MESH provides the tools, templates, and interactive mapping services to those producing or working with seabed maps professionally, and the records and numbers collated as part of the MESH Atlantic (2010-2014) project have resulted in a range of seabed habitat maps that are now accessible through the webGIS tool on the MESH website. WebGIS links directly to the ICES metadata catalogue meaning users and researchers can, amongst other things, read background information on each study and carry out spatial searches for mapping studies.
The new web map service permits the direct loading of maps into desktop GIS systems or clients, and this latest edition also offers extended coverage across Spain, Portugal (including the Azores), and the west coast of France. Additionally, data for habitats on the OSPAR Commission's threatened and/or declining list for the Northeast Atlantic are included in the application.
MESH is maintained by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and funded by the European Regional Development Fund - Atlantic Area.