New Mediterranean biodiversity records (March 2016)

In this Collective Article on “New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records”, we present additional records of species found in the Mediterranean Sea. These records refer to eight different countries mainly throughout the northern part of the basin, and include 28 species, belonging to five Phyla. The findings per country include the following species: Spain: Callinectes sapidus and Chelidonura fulvipunctata; Monaco: Aplysia dactylomela; Italy: Charybdis (Charybdis) feriata, Carcharodon carcharias, Seriola fasciata, and Siganus rivulatus; Malta: Pomacanthus asfur; Croatia: Lagocephalus sceleratus and Pomadasys incisus; Montenegro: Lagocephalus sceleratus; Greece: Amathia (Zoobotryon) verticillata, Atys macandrewii, Cerithium scabridum, Chama pacifica, Dendostrea cf. folium, Ergalatax junionae, Septifer cumingii, Syphonota geographica, Syrnola fasciata, Oxyu- richthys petersi, Scarus ghobban, Scorpaena maderensis, Solea aegyptiaca and Upeneus pori; Turkey: Lobotes surinamensis, Ruvettus pretiosus and Ophiocten abyssicolum. In the current article, the presence of Taractes rubescens (Jordan & Evermann, 1887) is recorded for the first time in the Mediterranean from Italy. The great contribution of citizen scientists in monitoring biodiversity records is reflected herein, as 10% of the authors are citizen scientists, and contributed 37.5% of the new findings.peer-reviewe

New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October, 2014)

The Collective Article 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records' of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonikos Gulf, Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turuturu (along the Israeli Mediterranean shore); the mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Gulf of Antalya, Turkey); the mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Ionian Sea); the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Chios Island, Greece); the isopod Paracerceis sculpta (northern Aegean Sea, Greece); the sea urchin Diadema setosum (Gökova Bay, Turkey); the molluscs Smaragdia souverbiana, Murex forskoehlii, Fusinus verrucosus, Circenita callipyga, and Aplysia dactylomela (Syria); the cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata (Baia di Puolo, Massa Lubrense, Campania, southern Italy); the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Civitavecchia, Tyrrhenian Sea); the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (Plemmirio marine reserve, Sicily); the silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Saros Bay, Turkey; and Ibiza channel, Spain); the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus in Kastelorizo Island (Greece); and the foraminiferal Clavulina multicamerata (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The record of L. sceleratus in Spain consists the deepest (350-400m depth) record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. The new records of native species include: first record of the ctenophore Cestum veneris in Turkish marine waters; the presence of Holothuria tubulosa and Holothuria polii in the Bay of Igoumenitsa (Greece); the first recorded sighting of the bull ray Pteromylaeus bovinus in Maltese waters; and a new record of the fish Lobotes surinamensis from Maliakos Gulf.peer-reviewe

Estimating Trends of Population Decline in Long-Lived Marine Species in the Mediterranean Sea Based on Fishers' Perceptions

We conducted interviews of a representative sample of 106 retired fishers in Italy, Spain and Greece, asking specific questions about the trends they perceived in dolphin and shark abundances between 1940 and 1999 (in three 20 year periods) compared to the present abundance. The large marine fauna studied were not target species of the commercial fleet segment interviewed (trawl fishery). The fishers were asked to rank the perceived abundance in each period into qualitative ordinal classes based on two indicators: frequency of sightings and frequency of catches (incidental or intentional) of each taxonomic group. The statistical analysis of the survey results showed that both incidental catches and the sighting frequency of dolphins have decreased significantly over the 60+ years of the study period (except for in Greece due to the recent population increase). This shows that fishers' perceptions are in agreement with the declining population trends detected by scientists. Shark catches were also perceived to have diminished since the early 1940s for all species. Other long-lived Mediterranean marine fauna (monk seals, whales) were at very low levels in the second half of the 20th century and no quantitative data could be obtained. Our study supports the results obtained in the Mediterranean and other seas that show the rapid disappearance (over a few decades) of marine fauna. We show that appropriately designed questionnaires help provide a picture of animal abundance in the past through the valuable perceptions of fishers. This information can be used to complement scientific sources or in some cases be taken as the only information source for establishing population trends in the abundance of sensitive species

