The Interreg Atlantic Area IV project MARNET developed a coherent framework for a marine economy database and applied a robust methodology for the collection of comparable marine socio-economic data on maritime activities in the Atlantic Area. The framework was developed through the collaboration of partners from member countries, namely France, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and the UK. The project aimed to set out a clear definition of the Atlantic marine economy, identify and classify marine socio-economic indicators to be used to value the different economic activities in Atlantic regions and use a marine industries classification system relevant to all countries as well as a common geographical structure. The MARNET project provided a snapshot of the economic value and employment contribution of the key marine industries across the Atlantic Arc for the reference year 2012.

Using this framework this WP aims to update the MARNET database for the intervening years (up to 2015). This period also coincided with a period of the unprecedented focus of EU policy on the development of the ocean economy. Of particular relevance was the introduction of the Atlantic Strategy in 2011 and the Atlantic Action Plan (AAP) in 2013. By examining the trend in the economic activity of the key marine sectors across the regions using the MARNET framework this WP will be able to assess if the objectives of these policies, in terms of blue growth, are being met equally across the Atlantic Arc. In MOSES, WP4 aims to use the methodology developed under activity 4 of MARNET to examine the change in marine economic activity across the Atlantic Arc over intervening years (up to 2016) in order to report on the growth achieved in the marine sectors across the Atlantic Arc. This involves each partner becoming an officer of statistics with their national statistical agencies and then going to the national statistical agencies to collect the NACE statistics for these sectors and to calculate the values for the years since 2012. The objective of WP4 would be to improve MARNET data collection for the subsequent years, using feedback from MARNET users. Once a larger temporal picture is developed of the growth of marine activity MOSES then examines the environmental pressures and impacts from the growing sectors and then use case studies and develop a sustainability tool kit to examine possible transition paths to sustainable blue growth. None of these elements was examined under MARNET.

By examining the trend in the economic activity of the key marine sectors across the regions using the MARNET framework this WP will be able to assess if the objectives of these policies, in terms of blue growth, are being met equally across the Atlantic Arc. In MOSES, WP4 aims to use the methodology developed under activity 4 of MARNET to examine the change in marine economic activity across the Atlantic Arc over intervening years (up to 2016) in order to report on the growth achieved in the marine sectors across the Atlantic Arc. This involves each partner becoming an officer of statistics with their national statistical agencies and then going to the national statistical agencies to collect the NACE statistics for these sectors and to calculate the values for the years since 2012. The objective of WP4 would be to improve MARNET data collection for the subsequent years, using feedback from MARNET users. Once a larger temporal picture is developed of the growth of marine activity MOSES then examines the environmental pressures and impacts from the growing sectors and then use case studies and develop a sustainability tool kit to examine possible transition paths to sustainable blue growth. None of these elements was examined under MARNET.