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Report of the Scientific Council meeting held by WebEx from 20 to 24 September 2021

Report of the Scientific Council Meeting held in Halifax from 3 to 16 June 2022

Spanish catch and effort information used in this Report is based on the preliminary logbook data contributed by the Spanish Administration. The logbooks information for 2021 was available haul by haul. Total effort of the Spanish fleet in 2021 was 1,170 fishing days. Table 1 presents the preliminary Spanish catches by species and Division in 2021 in NAFO Regulatory Area. These catch figures are preliminary, the final catches to carry out the NAFO assessments will be agreed by the NAFO Joint Commission-Scientific Council Catch Estimation Strategy Advisory Group (CESAG).

During the 14th NAFO Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WGESA) virtual meeting new preliminary data on deep-water corals and sponges were presented from the 2021 EU; EU-Spain and Portugal and Canadian bottom trawl groundfish surveys. The data was made available to the NAFO WGESA to improve mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) indicator species in the NAFO Regulatory Area (Divs. 3LMNO). During the 6th meeting of the NAFO Scientific Council WGESA, new quantitative spatial analyses were applied for corals and sponges for all the available data within the NAFO Regulatory Area (NAFO, 2013). Outcomes from those analyses produced the following thresholds for VME indicator species: 75 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.15 kg per tow for small gorgonians, and 1.4 kg per tow for sea pens. Based on these thresholds, deep-water coral and sponge catches were identified and mapped, and overlaid with the current closed areas and VME polygons. New thresholds and VME polygons were presented at the 12th WGESA meeting using additional data since 2013 (NAFO, 2020). These are: 100 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.2 kg per tow for small gorgonians, 1.3 kg per tow for sea pens, 0.35 for Boltenia sea squirts, 0.2 for bryozoans and 0.4 for black corals. Therefore, VME polygons illustrated on the figures below are the modified ones, accepted by SC.

Indicators are key tools used to assess the ecological status of the environment for ecosystem based management. Anthropogenic disturbances produce changes to habitat condition, which include modifications in species composition and their functions. Monitoring a group of sentinel species (from a taxonomic and functional point of view) provides useful insights into benthic habitat condition. Here, a new indicator, Sentinels of the Seabed (SoS) is proposed to assess state of benthic habitats using “sentinel” species (species which are characteristic of a habitat and sensitive to a given pressure). The selection of these sentinel species has two stages. First, a ‘typical species set’ is computed using intra-habitat similarity and frequency under reference conditions. Second, the ‘sentinel species set’ is generated by selecting the most sensitive species from the typical species set. This selection is made using specific indexes able to assess species sensitivity to a particular pressure. The SoS indicator method was tested on six case studies and two different pressure types (trawling disturbance and pollution), using data from otter trawl, box-corer and Remote Operate Vehicle images. In each scenario, the SoS indicator was compared to the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Margalef index and total biomass, being the only metric, which showed the expected significant negative response to pressure in all cases. Our results shows that SoS was highly effective in assessing benthic habitats status under both physical and chemical pressures, regardless of the sampling gear, the habitat, or the case study, showing a great potential to be a useful tool in the management of marine ecosystems.

The pandemic caused by COVID19 led to the meeting being held by videoconference. Due to the practical constraints of conducting this meeting by videoconference, some items of the usual agenda were simplified, focusing mainly on the most urgent aspects related to the preparation of the Flemish Cap survey in 2021 and the NAFO Scientific Council meeting in June and September.

The identification of areas that fit the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) criteria to define what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) has been the main policy driver for the protection of deep-sea environments in Areas Beyond National Jurisdictions (United Nations General Assembly, 2006; FAO, 2009) in relation to bottom fisheries. At the same time, the Convention on Biological Diversity advocates for the implementation of representative networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the open ocean and the deep sea, and calls for the identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant marine Areas (EBSAs; Convention on Biological Diversity, 2008, Decision IX/20). Although VMEs and EBSAs are conceptually different, Ardron et al. (2014) argue that the designation of VMEs, EBSAs, and large open-ocean MPAs should be aligned to ensure that VMEs are incorporated within area-based management tools. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) adopted a Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) methodology for informing the identification of VMEs in the North-East Atlantic (ICES, 2016a,b; Morato et al., 2018). The MCA is a taxa-dependent spatial method that incorporates the fact that not all VME indicators are equally vulnerable to human impacts, and thus should not be weighted equally. By including a measure of the confidence associated with each VME record, this methodology also considers some of the uncertainties associated with the sampling methodologies, the reported taxonomy, and data quality issues. Equally important, it highlights areas in the North Atlantic that have been poorly sampled and that require further attention. Finally, this methodology also allows for the evaluation and comparison of VME index with spatial fisheries data that may directly generate significant adverse impacts on VMEs. Although the VME Index has been used since 2018 in ICES advice, several caveats and limitations have been identified (

Spanish catch and effort information used in this Report is based on the preliminary logbook data contributed by the Spanish Administration. The logbooks information for 2020 was available haul by haul. Table 1 presents the preliminary Spanish catches by species and Division in 2020 in NAFO Regulatory Area. Total effort of the Spanish fleet in 2020 was 1,200 fishing days. In 2020, IEO scientific observers were on board 31 fishing days that it means 3 % of the Spanish total effort. All length, age and biological information presented in this paper is based on sampling carried out by IEO scientific observers. In 2020, 37 samples were taken with 4816 individuals of different species examined (Table 2).

