Joint Open Sea Surveys 2017, Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea - Phase II (EMBLAS-II), ENPI/2013/313-169, (Mesozooplankton)

Mesozooplankton data: species composition, abundance (ind/m3), biomass (mg/m3) collected during the Joint Open Sea Survey (JOSS UA - GE 2017) in the Black Sea waters (Transects Odessa - Batumi) onboard the R/V "Mare Nigrum" (Romania) in August - September 2017. Data collected within the EMBLAS-II "EU-UNDP Project 'Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea' (EMBLAS-II)" (http://emblasproject.org/). EMBLAS-II is co-financed by the European Commission (EC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project implementation started on 1 April 2014 and ended on 31 May 2018, having the total duration of 50 months. The EMBLAS project is addressing the overall need for support in protection and restoring the environmental quality and sustainability of the Black Sea. The specific objectives are as follows: Improve availability and quality of Black Sea environmental data in line with the MSFD and Black Sea Strategic Action Plan (2009) needs; Improve partner countries' ability to perform marine environmental monitoring along MSFD principles, taking into account the Black Sea Diagnostic Report II recommendations on capacity building.
The National Pilot Monitoring Studies (NPMS) and Joint Open Sea Survey (JOSS) Programme was developed within the framework of Project Activities. The JOSS UA - GE 2017 was performed in period 2017.08.26 to 2017.09.07 in the Black Sea waters (Transects Odessa - Batumi) onboard the R/V "Mare Nigrum" (Romania). Mesozooplankton samples were collected by vertical plankton Juday net, 0.1 m2 mouth opening area, 150 μm mesh size, from 2 meters above the bottom or from the lower boundary of the oxic layer to the surface at discrete sampling layers. The length and angle of the wire were taken under consideration for calculation of the wire length to get the target horizon. Sampling performed by M. Nabokin (UkrSCES)