Brussels, Belgium (Enmaeya News) — Researchers have developed a new Blue2 model of the Black Sea ecosystem, providing a key baseline for environmental assessment and policymaking.
The Black Sea, one of the world’s most disturbed marine ecosystems, has faced decades of pressure from overfishing, pollution, coastal erosion, invasive species and climate change. These stresses have contributed to declining fish populations and overall ecosystem degradation.
The Blue2 framework, developed by the European Commission and Joint Research Centre, provides a spatial and temporal assessment of the Black Sea from 1995 to 2021.
The model accounts for environmental conditions, food web interactions and human-driven stressors, including recent impacts from military activity in Ukraine, which has caused chemical and noise pollution, habitat damage and restrictions on conservation activities.
The model includes a wide range of species and functional groups, from dolphins, seabirds, fish and invertebrates to plankton, seagrass and seaweed, as well as fishing fleet types. Using Ecopath for mass balance snapshots and Ecosim for dynamic simulations, researchers found declines in biomass across most groups.
Key species such as gulls, cormorants, sprat, horse mackerel and mullets play pivotal roles in the food web. Fishing fleets were found to have indirect negative effects beyond targeted species, influencing marine mammals and overall ecosystem structure.
The study covers the entire Black Sea, excluding the shallow Azov Sea, spanning roughly 423,000 square kilometers and depths up to 2,212 meters.
By providing historical and current baselines, the model supports evidence-based policymaking, helps manage ecosystems effectively, allows comparison with other regional seas like the Mediterranean, and aids evaluation of European environmental policies.
The research highlights the urgent need for coordinated policies and cooperation among Black Sea nations to safeguard long-term ecosystem resilience and biodiversity.
