Workshop to scope and preselect indicators for criterion D3C3 under MSFD decision (EU) 2017/848 (WKD3C3SCOPE)

The workshop to scope and preselect indicators for Descriptor 3 criterion 3 under MSFD Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 (WKD3C3SCOPE) provided a platform for experts from the EU member states and relevant regional bodies to meet and support development and progress the assessment methodology, based on a request by the EC (DGENV). WKD3C3SCOPE is the first of a series of three workshops (WKD3C3THRESHOLDS and WKSIMULD3) to provide guidance in relation to operational indicators for MSFD D3C3. The workshop was organized as a series of presentations with intermittent group discussions. On the first day of the workshop the participants discussed what defines a ‘healthy population structure’ for species with different life history traits (ToR a). During the following days, the group discussed and identified relevant D3C3 indicators (ToR b) and developed criteria to select among the identified D3C3 indicators to allow further testing and setting of thresholds at WKD3C3THRESHOLDS (ToR c). The participants found that overall, healthy fish stocks are characterized by high productivity, wide age and size structuring in the population, and the ability to quickly recover from disturbances. The groups noted that environmental factors, along with stock biomass and fishing pressure, influence the productivity and health of a stock, with environment playing a particularly large role in the recruitment of short-lived stocks. It was suggested that the age structure of a stock might be more relevant for evaluating the health of long-lived stocks. However, it was acknowledged that not all stocks have sufficient data to evaluate all proposed indicators, and a single indicator is unlikely to suffice for all stocks. Data availability, species- specific factors and regional or sub-regional variation are thus also important considerations. In relation to ToR b, the participants presented their work on potential indicators including: recruitment time-series, proportion of fish larger than the mean size of first sexual maturation, F rec/Fbar, length distribution L 90, relative proportion of old fish above A 90, indicators of spawner quality, and SSB/R. A discussion on pros/cons, benefits to the population of high or low indicator values, benefits supported by empirical evidence, applicability to data-poor stocks and benefits supported by simulation/theoretical considerations followed the presentations. Finally, in relation to ToR c, the difficulty emerged in ranking the indicators alone without considering the data used to estimate them and a new set of evaluation criteria for use in WKD3C3THRESHOLDS were defined. Based on the outputs of the meeting a list of indicators to be further evaluated has been drafted, which also emphasizes the stocks for which studies have empirically demonstrated effects on productivity. In addition to the listed indicators, indicators of genetic diversity and proportion of fish with parasite infestation were mentioned but to the knowledge of the participants, widespread data for these are currently not publicly available.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The consequences of density-dependent individual growth for sustainable harvesting and management of fish stocks

Density dependence is likely to act as a regulatory mechanism in fish stocks that are recovering from overfishing. In general, density dependence in fish stocks is assumed to only occur in reproduction and early life stages and is therefore usually modelled as a stock-recruitment relationship. Recent research shows that density dependence can also reduce individual growth in body size later in life. In this study, we show how optimal fishing effort changes with the strength of density dependence in individual growth for four stocks of North Sea flatfish species. Using size-structured population models we show that density dependence arises due to a mechanistic link between the resource availability and life history processes at the individual level. We furthermore show that the stock response to harvesting is either driven by changes in individual reproduction when density dependence in individual growth is weak or by changes in individual growth rate when individual growth is strongly affected by density dependence. These two types or regimes are separated by a sudden shift in dynamics. It is therefore of great importance to account for density dependence in growth when managing fish stocks

MatLab code to run analyses to investigate the effect of intraspecific killing on the evolution of alternative reproductive tactics

<p>Killing promotes the coexistence of alternative reproductive tactics in males of the same species. Males of many species adopt either an aggressive ‘fighter’ or a competition-evading ‘sneaker’ tactic to gain access to females to mate. Fighter and sneaker coexistence is promoted by differences in their life histories. Using a theoretical approach, we show that sneakers and fighters can coexist under an even wider range of conditions if fighters kill competitor fighters in conflicts. Here the MatLab code can be downloaded<br></p

Population consequences of individual heterogeneity in life histories: Overcompensation in response to harvesting of alternative reproductive tactics

Data and analyses of the experiments, as well as the simulation code of the population experiment, conducted in:<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Smallegange, I.M., Fernandes, R.E., and Croll, C.C. 2017. Data from: Population consequences of individual heterogeneity in life histories: overcompensation in response to harvesting of alternative reproductive tactics. <i>Oikos</i>. doi: 10.1111/oik.04130</div

International Bottom Trawl Survey Working Group (IBTSWG). ICES Scientific Reports, 3:69.

The International Bottom Trawl Survey Working Group (IBTSWG) coordinates fishery-inde-pendent multispecies bottom-trawl surveys within the ICES area. These long-term monitoring surveys provide data for stock assessments and facilitate examination of changes in fish distri-bution and abundance. The group also promotes the standardization of fishing gears and meth-ods and survey coordination. This report summarizes the national contributions in 2020–2021 and plans for the 2021–2022 surveys coordinated by IBTSWG. In the North Sea, the surveys are performed in quarters (Q) Q1 and Q3 while in the Northeast Atlantic the surveys are conducted in Q1, Q3, and Q4 with a suite of 14 national surveys covering a large area of continental shelf that ranges from North of Scotland to the Gulf of Cádiz. Despite the COVID-measures and bad weather, most surveys were able to complete the majority of the planned hauls. The Portuguese survey (PT-GFS-Q4) was cancelled in 2020 due to issues associated with the new vessel and a COVID-outbreak. A COVID-related delay in submitting the cruise application form for the French CGFS20 survey resulted in no authorisation to trawl in UK waters and only 70% of the core stations were completed. Issues with the UK permits, were also experienced in the North Sea surveys, only being resolved at the last moment, expected to be a returning issue. Therefore, IBTSWG addressed the permit issue in further detail in order to better evaluate the impact and propose possible solutions. All surveys, except for the Spanish GCGF-Q1 21 which is cancelled due to a vessel refit, are planned to take place according to the manuals in the next year. The SCOROC Q3 20 survey recorded second highest recruitment of zero group haddock on the Rockall Bank since the start of the new survey series in 2011. The North Sea Q1 21 survey rec-orded good recruitment of haddock as well, and high recruitment of mackerel, while overall herring recruitment seemed low except for three exceptionally large catches in the Skager-rak/Kattegat bringing the index above average. Both North Sea surveys reported large amounts of target species outside their index areas, which may warrant a revision of the species-specific areas on which the standard abundance indices are calculated. IBTSWG will continue a number of collaborative activities later this year. The Workshop on the Further Development of the New IBTS Gear (WKFDN) will focus on updating results of gear trails with the potential new gears. The Workshop on the production of swept area estimates for all hauls in DATRAS for biodiversity assessments (WKSAE) will continue work on the North-eastern Atlantic Flexfile available via DATRAS, for which country specific algorithms are used to fill data gaps relevant for the calculation of the swept area. This and the already available North Sea Flexfile can be used to produces swept area indices. IBTSWG also met with members of the assessment groups, Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK) and Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF), to improve communication on for example circumstances affecting the execution of the surveys but also changes in survey design potentially impacting the indices