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas : the PERSEUS experience

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.peer-reviewe

Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves

Publication history: Accepted - 23 August 2018; Published online - 8 October 2018.Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years. Trawling footprint varied markedly among regions: from <10% of seabed area in Australian and New Zealand waters, the Aleutian Islands, East Bering Sea, South Chile, and Gulf of Alaska to >50% in some European seas. Overall, 14% of the 7.8 million-km2 study area was trawled, and 86% was not trawled. Trawling activity was aggregated; the most intensively trawled areas accounting for 90% of activity comprised 77% of footprint on average. Regional swept area ratio (SAR; ratio of total swept area trawled annually to total area of region, a metric of trawling intensity) and footprint area were related, providing an approach to estimate regional trawling footprints when highresolution spatial data are unavailable. If SAR was ≤0.1, as in 8 of 24 regions, therewas >95% probability that >90%of seabed was not trawled. If SAR was 7.9, equal to the highest SAR recorded, there was >95% probability that >70% of seabed was trawled. Footprints were smaller and SAR was ≤0.25 in regions where fishing rates consistently met international sustainability benchmarks for fish stocks, implying collateral environmental benefits from sustainable fishing.Funding for meetings of the study group and salary support for R.O.A. were provided by the following: David and Lucile Packard Foundation; the Walton Family Foundation; the Alaska Seafood Cooperative; American Seafoods Group US; Blumar Seafoods Denmark; Clearwater Seafoods Inc.; Espersen Group; Glacier Fish Company LLC US; Gortons Seafood; Independent Fisheries Limited N.Z.; Nippon Suisan (USA), Inc.; Pesca Chile S.A.; Pacific Andes International Holdings, Ltd.; San Arawa, S.A.; Sanford Ltd. N.Z.; Sealord Group Ltd. N.Z.; South African Trawling Association; Trident Seafoods; and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Additional funding to individual authors was provided by European Union Project BENTHIS EU-FP7 312088 (to A.D.R., O.R.E., F.B., N.T.H., L.B.-M., R.C., H.O.F., H.G., J.G.H., P.J., S.K., M.L., G.G.-M., N.P., P.E.P., T.R., A.S., B.V., and M.J.K.); the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Portugal (C.S.); the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Science Fund (R.O.A. and K.M.H.); the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (C.R.P. and T.M.); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (R.A.M.); New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries Projects BEN2012/01 and DAE2010/ 04D (to S.J.B. and R.F.); the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania and the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmania, Australia (J.M.S.); and UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Project MF1225 (to S.J.)

IMAS-Fish: Integrated MAnagement System to support the sustainability of Greek Fisheries resources. A multidisciplinary web-based database management system: implementation, capabilities, utilization and future prospects for fisheries stakeholders

The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) holds a significant amount of scientific data covering various disciplines of the marine environment in the Greek Seas. The Institute of Marine Biological Resources (IMBR/HCMR) endeavors to assess the fishery resources by undertaking fishery independent experimental surveys, as well as monitoring the commercial fisheries activities with on-board observers. However, accession to these data and furthermore compatibility of the available formats was a complicated task, since data were either stored on a local intranet database or on many individual PCs . “IMAS-Fish” was developed to overcome these issues by: (i) homogenizing all the available datasets under a relational database, (ii) facilitating quality control and data entry, (iii) offering easy access to raw data, (iv) providing processed results through a series of classical and advanced fishery statistics algorithms, and (v) visualizing the results on maps using GIS technology. Available datasets cover among others: Fishery independent experimental surveys data (locations, species, catch compositions, biological data); Commercial fishing activities (fishing gear, locations, catch compositions, discards); Market sampling data (species, biometry, maturity, ageing); Satellite derived ocean data (Sea surface temperature, Salinity, Wind speed, Chlorophyll-a concentrations, Photosynthetically active radiation); Oceanographic parameters (CTD measurements); Official national fishery statistics; Fishing fleet registry and VMS data; Fishing ports inventory; Fishing legislation archive (national and EU); Bathymetry grids. Currently, the homogenized database holds a total of more than 100,000,000 records. The web-based application is accessible through an internet browser and can serve as a valuable tool for all involved stakeholders: fisheries scientists, state officials responsible for management, fishermen cooperatives, academics, students and NGOs . This article describes in detail the IMAS-Fish implementation technicalities and provides examples on how can it be used for scientific and management purposes setting new standards in fishery science.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Ecological mapping and data quality assessment for the needs of ecosystem-based marine spatial management: case study Greek Ionian Sea and the adjacent gulfs

