Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

97 LIFE BELOWWATER SDG 14 | Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development EU RANK TREND OCEAN HEALTH Bathing Sites with Excellent Water Quality 1 Surface of Marine sites N/A Catches in major fishing areas N/A Note: Data comes from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. EU rank presents the rank of Cyprus among the EU member states, for the most recent available year. Trend presents the 10-year trend from 2010-2019. Pos, Neg, Neg-Pos, and, Pos-Neg indicate a positive, a negative, a U-shape and an inverse U-shape trend, respectively. Green arrows indicate an improvement in the performance of Cyprus and red arrows indicate a decline in the performance of Cyprus. indicates a constant trend. : indicates that the trend is not calculated, because less than 8 years of data are available. Highlights – 2020 • Cyprus ranks first among EU members with excellent bathing sites water quality. • The percentage of the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Cyprus is 19% of its total marine area, almost double the Aichi Target 11 which requires the declaration of 10% of national waters under protection. Covid Response • The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a reduction of fishing efforts, and the decline in demand of fish due to the temporary suspension of operations of restaurants. • An Aquaculture Compensation Scheme for the temporary suspension or reduction of production caused by the pandemic was launched in 2020, with 14 projects approved for the amount of €2,100,000. • The pandemic led to an increase in sea pollution, due to covid-related protective materials waste ending up being disposed on the beaches and seafloor (e.g., face masks, plastic gloves etc.). Looking Ahead • Cyprus promotes measures towards achieving its share of the targets set by the new Biodiversity Strategy, according to which 30% of the sea of Europe must be protected until 2030. • The national management plan, in regard to harvesting and overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices, is currently under revision for incorporating updated scientific information. • The increase of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) may negatively impact native fish populations due to competition for resources and space. Further research needs to be carried out to investigate the NIS impact.