The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development awarded a consortium comprising several institutions (Oikon Ltd. – Institute of Applied Ecology, Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Faculty of Geodesy, Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, Croatian Geological Survey, Croatian Hydrographic Institute, and Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing) a bid for “Mapping of the coastal and demersal marine habitats in the coastal sea of the Republic of Croatia and demersal marine habitats in the Croatian continental shelf”. The aim of the project is detailed mapping of the marine habitats of the coastal area of the Adriatic Sea up to a depth of 40m and up to 200m in protected areas. Methods used in the detailed mapping comprise acoustic geophysical methods (multibeam echosounder and side-scan sonar), diving, and ground truthing (grab sampling and drop-down camera transects). The epicontinental part of the Croatian Adriatic Sea will be mapped or modelled in less detail. Besides mapping, project objectives include planning, revision of the existing National classification of marine habitats, and data collection, analysis, and validation. The gathered data and information will be stored in custom-made databases. Areas not covered in detailed mapping will be modelled based on in-situ sampling and validation. The project, funded through the Operational programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020 based on the Council Directive 92/43/EEC, is under implementation from 2021-2023. Mapping will cover 51% of Croatian territorial sea.

A large area to cover (at least 16.054,29 km2, or 51% of the coastal sea of the Republic of Croatia) posed a challenge for the consortium due to a very short implementation period. A demanding project included a need for detailed mapping of coastal and demersal marine habitats up to the depth of 40 m, all areas of the ecological network Natura 2000 up to the depth of 100m, and all protected areas up to the depth of 200 m.