Mapping of ecosystem components (natural and socioeconomic) is a prerequisite for ecosystem-based marine spatial management (EB-MSM). To initiate the process of EB-MSM in the Greek Ionian Sea and the adjacent gulfs, the main relevant ecosystem components were mapped based on existing spatial information and expert judgment. The natural components mapped included habitat types and species targeted for conservation, according to national and European legislation and international agreements. Main human activities/pressures related to fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and industry were also mapped. In order to assess the quality of data used to map ecosystem components and therefore take into consideration the inherent uncertainty, an assessment of 5 semi-quantitative data indicators based on a pedigree matrix was conducted. Through this qualitative approach we gained information related to the sources, acquisition and verification procedures, statistical properties, and temporal & geographical correlation, along with the collection process quality of the ecosystem components under study. A substantial overlapping between ecological features and human activities was identified, confirming the need for a well-planned approach to marine space management, in order to mitigate conflicts for marine resources and conserve marine ecosystems and their associated goods and services.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Predicting effect of changes in ‘fishable’ areas on fish and fisheries

This report aims to investigate the available tools for predicting the impact of various spatial management options on fisheries distribution, yield, profitability, and selectivity. Such spatial plans may affect the remaining ‘fishable’ areas by displacing and concentrating the fishing pressure, and so may alter stock abundances, distributions, size- and species catch composition and fuel expenditure and cost. The report provides early insights into how spatial plans that exclude certain fishing activities may affect these outcomes. Spatially explicit approaches are used, along with scenarios of underlying stock productivities and distributions, to assess the performance of spatial management measures. Scenario-based testing is conducted to examine the interrelated effects of management options and stock productivity. A major aspect of the work involved gathering and organizing information on specific zones from several sources such as Natura2000, CDDA, SPA, SAC, and UK-defined areas. We found that most of these zones did not have any previous management plans in place that would outline fishing restrictions. Therefore, we developed a method of assigning limitations to certain fishing techniques based on the perceived vulnerability of specific areas to these practices. This approach has allowed for an examination of how these restrictions potentially affect fish and fisheries.Initially, we used a static approach in anticipating the potential fishing effort displacement to measure the impact of fishing in the Northeast Atlantic area. Our research shows that while such spatial management measures may reduce fishing opportunities, it may be possible to offset in the short term some of these spatial opportunity losses by fishing in nearby locations (Figure 1). On the Med side, an analysis of fishing effort displacement from restricted areas in the Adriatic Sea is exemplified in a before/after situation, showing that the effort is not reduced but redistributed and can further redistribute far from the restricted areas.If in the short term, spatial management may increase operating costs by displacing the effort, this may eventually be recovered in the long term if the stock is recovering from previous overfishing. To determine whether conservation measures (such as Marine Protected Areas) that limit specific fishing techniques and areas could help mitigate the negative effects of fishing, a more advanced approach to fisheries management is required. This involves using a dynamic approach deploying spatial bioeconomic models that consider changes in environmental drivers and spatial restrictions, allowing it to assess potential changes in fishing effort facing, for example, new regulatory or ecological conditions. While bioeconomic models require more data and assumptions to forecast "alternative futures", they offer a more comprehensive approach to fisheries management, which is particularly useful as testing MPAs effects in real life is a challenge. A suite of bioeconomic models has been deployed to provide preliminary findings about the effect of spatial restrictions on fish, fisheries, benthos and bycatch:•International fisheries active in the North Sea were modeled using DISPLACE, testing the implementation of spatial restrictions to specific fishing techniques. Based on the simulations, the benthos status improved in areas where bottom fishing was excluded from previously fished areas and decreased in newly fished areas. However, the gain by EU closure areas was limited and no change in fish size selectivity detected as these areas are not really significant for bottom fishing and have not been initially designated to modify selectivity.•In the eastern Ionian Sea, different spatial restrictions for fishing techniques were evaluated using the DISPLACE model. While there may have been advantages to the fishing restrictions, there has been an increase in both unwanted catch and fishing effort, and no significant improvements were observed in the harvesting of adult fish. The alternative scenarios tested were insufficient to make fishing fleets more selective. Additionally, certain fishing fleets were economically adversely affected.