Coralligenous assemblages and professional fisheries: a challenge for the marine spatial planning.

The Mediterranean coralligenous communities are vulnerable ecosystems, greatly sensitive to the changes of a broad range of environmental and anthropic variables. In particular, along the Italian coasts, these communities are known to be subjected to major direct and indirect impacts from the fishing activities. To protect these communities, networks of in-shore and offshore managed areas are urgently needed, according to the supply side ecology principle and with an ecosystem-based approach. In this regards, some efforts have been conducted both for coastal Marine Protected Areas and offshore fishing grounds. In the latter case, a multilateral cross-border cooperation initiative funded by the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and named ECOSAFIMED is working for the conservation of the Mediterranean benthic communities and the promotion of sustainable artisanal fisheries as a perfect example of ecosystem-based case of Mediterranean Marine Spatial Planning.