Addressing ocean planning challenges in a highly crowded sea space: a case study for the regional sea of Catalonia (Western Mediterranean).

Background: This study performs an exploratory analysis of current-future sustainability challenges for ocean planning for the regional seas of Catalonia located in the Western Mediterranean (Spain).

Methods: To address the challenges we develop an Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP)-oriented geodatabase of maritime activities and deploy three spatial models: 1) an analysis of regional contribution to the 30% protection commitment with Biodiversity Strategy 2030; 2) a spatial Maritime Use Conflict (MUC) analysis to address current and future maritime activities interactions and 3) the StressorGenerator QGIS application to locate current and anticipate future sea areas of highest anthropogenic stress.

Results & Conclusions: Results show that the i) study area is one of the most protected sea areas in the Mediterranean (44-51% of sea space protected); ii) anthropogenic stressors are highest in 1-4 nautical miles coastal areas, where maritime activities agglomerate, in the Gulf of Roses and Gulf of Saint Jordi.