Authors: Juliette Davret ¹; Brice Trouillet ¹

• 1 Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique

The ecosystem-based approach to marine spatial planning (MSP) is attracting increasing attention due to the requirements of Directive 2014/89/EU. To date, research on the ecosystem-based approach has focused mainly on the methods used to set up studies to assess the impact of human marine activities on ecosystems. This article presents a review of European marine plans, focusing in particular on the data and maps used to translate MSP. This study should contribute to our understanding of the notion of entanglement in planning. We draw on critical data studies, and in particular on the theory of intra-action and the concept of information in-formation, to understand the biases of data and maps. We used a method based on a content analysis to study maritime plans in Europe with regard to four main indicators enabling us to evaluate data and map uses in MSPs in relation to the ecosystem-based approach. Overall, our results suggest that the ecosystem approach is poorly transcribed on maps due to a lack of suitable data sets, geotechnological constraints, or political decisions. In particular, we observe a recycling of data for planning purposes. Our research has highlighted the importance of studying the entire data lifecycle, from production to display, in order to have a holistic vision of MSP.