Bycatch of depleted and vulnerable species is a pressing conservation issue that undermines the sustainability of fisheries worldwide. Here, we utilised spatiotemporal modelling of fisheries-independent survey data to evaluate the potential for existing and proposed Marine Conservation Areas (MCAs) in Atlantic Canada to reduce bycatch vulnerability for three severely-depleted species—Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) and White hake (Urophycis tenuis)—commonly caught as bycatch in commercial trawl fisheries on the Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy. We overlaid predicted distributions of abundance for these depleted species with those of commercially targeted Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and Pollock (Pollachius virens) to identify areas of high-vulnerability. Our analysis showed that a fully implemented MCA network would overlap with an average of 16% of high-vulnerability area for individual species and 20% when combined as a single group, an increase of 9% and 13%, respectively, from existing MCAs. This approach can be used more generally by employing readily available survey data to optimise both fisheries management and biodiversity objectives in marine conservation planning.The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the pdf file of the accepted manuscript may differ slightly from what is displayed on the item page. The information in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript reflects the original submission by the author
