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 Belgian submission for the 2018 Marine Strategic Framework Directive (MSFD) and reports on descriptor 1, criterion 6. This dataset describes the soft benthos analysis performed in the Belgian part of the North Sea between 2010 and 2016. Information on the location, date and procedure used for the sediment sampling is povided as well as the description of the species found in the samples. Based on this dataset, the Belgian MSFD reporting concluded that the benthic habitat quality is clearly lower in areas where a certain activity interferes with the environment in an intensive way.

This datasets is a summary of the CTD profiles measured with the RV Belgica. It provides general meta-information such as the campaign code, the date of measurement and the geographical information. An important information is the profile quality flag that describes the validity of the data. A quality flag = 2 means the data is generally good although some outliers can still be present. A quality flag = 4 means the data should not be trusted. 1 meter binned data can be download on the SeaDataNet CDI portal (enter the cruise_id in the search bar) ONLY for the good quality profiles. Full acquisition frequency datasets are available on request to BMDC.

This dataset represents the exact location of disused telecommunication cables installed in the Belgian Part of the North Sea.

This dataset represents the location of the windfarms concessions in the Belgian Part of the North Sea.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 20 shipping and ports zones: Shipping regular regime (Art. 10§1), Northbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'Noordhinder Sud' (Art. 10§2.1°), Separation zone 'Noordhinder Sud' (Art. 10§2.1°), Precaution zone 'Near Thornton and Blighbank ' (Art. 10§2.10°), Northbound traffic flow starting at separation zone 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Separation zone 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Southbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Precaution zone 'Noordhinder Jonction' (Art. 10§2.3°), Eastbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Eastbound traffic flow starting at separation zone 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Precaution zone 'At West Hinder ' (Art. 10§2.4°), Separation zone 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Westbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Area to be Avoided 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.6°), Deep water route 'Westerschelde approach' (Art. 10§2.7°), Border line 1 of two-way shipping lane 'Westpit' (Art. 10§2.8°), Border line 2 of two-way shipping lane 'Westpit' (Art. 10§2.8°), Precaution zone 'At Gootebank' (Art. 10§2.9°), Anchoring zone 'Oostdyck' (Art. 10§3.1°), Anchoring zone 'Westhinder' (Art. 10§3.2°). It replaces the 2014 Marine Spatial Plan, which is included for completeness. The Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing a marine spatial plan defines in its Art. 9, nine zones with regards to shipping and ports: seven shipping zones (Shipping regular regime, Art. 9 § 1; Shipping route Northhinder South, Art. 9 § 2.1°; Shipping route Northhinder junction, Art. 9 § 2.2°; Shipping route Westhinder, Art. 9 § 2.3°; Shipping route Westhinder precautionary area, Art. 9 § 2.4°; Shipping route Westhinder area to be avoided, Art. 9 § 2.5°; Deep water shipping route Western Scheldt approach, Art. 9 § 2.6°) and two anchorage places (Anchorage place 'Oostdyck', Art. 9 § 4.1° and Anchorage place 'Westhinder', Art. 9 § 4.2°). These zones are made available digitally in the resource described by this metadata document. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 11 military use and storage sites for war munition zones: Exercise area for sweeping mines (Buiten Ratel) (Art. 17§1), Exercise area for sweeping mines - NB-01 (Westhinder) (Art. 17§1), Exercise area for sweeping mines - NBH-10 (Wenduine) (Art. 17§1), Exercise area for sweeping mines - QZR 040 (Art. 17§1), Munition destruction area (Art. 17§2), Area for shooting exercises on floating objects (Art. 17§3), Area for exercises in shallow waters (Art. 17§4), Area for shooting exercises from land - big sector (Art. 17§5), Area for shooting exercises from land - medium sector (Art. 17§5), Area for shooting exercises from land - small sector (Art. 17§5), Storage site for war munition Paardenmarkt (Art. 18§1). It replaces the 2014 Marine Spatial Plan, which is included for completeness. The Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing a marine spatial plan defines in its Art. 13. and Art. 14., resp. nine zones for military use and one storage site for war munition: three zones for shooting exercises from land direction sea (Art 13. § 1 small sector, Art 13. § 1 medium sector, Art 13. § 1 large sector), four exercise areas for sweeping mines (Art 13. § 3, Exercise area 1 for sweeping mines, Art 13. § 5, Exercise area 2 for sweeping mines, Art 13. § 9, Exercise area 3 for sweeping mines, Art 13. § 13, Exercise area 4 for sweeping mines), one area for shooting exercises on floating objects (Art 13. § 7), one area for defusing mines (Art 13. § 11) and one zone to safeguard the closed storage site for war munition \"Paardenmarkt\" (Art. 14. § 1). These zones are made available digitally in the resource described by this metadata document. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 5 nature conservation areas: Special area for conservation 'The Flemish Banks' (Art. 7§1), Special area for conservation 'Vlakte van de Raan' (Art. 7§3), Special protection area for birds - SPA 1 (Art. 7§5.1°), Special protection area for birds - SPA 2 (Art. 7§5.2°), Special protection area for birds - SPA 3 (Art. 7§5.3°). It replaces the 2014 Marine Spatial Plan, which is included for completeness. The Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing a marine spatial plan defines in its Art. 7., six nature conservation sites: two special areas for conservation (Art. 7. §1, Special area for conservation 'Vlaamse Banken' and Art. 7. §3, Special area for conservation 'Trapegeer stroombank'), three special protection zones for birds (Art7§4.1°, SBZ1, Art7§4.2°, SBZ2, Art7§4.3°, SBZ3), and one marine reserve (Art7§8, Marine reserve 'Baai van Heist'). These zones are made available digitally in the resource described by this metadata document. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

This dataset is part of the 2018 Belgian submission for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) linked to descriptor 8, criterion 3. This dataset gives an overview of the observed slicks during aerial survey operations of the Belgian part of the North Sea (2011-2016). Related to significant acute pollution, it includes the observations linked to the Flinterstar incident in 2015. Besides this, all observations of illegal discharges of MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) annex I and II substances are included as an additional dataset.

This dataset represents the exact location of the wind turbines in the Belgian Part of the North Sea.