Roadmap to the management of marine invasive alien species in Europe: a prioritization exercise in a Mediterranean country

In 2014 the Regulation 1143/14 on invasive alien species (IAS) was issued by the European Community. It provides for important restrictions (as importing and selling) and a set of measures (early detection, rapid eradication or control) that EU member states are required to take for the species included on a list of IAS of Union Concern. The inclusion of a species in this list is based on the results of a risk-assessment procedure. The list, adopted in 2016 and updated in August 2017 contains at present 49 IAS, none of which marine (except from the brackish water crab Eriocheir sinensis). Member states can also adopt a list of “species of national concern” and apply the same measures provided for the species of Union concern. In Italy the scientific community is working on a prioritization exercise to develop a list of IAS of national concern, that may eventually include marine IAS. This list will be composed by both IAS already present and potential new IAS, from a horizon scanning exercise. Their principal pathways have been discussed in relation to the effectiveness of prevention measures. Italy is a major “first hub” for marine introductions in the Mediterranean Sea, with over 200 multicellular marine alien species reported so far. With its central position in the Mediterranean Sea, it shares several species with the Western European countries, carried by ships or with shellfish stocks, as well as a number of Indo-Pacific species with the Eastern Mediterranean countries, entered through the Suez Canal. Therefore, the roadmap that Italy is currently tracing towards the possible inclusion of marine species in the list of IAS to be managed and controlled, is also relevant for other European and Mediterranean countries. This presentation will show how the process has been organized and conducted, and the preliminary outcomes.