Marine Strategy Framework Directive - Descriptor 2, Non-Indigenous Species, Delivering solid recommendations for setting threshold values for non-indigenous species pressure on European seas

Marine Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) are animals and plants introduced accidently or deliberately into the European seas, originating from other seas of the globe. About 800 marine non-indigenous species (NIS) currently occur in the European Union national marine waters, several of which have negative impacts on marine ecosystem services and biodiversity. Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Descriptor 2 (D2), EU Member States (MSs) need to consider NIS in their marine management strategies. The Descriptor D2 includes one primary criterion (D2C1: new NIS introductions), and two secondary criteria (D2C2 and D2C3). The D2 implementation is characterized by a number of issues and uncertainties which can be applicable to the Descriptor level (e.g. geographical unit of assessment, assessment period, phytoplanktonic, parasitic, oligohaline NIS, etc.), to the primary criterion D2C1 level (e.g. threshold values, cryptogenic, questionable species, etc), and to the secondary criteria D2C2 and D2C3. The current report tackles these issues and provides practical recommendations aiming at a smoother and more efficient implementation of D2 and its criteria at EU level. They constitute a solid operational output which can result in more comparable D2 assessments among MSs and MSFD regions/subregions. When it comes to the policy-side, the current report calls for a number of different categories of NIS to be reported in D2 assessments, pointing the need for the species to be labelled/categorised appropriately in the MSFD reporting by the MSs. These suggestions are proposed to be communicated to the MSFD Working Group of Good Environmental Status (GES) and subsequently to the Marine Strategy Coordination Group (MSCG) of MSFD. Moreover, they can serve as an input for revising the Art. 8 Guidelines

Large-Scale Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Mediterranean Cephalopod Diversity

Species diversity is widely recognized as an important trait of ecosystems’ functioning and resilience. Understanding the causes of diversity patterns and their interaction with the environmental conditions is essential in order to effectively assess and preserve existing diversity. While diversity patterns of most recurrent groups such as fish are commonly studied, other important taxa such as cephalopods have received less attention. In this work we present spatio-temporal trends of cephalopod diversity across the entire Mediterranean Sea during the last 19 years, analysing data from the annual bottom trawl survey MEDITS conducted by 5 different Mediterranean countries using standardized gears and sampling protocols. The influence of local and regional environmental variability in different Mediterranean regions is analysed applying generalized additive models, using species richness and the Shannon Wiener index as diversity descriptors. While the western basin showed a high diversity, our analyses do not support a steady eastward decrease of diversity as proposed in some previous studies. Instead, high Shannon diversity was also found in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, and high species richness in the eastern Ionian Sea. Overall diversity did not show any consistent trend over the last two decades. Except in the Adriatic Sea, diversity showed a hump-shaped trend with depth in all regions, being highest between 200–400 m depth. Our results indicate that high Chlorophyll a concentrations and warmer temperatures seem to enhance species diversity, and the influence of these parameters is stronger for richness than for Shannon diversityVersión del editor4,411

Non-indigenous species refined national baseline inventories: A synthesis in the context of the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Refined baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set per European Union Member State (MS), in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The inventories are based on the initial assessment of the MSFD (2012) and the updated data of the European Alien Species Information Network, in collaboration with NIS experts appointed by the MSs. The analysis revealed that a large number of NIS was not reported from the initial assessments. Moreover, several NIS initially listed are currently considered as native in Europe or were proven to be historical misreportings. The refined baseline inventories constitute a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation, providing an improved basis for reporting new NIS introductions, facilitating the MSFD D2 assessment. In addition, the inventories can help MSs in the establishment of monitoring systems of targeted NIS, and foster cooperation on monitoring of NIS across or within shared marine subregions.Henn Ojaveer and Maiju Lehtiniemi wish to acknowledge the project COMPLETE (Completing management options in the Baltic Sea region to reduce risk of invasive species introduction by shipping), co-financed by the European Union's funding Programme Interreg Baltic Sea Region (European Regional Development Fund). João Canning-Clode was supported by a starting grant in the framework of the 2014 FCT Investigator Programme (IF/01606/2014/CP1230/CT0001) and wish to acknowledge the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/2019 granted to MARE

