The project has delved into the relationships and dependencies of marine activities with different components of the marine ecosystem, such as habitats. The initiative has not been developed in any specific protected area, but in the study area there are some belonging to the Natura 2000 Network located in the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya that have been taken into account for the joint analysis.

The project ‘Exploration of the connections between natural capital, priority habitats and marine activities: definition of knowledge bases to achieve conservation and economic objectives’, which has had the support of the Biodiversity Foundation, through its call for grants, has come to an end.

The current interest in aspects such as the assessment of the natural capital of the marine environment from the point of view of management and social awareness, as well as in the biophysical and economic assessment of these natural resources, is particularly relevant in those areas where a protection regime is established to assess the effectiveness of the conservation strategies undertaken.

Taking into account this context, the relationships and dependencies of marine activities with different components of the marine ecosystem, such as habitats, have been deepened. This project has not been developed in any specific protected area, but in the study area there are some belonging to the Natura 2000 Network located in the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya that have been taken into account for the joint analysis. These are: San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Biotope of the Deba-Zumaia coastal section and the SPA of the Ría de Mundaka Cabo de Ogoño.

Among the actions carried out within the framework of this initiative, characterisations of benthic and priority habitats included in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, and of the spatial distribution of fishing activity, have been carried out. The development of a conceptual model that relates natural capital to fishing activity has also been studied.

The results of this research also aim to contribute to the LIFE IP INTEMARES project in the achievement of a consolidated network of marine spaces in the Natura 2000 Network. In addition, it can also support the generation of scientific knowledge that can be used for the development of effective and integrated management proposals and provide information that can be directly used in consultative processes.

The project has found that there is a direct dependence between some of the economic activities (trawling, the different types of artisanal fishing or mussel aquaculture and marine tourism) and the characteristics of the marine ecosystem.

On the one hand, modalities such as trawling and artisanal fishing showed a “high” use of supply services, in 44% and 38% of the study area, respectively. On the other hand, areas with “low” economic performance coincide with areas of “low” biological value. According to this project, this highlights the importance of the presence of high biological values for fishing activity.

It is also highlighted that trawling depends almost exclusively on sedimentary habitats of the continental shelf and deep waters, with a “moderate” to “high” dependence in 52% of the study area. On the other hand, artisanal fisheries are more dependent on habitats linked to rocky bottoms, which is explained to be related to the target species in this sector.

Finally, in terms of aquaculture and marine tourism, both areas are concentrated in areas located at a maximum distance of 5 kilometres from the coast, where the natural processes of purification and ecosystem services provide cleaner and quality waters. Mussel farming is “moderately dependent” but coincides with ecosystem services linked to primary production. On the other hand, marine tourism has a “high” dependence on rocky habitats and a “moderate” dependence on underwater sedimentary habitats.