This dataset stems from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Biomass Mandate (https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/projects-activities/jrc-biomass-mandate_en) and it is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu) and on the platform from the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy (https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/visualisation/bioeconomy-different-countries_en#algae_prod_plants). Its aim is to build a reliable database to characterize the algae sector and to support informed European policies on Blue Growth and Bioeconomy. More detailed information on the Status of the Algae Production Industry in Europe can be found in a JRC-led study published in Frontiers in Marine Science (https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC122250). Information on the location (geographic coordinates) of the production facilities, group of produced organism (macroalgae, microalgae and spirulina), production method (Fermenters, Harvesting , Photobioreactors, Open ponds, Semi Open ponds, land-based or at sea Aquaculture, Integrated multi-trophic or not) and species (see dataset) have been collected in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. In November 2021, the JRC has updated the database with the latest information on the production units operational at the time.

This vector data set is the first public version released of the EU marine waters used for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), submitted by the Member States to the European Commission. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) applies to all marine waters of EU Member States, which in Article 3 are defined as follows: (a) waters, the seabed and subsoil on the seaward side of the baseline from which the extent of territorial waters is measured extending to the outmost reach of the area where a Member State has and/or exercises jurisdictional rights, in accordance with the UNCLOS, with the exception of waters adjacent to the countries and territories mentioned in Annex II to the Treaty and the French Overseas Departments and Collectivities; and (b) coastal waters as defined by Directive 2000/60/EC, their seabed and their subsoil, in so far as particular aspects of the environmental status of the marine environment are not already addressed through that Directive or other Community legislation.

The Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) is an international charity that operates the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey. The dataset covers the North Atlantic and the North Sea on since 1958.

The dataset on Natura 2000 sites was created in 2014 by Cogea for the European Marine Observation and Data Network. It is entirely based on spatial data from the European Environmental Agency (EEA), plus additional info, links and selected EEA data joined to the feature attributes, as well as a calculation by Cogea of marine and coastal location of features. It is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu). Natura 2000 is an ecological network composed of sites designated under the Birds Directive (Special Protection Areas, SPAs) and the Habitats Directive (Sites of Community Importance, SCIs, and Special Areas of Conservation, SACs). The dataset covers the whole EU. Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020, it ceased to be part of the EEA’s institutional networks and governance. In the webmap the EEA dataset has been filtered by Cogea to show only (i) marine sites, i.e. sites with a marine area percentage higher than 0 (as calculated by the EEA) and (ii) sites that, even if not identified as marine by the EEA, intersect the EEA coastline or that are within a distance of 1 km from the coastline (using a 1 km inner buffer from the EEA coastline). In both cases the COAST_MAR field value=1. The EEA coastline dataset is available at https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/eea-coastline-for-analysis-2. Compared with the previous version, this one includes the updated dataset 'Natura 2000 End 2020', published by the EEA in July 2021. For further information (e.g. biogeographic region, directive, habitats, sites, impact, management, species and metadata) please visit the EEA's website hosting the Natura 2000 tabular data.

The dataset on offshore installations for Oil and Gas exploitation and exploration activities was created in 2015 by Cogea for the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is the result of the aggregation and harmonization of datasets provided by several EU and non-EU sources. It is updated every year, and is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu). The dataset contains points representing offshore installations and where available each point has the following attributes: ID, name, country, location block, operator, production start year, primary production, current status, category and function of the installation, sub-structure and topside weights (tonnes), water depth (metres), distance to coast (metres) and remarks. The OSPAR commission source covers data for Germany, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, while for Italy data have been collected and harmonized from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, for Norway from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, for Denmark from the Danish Energy Agency, for the Netherlands from the TNO - Geological Survey of the Netherlands, for Croatia from the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency, from Marine Traffic and Helcom data on Polish and Russian installations in the Baltic Sea, from Marine Traffic data on Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian installations in the Black Sea, Lybian and Spanish installations in the Mediterranean Sea. Compared with the previous version this new version has been updated for all countries.