Extinction trends of marine species and populations in the Aegean Sea and adjacent ecoregions

Despite its relative oligotrophy, the eastern Mediterranean – and particularly the Aegean and Ionian ecoregions – supports a great marine wealth with considerable populations of endangered species. Available historical and current data indicate severe declining trends reaching sometimes local depletion and extinction of several populations such as the Mediterranean monk seal, loggerhead turtle, bath sponges, red coral, elasmobranchs, cetaceans, and edible bivalves. Intensive exploitation, prey depletion, accidental catches, habitat degradation, pollution and climate change are the major threats, having severely impacted the physiognomy of local marine ecosystems, although monitoring and conservation efforts, focused on Monachus monachus and Caretta caretta over the last 20 years, have led to a relative stabilization of certain local populations.