•East Adriatic trawlers may benefit from being forced closer to shore after the closure of their traditional fishing grounds while the Italian trawling fleet experiences higher steaming costs, likely due to the closure of nursery grounds and FRAs and redistribution to other areas. ECOSPACE predicted that the mean trophic level of fish caught in deeper waters, closed to bottom trawlers but still accessible to pelagic fisheries, will increase. ECOSPACE indicated a marked rise in biodiversity in the central Adriatic area under the closures scenario. The reported outcome for ECOSPACE should be considered preliminary as it may have been influenced by the assumptions used to build and parameterize the model.•ECOSPACE predicted a significant rise in biomass for the southern North Sea in response to area closures. Fish biomass could increase by up to 15%. However, this increase may not be sufficient to compensate for the decline in biomass outside the MPA from more pressure on specific fish species. This, in turn, caused a decrease in overall catches. Within the MPAs, all fishing fleets experienced losses of up to 50%, while outside the MPAs, there was an increase of up to 13% in catches. Nonetheless, the gains outside the MPAs did not compensate for the losses incurred due to the closures.•ECOSPACE investigation on how spatial fisheries management affects the food web and fisheries in the eastern Ionian Sea was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of fishing effort for two scenarios - one with existing closed areas and another with possible future closed areas. Preliminary findings indicate that if all fishing activities are restricted from MPAs (as in the second scenario), there is an increase in fishing effort throughout the study area, rather than just around the MPAs.•Using an agent-based model of the southern North Sea and the German fisheries, spatial restrictions were shown to possibly result in reduction in fishing effort, concentration of fishing effort in the remaining open areas, longer steaming times, and lower profits. The spatial scenarios heavily affect the German shrimp fishery due to large overlaps with coastal shrimp fishing grounds, while flatfish and Nephrops fisheries are less affected. Scenarios reduced the fishing effort of all métiers suggesting that switching métiers and relocating fishing effort could not negate the impact of spatial fishing closures.•In the North Sea, the OSMOSE model was used to test scenarios of effort redistribution and effort reduction. The results indicated a slight increase in the biomass of demersal species, but a significant decrease in the biomass of pelagic species. Both scenarios showed an increase in the relative biomass of protected, endangered, and threatened (PET) species when effort was reduced. Additionally, changes in the food web led to an increase in the catch of commercial species above minimum conservation size.•A spatial BEMTOOL is being implemented applied to the Adriatic and western Ionian Seas active and passive demersal gears fleet segments. The effort data for the main ports in the study area was explored to identify the fishing grounds that are more frequently visited by fishers and to gain insights into their fishing strategies.In summary, prohibition of certain fishing techniques in all currently designated MPAs has minimal impact on the fisheries economy of most fleet-segments examined and fish populations in the short term. This is primarily because these areas are preserved due to their significance as hotspots of EU marine biodiversity, rather than selected for a high abundance of commercial fish. Some segments, however, may require &gt;15% extra effort to break even. In an upcoming study, SEAwise partners will investigate conservation areas the selectivity of fish size

Large-scale distribution of deep-sea megafauna community along Mediterranean trawlable grounds

The large-scale distribution pattern of megafauna communities along the Mediterranean middle slope was explored. The study was conducted between 500 and 800 m depth where deep-water fishery occurs. Although community studies carried out deeper than 500 m are partly available for some geographic areas, few large-scale comparative studies have been carried out. Within the framework of the MEDITS survey programme, we compared the megafauna community structure in ten geographical sub-areas (GSAs) along the Mediterranean coasts. Additionally, the spatial distribution of fishing was analysed using vessel monitoring by satellite information. Overall, the community showed a significant difference between sub-areas, with a decreasing eastward pattern in abundance and biomass. Longitude was the main factor explaining variation among sub-areas (by generalized additive models). However, we found a region which did not follow the general pattern. GSA 6 (northern Spain) showed significantly lower abundance and a different composition structure to the adjacent areas. The decrease in community descriptors (i.e. abundance and biomass) in this area is probably a symptom of population changes induced by intense fishery exploitation. Overall, a combination of environmental variables and human-induced impacts appears to influence the bentho-pelagic communities along the slope areas of the Mediterranea