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Abstract: ROM 5.1 is an environmental management standard designed by the Spanish National Ports Administration to bring port authorities a standardized tool to increase the knowledge about the connections between anthropogenic disturbance and the environmental attributes of water bodies (pressures/effects relationships). Based on the requirements of the WFD, ROM 5.1 provides a set of technical and methodological tools with capacity to predict and verify environmental problems and to recognise the elements on which management efforts should focus. As part of the calibration process, this standard has been tested at different Spanish ports, in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Biscay Gulf. This contribution describes the results obtained in the port of Gijon (Biscay Gulf). In the implementation process the main point and diffuse discharge sources in the port area have been characterized; the significance of the risk caused to the quality of water bodies by these discharges has been evaluated; the effect of the port activity in the water bodies quality has been assessed; and the locations where the management efforts should be focused have been identified. All these processes have demonstrated that although a number of anthropogenic activities and uses with potentially negative impacts take place in the port of Gijon, the disturbance caused in the quality of the water bodies is negligible, local and mostly restricted to the inner and more sheltered areas. As a final outcome, the implementation in Gijon has highlighted the suitability of ROM 5.1 as an integrated tool to manage environmental port challenges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Port areas have been considered bioinvasion hotspots due to the concentration of several invasion vectors. However, the actual distribution of non-indigenous species (NIS) in Mediterranean ports is still poorly understood. Here we conducted a literature review with the aim to provide a knowledge baseline about NIS distribution in Mediterranean ports. NIS distribution in Mediterranean ports showed a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of studies across the whole basin, with a limited knowledge on both specific taxa and geographical areas, as well as a generally low proportion of investigated ports. The low rate of specific studies designed to monitor these particular environments may represent the main source of knowledge gaps. Mediterranean ports host NIS from all regions of the world, playing a key role in marine bioglobalization. Our synthesis represents the first baseline addressing the presence of NIS in Mediterranean ports, which may be useful to define plans of NIS management and strategies focusing on a network of recognised focal hotspots., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Attention on port waters is increasing since these economically important infrastructures are embedded in the coastal environment and their management needs to be considered in the monitoring programmes of coastal ecosystems. To implement the sustainable development (blue growth) of port areas, a general knowledge on the ongoing processes in their waters needs to be obtained, considering both abiotic and biotic variables. The present study aimed at inspecting the relationships among plankton components to provide insights into the ecology of ports. Seasonal samplings were carried out in three Mediterranean touristic ports where bacterio-, phyto- and zoo-plankton were simultaneously assessed at a large spatial scale and compared with respect to environmental variables and anthropogenic inputs. Factor analysis revealed the effects of load of inland waters, seasonality, water turbulence and hydrocarbon pollution on the planktonic components and zooplankton variability in port sectors characterized by different depths and uses., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Summary: The paper aims to present the methodology applied by the Port System Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea from 2016 on to tackle aspects threatening the old and no-more replicable "rules" governing the Trieste Port Community social and economic equilibrium and which had generated an endemic reporting of occupational diseases. The methodology is based on the integration between port operation models and occupational health and safety requirements, in particular occupational ergonomics. By consolidating synergies with all Port stakeholders, the Authority carried out document and on-site surveys which detected the most relevant weaknesses of the system, considered already outdated. Thus, the Authority defined and adopted regulations to promote Port workers' welfare and protect marginalized workers' dignity; furthermore, the Authority applied technical measures to stop the process which would have caused new cases of the same occupational diseases. The Authority improvement action plan provides for a central role for occupational health physicians who will be asked to define shared minimum requirements to develop sanitary protocols for those port jobs exposed to similar risks in terms of quality and magnitude., Competing Interests: The authors of this article have no conflict of interests to disclose., (Copyright© by Aracne Editrice, Roma, Italy.)

Vessels, specifically ballast water and hull fouling, are a major vector for the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European seas. The Mediterranean is one of the world's marine regions where their invasion is heaviest. The shallow Adriatic basin is a highly sensitive area that is already experiencing its consequences. The secondary spread of NIS over a wider area through natural dispersion is a complex process that depends on a wide range of oceanographic factors. This work analysed the dataset of the BALMAS project, in whose framework twelve ports in the Adriatic Sea were subjected to a Port Baseline Survey (PBS), to estimate the natural spread of NIS organisms from their port of arrival to the wider Adriatic basin. Its findings indicate that the prevailing water circulation patterns facilitate the natural dispersal of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens (HAOP)., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)