This dataset represents the location of the Princess Elizabeth zone in the Belgian Part of the North Sea as described in the Royal Decree of May 22th, 2019, establishing a marine spatial plan for the period 2020-2026. Art. 8. § 3.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 10, criterion 2. This dataset presents data on microplastics in seabed sediment along a coastal-offshore transect in the Belgian Part of the North Sea (BPNS) in 2020, during 2 cruises on board the RV Belgica. Samples were collected using a Reineck box corer or a Van Veen grab, and the top 5cm was collected for analysis. The samples were preserved and analyzed in the laboratory. This dataset also presents data on microplastics in seawater along the same coastal-offshore transect in the BPNS in 2020-2021, during 3 cruises on board the RV Belgica. Subsurface seawater was collected through the vessel's continuous seawater inlet located below the surface (-3m). The samples were preserved and analyzed in the laboratory.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 8, criterion 4. This dataset reports the proportion of oiled Common Guillemots (Uria aalge) among stranded seabirds along the Belgian coast, as an indicator of acute oil pollution (environmental target: average proportion of oiled guillemots below 10% of the total found dead or dying on the beaches).

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 10, criterion 3. This dataset reports the amount of plastic ingested (stomach contents) by Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) beached along the Belgian coast (environmental target: fewer than 10% of fulmars contain more than 0.1g of plastic in their stomach).

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 2, criterion 1. This dataset lists the newly-introduced species encountered in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) between 2016 and 2021, combining dedicated non-indigenous species (NIS) surveys of artificial hard substrates with incidental NIS records collected during the soft-sediment and epibenthos monitoring programmes.

The Royal Decree of 20 March 2026 establishing the marine spatial plan for the period 2026 to 2034 in the Belgian marine areas defines 1 coastal protection experiments zone: Coastal protection belt (Art. 20§2). It replaces the 2020 Marine Spatial Plan. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette ("Moniteur belgeBelgisch Staatsblad") for official reference information.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 1, criterion 2. It originates from the ICES DATRAS (Database of Trawl Surveys), which compiles standardised bottom trawl survey data collected from various European waters; for this indicator, the Belgian Beam Trawl Survey (BTS) data from the North Sea were used. The dataset includes species abundance, length and age distributions, catch per unit effort, and environmental parameters, providing key insights on the population abundance of thornback ray (Raja clavata) and lesser-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) for stock assessment and fisheries management.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 1, criterion 3. This dataset reports the breeding success (population demographic characteristics) of benthic-feeding, pelagic-feeding, surface-feeding and wading birds breeding along the Belgian coast.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 1, criterion 2. This dataset reports the population abundance (number of individuals, biomass) of benthic-feeding, pelagic-feeding, surface-feeding and wading birds in Belgian waters, combining yearly breeding-colony nest counts along the Belgian coast with ship-based at-sea seabird counts.

This dataset is part of the 2024 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 8, criterion 2. This dataset reports the prevalence of external fish diseases in dab (Limanda limanda) in the Belgian part of the North Sea, as an indicator of the adverse effects of contaminants.