Non-indigenous species refined national baseline inventories : A synthesis in the context of the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Refined baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set per European Union Member State (MS), in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The inventories are based on the initial assessment of the MSFD (2012) and the updated data of the European Alien Species Information Network, in collaboration with NIS experts appointed by the MSs. The analysis revealed that a large number of NIS was not reported from the initial assessments. Moreover, several NIS initially listed are currently considered as native in Europe or were proven to be historical misreportings. The refined baseline inventories constitute a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation, providing an improved basis for reporting new NIS introductions, facilitating the MSFD D2 assessment. In addition, the inventories can help MSs in the establishment of monitoring systems of targeted NIS, and foster cooperation on monitoring of NIS across or within shared marine subregions. Highlights • Refined MSFD baseline inventories of non-indigenous species (NIS) are set in EU. • The inventories are given per EU Member State (MS) and MSFD subregion up to 2012. • The NIS lists provide a basis for reporting new NIS introductions in EU after 2012. • Our work constitutes a milestone for the MSFD Descriptor 2 implementation

The dynamics of small-scale fishing and bottom trawl fishing in Cyprus coastal waters from 1980 to 2006

In the present study, time series of monthly Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) data from the Cyprus fishing fleet that operates in four areas of the island, were analyzed covering the period 1980-2006. Possible relationships between CPUE and meteorological variables of precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, sea-level pressure and wind stress, were also investigated. CPUE standardization using Generalized Linear Models (GLM), was applied between LnCPUE as a dependent variable and the independent variables of year, month, area and their interactions. Area was identified as the most important variable in influencing CPUE of small scale fisheries, explaining 26.7% of the variability in LnCPUE. The CPUE shows an increase from east to west of the island. Analysis showed that temporal variables (Month and Year) were also important in influencing the CPUE in both fisheries. Particularly, the analysis revealed that the bottom trawl LnCPUE tended to have higher intra-annual variation than the small scale CPUE, because of the fact that the variable of month (M) was the most important explaining 19.5% of the variability in LnCPUE. The statistical significance of CPUE trends was not obvious due to the autocorrelation of the residuals from the GLMs. Therefore, GAMMs were developed with the independent variables of year, fishing month (fm) and area a first order autoregression (p=1) (GAMM-2). The results showed an inter-annual decrease of CPUE in the western region of Cyprus. This could be due to the overfishing status of the stocks in combination with the reduction of river-runoff in the sea. Cross correlation and wavelet analysis, showed that precipitation is leading CPUE positively with a time lag of one year, possibly because of the stimulation of primary production. Wind stress during summer months, also indicated that causes positive leading of CPUE with a time lag of one year in the southwestern coastal areas of Cyprus. This information coincides with the fact that upwellings taking place during summer in the same regions because of the strong northwesterly winds are eventually beneficial for fisheries productivilty. Univariate SARIMA models were developed and applied for forecasting CPUE. The high values of coefficient of determination of the forecasted monthly values using the log-transformed and ordinary standardized CPUE for one year ahead (2006), with error rates of a range 1.6-6.4% for both fishing categories, is an important goal for modelling time series of Cyprus CPUE data. Finally, non-equillibrium production models indicated for small scale fisheries that harvest has an increasing trend while stock appears to have a declining trend for three areas. The increasing trends of harvest apparently lead to the overfishing of the stocks. The unique exponential decrease of stock values in the eastern coast, suggests that management plans are needed to focus in that area helping the recovery of stocks. Depletion models were simulated successfully in bottom trawl CPUE data, showing a declining trend with cumulative catch.Στη συγκεκριμένη διδακτορική διατριβή αναλύθηκαν χρονοσειρές Παραγωγής ανά μονάδα Αλιευτικής Προσπάθειας (ΠΑΜΑΠ) στα χωρικά ύδατα της Κύπρου, από δύο κατηγορίες αλιείας (παράκτια αλιεία μικρής κλίμακας και τράτα βυθού) και τέσσερις περιοχές χρησιμοποιώντας μηνιαία δεδομένα που καλύπτουν την περίοδο 1980-2006. Παράλληλα διερευνήθηκε η πιθανή στατιστική εξάρτηση αυτής της μεταβλητής με 5 μετεωρολογικές μεταβλητές που είναι η βροχόπτωση, η μέση θερμοκρασία, η σχετική υγρασία, η ατμοσφαιρική πίεση και η ένταση του ανέμου. Η τυποποίηση (standardization) των τιμών της ΠΑΜΑΠ και για τις δυο κατηγορίες αλιείας, πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη χρήση Γενικευμένων Γραμμικών Μοντέλων (GLM), μέσω της ανάπτυξης γραμμικών σχέσεων μεταξύ της λογαριθμημένης ΠΑΜΑΠ (LnΠΑΜΑΠ) και των μεταβλητών του έτους, μήνα, περιοχής και αλληλεπιδράσεων τους. Το τελικό ΠΑ-GLM-3 περιγραφής της LnΠΑΜΑΠ για την παράκτια αλιεία έδειξε ότι η μεταβλητή της περιοχής (Π) είναι η πιο σημαντική στην επίδραση της ΠΑΜΑΠ παράκτιας αλιείας, περιγράφοντας το πολύ ψηλό ποσοστό 26.7% της μεταβλητότητας. Συγκεκριμένα, παρατηρήθηκε αύξηση της ΠΑΜΑΠ από ανατολικά προς δυτικά της Κύπρου. Με την ανάπτυξη των Μεικτών Αθροιστικών Μοντέλων (GAMM) για αντιμετώπιση της μη- γραμμικότητας στις εξαρτήσεις της ΠΑΜΑΠ καθώς και της αυτοσυσχέτισης στις χρονοσειρές, διαφάνηκε μια διαχρονική μείωση της ΠΑΜΑΠ στις δυτικές περιοχές της Κύπρου. Αυτό μπορεί να υποδηλώνει μια διαχρονική εξασθένηση των αποθεμάτων στις δυτικές περιοχές από πιθανή υπεραλίευση, αλλά ίσως και από τη διαχρονική μείωση της εισροής ποτάμιου νερού στη θάλασσα, έχοντας υπόψη ότι θεωρούνται οι αποδοτικότερες λεκάνες απορροής στο νησί. Τα αποτελέσματα της έτερο-συσχέτισης (CCF) και ανάλυσης κυματιδίων (wavelet analysis), έδειξαν τη βροχόπτωση να έχει θετική καθοδήγηση στην ΠΑΜΑΠ με μια χρονική υστέρηση ενός έτους όπου πιθανότατα να οφείλεται στη διέγερση της πρωτογενούς παραγωγής όπως διαπιστώνεται και από δορυφορικές εικόνες εξάπλωσης της χλωροφύλλης. Η ένταση του ανέμου έδειξε επίσης να καθοδηγεί θετικά την ΠΑΜΑΠ με χρονική υστέρηση ενός έτους στις νοτιοδυτικές περιοχές της Κύπρου και μάλιστα από τιμές των καλοκαιρινών μηνών, κάτι που υποδηλώνει ότι οι παράκτιες αναβλύσεις που λαμβάνουν χώρα το καλοκαίρι στις ίδιες περιοχές εξαιτίας των επικρατούντων βορειοδυτικών ανέμων, είναι ευεργετικές για την αλιευτική παραγωγικότητα. Μονοδιάστατα εποχικά μοντέλα ARIMA, έχουν αναπτυχθεί για σκοπούς πρόγνωσης της ΠΑΜΑΠ. Τα αποτελέσματα είναι ενθαρρυντικά για βραχυπρόθεσμο επίπεδο με διάρκεια πρόγνωσης ενός έτους, κυρίως για τις νοτιοδυτικές περιοχές αφού το τυπικό σφάλμα της πρόγνωσης κινείται σε χαμηλά ποσοστά (1.6-6.4%) και για τις δύο κατηγορίες αλιείας (παράκτια αλιεία και τράτα βυθού). Τα μοντέλα βιομάζας στο τέλος, έδειξαν την αυξητική τάση που έχει ο ρυθμός αλίευσης στην παράκτια αλιεία και την πτωτική πορεία που αποκτούν οι υπολογισμένες τιμές του αποθέματος στο χρόνο, κάτι που επιβεβαιώνει την κατάσταση υπεραλίευσης. Η εκθετική μείωση των αποθεμάτων στην ανατολική περιοχή της Κύπρου, καθιστά αναγκαία τη λήψη μέτρων για την προστασία και τη βιώσιμη εκμετάλλευση τους. Τα μοντέλα εξάντλησης του αποθέματος, έχουν αποδώσει στα δεδομένα ΠΑΜΑΠ για τράτα βυθού, δείχνοντας την μείωση της με το αθροιστικό αλίευμα αλλά και διαδοχικά στο χρόνο

