Country information
Basic facts on marine waters
- Territorial sea (12 nm zone): 50,957 km²
- Exclusive Economic Zone: 1,660,456 km²
- Extended continental shelf: 2,400,000 km²
National practices
Overview of MSP related maritime uses
Current main uses:
| Offshore renewable energy | Shipping |
| Ports | Nature conservation |
| Fisheries | Aquaculture |
| Military | Scientific research |
| Coastal protection | Ammunition storage sites |
| Cables and pipelines | Tourism and leisure |
Which marine spatial plans exist?
Name of the plan |
N/A |
|---|---|
Scale of the plan |
National |
Pre-planning |
Status: N/A |
Analysis for planning |
Status: N/A |
Development of the management plan |
Status: N/A |
Completion of the management plan |
Status: N/A |
Approval of the management plan |
Status: Complete |
Implementation of the management plan |
Status: Underway |
Revision of the management plan |
Status: N/A |
National authority in charge of MSP |
Directorate General for Maritime Policy |
Financing |
N/A |
Time required to complete the plans |
N/A |
Drivers of MSP |
N/A |
Stakeholder participation |
N/A |
Sectors included in planning |
Fisheries; aquaculture; environment NGOs; other blue economy sectors |
Relation to coastal management |
Yes, integrated approach and coast spatial planning integration |
Relation to marine protected area management |
MSP is the driver of the marine protected area network with a predicted 14% of AMPs in 2020 |
Plan approval |
2019 |
Legal status of the plan |
Law No. 17/2014 and Decree-Law No. 38/2015 (updated by Decree-Law No. 139/2015) |
Plan revision |
N/A |
Performance monitoring and evaluation |
N/A |
Legal framework
The MSP process was approved by parliamentary law. Subsequently, the Portuguese government developed specific legislation for its implementation:
- In April 2014, Law No. 17/2014 settled the basis of spatial planning and management policy for all the Portuguese maritime space, including the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles
- Decree-Law no. 38/2015, published on 12 March 2015 (updated by Decree-Law No.139/2015), established the format and applicability of the maritime spatial plan and transposed to national law the European Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning (Directive 2014/89/EU)
Contact
Directorate General for Maritime Policy
Ms. Conceição Santos – Deputy Director General for Maritime Policy
Av. Dr. Alfredo Magalhães Ramalho, N.6
1495-006 Lisbon, Portugal