ Marine EcoSystem Health assessment tool

MESH: European Marine Ecosystem Condition (Health) assessment Tool

This dataset presents the resulting assessment grid (based on the EEA reference grid) with the classification of EccoSystem Health of the transitional, coastal and marine waters in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This classification has been performed using the MESH+ tool,

The MESH+ tool builds on the EEA assessment tools developed and applied in the context of assessing the degree of contamination (CHASE+), eutrophication (HEAT+) and biodiversity (BEAT+) in Europe's seas (EEA, 2018a, 2019c; Vaughan et al., 2019). MESH+ makes use of the same data sets and threshold values used in these assessments but recombines these in a new framework that addresses 'ecosystem condition'.

The overall area of interest used is based on the marine regions and subregions under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Additionally, Norwegian (Barent Sea and Norwegian Sea) and Icelandic waters (’Iceland Sea’) have been added (see Surrounding seas of Europe). Note that within the North East Atlantic region only the subregions within EEZ boundaries (~200 nm) have been included.

This dataset underpins the findings and cartographic representations published in the report "Marine Messages" (EEA, 2020).