Workshop to Update and Assess Trade-Offs Between the Impact of Fisheries on Seafloor Habitats and Their Landings and Economic Performance (WKD6ASSESS)

Abstract

WKD6ASSESS aimed to provide an updated assessment of bottom trawl impact versus financial gain in all European waters, for the status quo and under various future management scenarios. In this, the latest developments made in various ICES working groups and workshops should be integrated, and the entire process should be aligned. Largest changes in the assessment include a new method to represent the financial gain of the fisheries; the inclusion of management scenarios in line with pertinent marine policies, for instance considering the closure of Marine Protected Areas; progress in multiple regions (including the Mediterranean Sea) to enable the assessment across all EU waters; and the development of a new user-friendly layout for the presentation of the assessment results. Unfortunately, the progress (mainly in term of data coverage) for the Mediterranean Sea has not yet reached a level that enables operationalizing the assessment at (eco)regional scales. In addition, the data flows for more accurate economic indicators are not yet guaranteed for coming years. Overall, the improvements implemented and presented in this report forms a solid basis for the establishment of a comprehensible and reproducible assessment of bottom trawl impact in all European waters.