Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework

Abstract Marine biofouling is associated with remarkable impacts for many maritime industries and is linked with major environmental concerns. Although national biofouling regulations have been issued by a few countries in the recent past, these remain isolated initiatives. At a global scale, even i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mar Santos-Simón, Ainhoa Fernández-García de la Yedra, Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia, Agnese Marchini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-07-01
Series:Environmental Sciences Europe
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01178-7
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849237719230709760
author Mar Santos-Simón
Ainhoa Fernández-García de la Yedra
Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia
Agnese Marchini
author_facet Mar Santos-Simón
Ainhoa Fernández-García de la Yedra
Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia
Agnese Marchini
author_sort Mar Santos-Simón
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Marine biofouling is associated with remarkable impacts for many maritime industries and is linked with major environmental concerns. Although national biofouling regulations have been issued by a few countries in the recent past, these remain isolated initiatives. At a global scale, even if biofouling undeniably accounts for important costs and risks, there is currently no international legally binding framework on it. This work focuses on the evolution of international marine environmental protection legislation and analyzes existing regulatory instruments linked to the matter, with particular emphasis on the European legislation and other few regional in-force regulations on biofouling, and eventually focussing on the sector of recreational boating. Finally, the main gaps and challenges for the development of a regulatory framework on biofouling are identified and listed, along with the major learnings and proposals derived from the experimental outcomes of recent works, to provide an integrative tool for suitable antifouling selection.
format Article
id doaj-art-d4e23c3fbcf3494381a41e3c7ae43311
institution Kabale University
issn 2190-4715
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series Environmental Sciences Europe
spelling doaj-art-d4e23c3fbcf3494381a41e3c7ae433112025-08-20T04:01:52ZengSpringerOpenEnvironmental Sciences Europe2190-47152025-07-0137111910.1186/s12302-025-01178-7Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection frameworkMar Santos-Simón0Ainhoa Fernández-García de la Yedra1Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia2Agnese Marchini3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, UNIPVDepartment of Corporate and Civil Law, Bilbao School of Engineering, University of the Basque CountryCBET+ CRG, Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHUDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, UNIPVAbstract Marine biofouling is associated with remarkable impacts for many maritime industries and is linked with major environmental concerns. Although national biofouling regulations have been issued by a few countries in the recent past, these remain isolated initiatives. At a global scale, even if biofouling undeniably accounts for important costs and risks, there is currently no international legally binding framework on it. This work focuses on the evolution of international marine environmental protection legislation and analyzes existing regulatory instruments linked to the matter, with particular emphasis on the European legislation and other few regional in-force regulations on biofouling, and eventually focussing on the sector of recreational boating. Finally, the main gaps and challenges for the development of a regulatory framework on biofouling are identified and listed, along with the major learnings and proposals derived from the experimental outcomes of recent works, to provide an integrative tool for suitable antifouling selection.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01178-7BiofoulingAntifoulingLegislationGuidelinesIMOIntegrative tool
spellingShingle Mar Santos-Simón
Ainhoa Fernández-García de la Yedra
Maren Ortiz-Zarragoitia
Agnese Marchini
Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
Environmental Sciences Europe
Biofouling
Antifouling
Legislation
Guidelines
IMO
Integrative tool
title Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
title_full Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
title_fullStr Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
title_full_unstemmed Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
title_short Past, present and (possible) future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
title_sort past present and possible future of biofouling regulatory instruments within the international marine environmental protection framework
topic Biofouling
Antifouling
Legislation
Guidelines
IMO
Integrative tool
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01178-7
work_keys_str_mv AT marsantossimon pastpresentandpossiblefutureofbiofoulingregulatoryinstrumentswithintheinternationalmarineenvironmentalprotectionframework
AT ainhoafernandezgarciadelayedra pastpresentandpossiblefutureofbiofoulingregulatoryinstrumentswithintheinternationalmarineenvironmentalprotectionframework
AT marenortizzarragoitia pastpresentandpossiblefutureofbiofoulingregulatoryinstrumentswithintheinternationalmarineenvironmentalprotectionframework
AT agnesemarchini pastpresentandpossiblefutureofbiofoulingregulatoryinstrumentswithintheinternationalmarineenvironmentalprotectionframework