A three-year study is being carried out in the Adriatic Sea in the framework of the project PNSMA 2. One of its purposes is to assess changes in the structure of benthic contmunities, linked to increase of anthropogenic impact which occurred in the last decades. Till now sampling aclivities were performed in lhe Northern Adriatic Sea along four transects perpendicular to the shore, located from Chioggia to Ravenna. Samples were collecled by a Van-Veen grab and a box-corer. Sediment structure, in terms of grain distribution and carbon-nitrogen content and benthic communities distributíon, according to molluscs and echinoderms, were assessed. Benthic community distribution strongly linked to environment fealures was observed, underlined by multivariate analysis.