Demersal cephalopod communities in the Mediterranean: a large-scale analysis

Cephalopod assemblages at the scale of the entire Mediterranean Sea were analysed using information from 2 decades of standardized scientific bottom trawl surveys. Western and eastern assemblages (6 yr of data) were compared using a combined approach of multivariate ordination techniques and non-linear regressions. These methods enabled us to distinguish assemblages and simultaneously analyse the influence of geographic, bathymetric and environmental (sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a concentration) gradients on observed community patterns. Despite few differences in species composition between sub-basins, the relative contribution of species differed. Bathymetry was the primary structural driver for the cephalopod communities of both basins, and contributed to 3 assemblages (shallow water, upper slope and middle slope). Winter temperature influenced community assemblages more strongly in the western than in the eastern basin, in contrast to a small but consistent winter productivity influence on community assemblages in both basins. Thus, the environmental parameters analysed did not cause an immediate change in cephalopod assemblages, but rather an effect lagged by several months. Differences in the relative importance of environmental drivers show that different processes operate in the 2 basins. These results demonstrate similarities and differences between Mediterranean basins regarding important cephalopod functional groups. This information should help integrative ecosystem management approaches currently used in fisheries and conservation management

Environmentally driven synchronies of Mediterranean cephalopod populations

The Mediterranean Sea is characterized by large scale gradients of temperature, productivity and salinity, in addition to pronounced mesoscale differences. Such a heterogeneous system is expected to shape the population dynamics of marine species. On the other hand, prevailing environmental and climatic conditions at whole basin scale may force spatially distant populations to fluctuate in synchrony. Cephalopods are excellent case studies to test these hypotheses owing to their high sensitivity to environmental conditions. Data of two cephalopod species with contrasting life histories (benthic octopus vs nectobenthic squid), obtained from scientific surveys carried out throughout the Mediterranean during the last 20 years were analyzed. The objectives of this study and the methods used to achieve them (in parentheses) were: (i) to investigate synchronies in spatially separated populations (decorrelation analysis); (ii) detect underlying common abundance trends over distant regions (dynamic factor analysis, DFA); and (iii) analyse putative influences of key environmental drivers such as productivity and sea surface temperature on the population dynamics at regional scale (general linear models, GLM). In accordance with their contrasting spatial mobility, the distance from where synchrony could no longer be detected (decorrelation scale) was higher in squid than in octopus (349 vs 217 km); for comparison, the maximum distance between locations was 2620 km. The DFA revealed a general increasing trend in the abundance of both species in most areas, which agrees with the already reported worldwide proliferation of cephalopods. DFA results also showed that population dynamics are more similar in the eastern than in the western Mediterranean basin. According to the GLM models, cephalopod populations were negatively affected by productivity, which would be explained by an increase of competition and predation by fishes. While warmer years coincided with declining octopus numbers, areas of high sea surface temperature showed higher densities of squid. Our results are relevant for regional fisheries management and demonstrate that the regionalisation objectives envisaged under the new Common Fishery Policy may not be adequate for Mediterranean cephalopod stocks.Versión del edito

Temporal patterns of the Shannon diversity H’ at six different Mediterranean bioregions using the MEDITS sampling carried out during 1994–2012.

<p>Temporal patterns of the Shannon diversity H’ at six different Mediterranean bioregions using the MEDITS sampling carried out during 1994–2012.</p

Spatial pattern of Shannon diversity H’ (A) and species richness S (B) across the Mediterranean Sea as predicted by the GAM model.

<p>Spatial pattern of Shannon diversity H’ (A) and species richness S (B) across the Mediterranean Sea as predicted by the GAM model.</p

Boxplot of total species richness (S_rar) at different Mediterranean bioregions: Iberian-Lions (IL), Tyrrhenian Sea (TY), Strait of Sicily (SS), Adriatic Sea (AD), Ionian Sea (IO) and Aegean Sea (AG).

<p>Samples were included from 1994–2012 and rarefied to 35 hauls.</p