A series of six gravity cores has been used to reconstruct the depositional history of Hatton Bank (Rockall Plateau, NE Atlantic Ocean). The cores have been studied for magnetic susceptibility (MS), geochemical composition, grain size distribution, and a semi-quantitative foraminiferal association. Two main interbedded facies have been described: (i) calcareous ooze; and (ii) lithogenous silt. The study reveals prominent peaks from the MS signal, silt, Mg/Ca, Fe/Ca, Al/Ca, and Rare Earth Elements normalised by Continental Crust (REE/CC), which are sensitive indicators for Heinrich events (H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5) and ash layers. These peaks may relate to alternations in dominance of the calcareous and lithogenic facies. The sediment displays a high percentage of carbonate in interglacial layers but is lithogenic-dominated in glacial stages. The layers with prominent lithic-rich and foraminifera-poor sediments (established as Heinrich layers) may be related to a possible palaeoclimatic effect, where freshwater discharged during iceberg melting may have reduced the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). In the study area, the mean sedimentation rates for the last glacial as ~4.2 cm ka−1 and ~1.4 cm ka−1 for the last ~18 ka (interglacial period) have been estimated. Besides this evidence, Fe/Ca and MS peaks may reflect the presence of basalt, either introduced through ice-rafting or transported and redistributed by bottom currents in the study area. Certain indices, including MS and Fe/Ca, are proposed as good proxies for detecting Heinrich events and ash layers in the Hatton Bank sediments and, in consequence, are parameters that can be used to infer strengthened/weakened NADW formation, according to stadials/interstadials. Moreover, we suggest that the northernmost boundary of the area with evidence of Heinrich events may be situated around 57°38′ N in the Hatton–Rockall area, at least for H4, based on the variation of the Mg/Ca and Fe/Ca curves.

During the 13th NAFO Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WGESA) virtual meeting new preliminary data on deep-water corals and sponges were presented from the 2020 EU-Spain and Portugal and Canadian bottom trawl groundfish surveys. The data was made available to the NAFO WGESA to improve mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) species in the NAFO Regulatory Area (Divs. 3LMNO). During the 6th meeting of the NAFO Scientific Council WGESA, new quantitative spatial analyses were applied for corals and sponges for all the available data within the NAFO Regulatory Area (NAFO SCS, 2013). Outcomes from those analyses produced the following thresholds for VME species groups: 75 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.15 kg per tow for small gorgonians, and 1.4 kg per tow for sea pens. Based on these thresholds deep-water coral and sponge data were identified and mapped, overlaid with the current closed areas, polygons for kernel density of sea pens and modified kernel density polygons for sponge grounds and large gorgonian VMEs. New thresholds and VME polygons were presented at the 12th WGESA meeting using additional data since 2013. These are: 100 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.2 kg per tow for small gorgonians, 1.3 kg per tow for sea pens, and 0.35 for Boltenia sea squirts. Therefore, polygons illustrated on the figures below are the modified ones, accepted by SC.

Since 2003, a stratified random summer bottom trawl survey has been conducted by EU-Spain in the NAFO Regulatory Area, Division 3L (Flemish Pass). This survey is carried out on board the R/V “Vizconde de Eza” during July and August using always the same bottom trawl net type “Campelen 1800”, with a mesh size of 44 mm cod-end and trawl doors of 1400 kg. Survey is designed for the assessment of fishery resources. Information on marine mammals (2006-2019) and seabirds (2012-2019) was collected throughout these surveys, as an opportunistic sampling. No sea turtles were observed during the study period.

Spanish catch and effort information used in this Report is based on the preliminary logbook data contributed by the Spanish Administration. The logbooks information for 2019 was available haul by haul. Table 1 presents the preliminary Spanish catches by species and Division in 2019 in NAFO Regulatory Area. Total effort of the Spanish fleet in 2019 was 1,272 fishing days. In 2019, IEO scientific observers were on board 257 fishing days that it means 20 % of the Spanish total effort. All length, age and biological information presented in this paper is based on sampling carried out by IEO scientific observers. In 2019, 376 samples were taken with 45,831 individuals of different species examined (Table 2).

The deep sea plays a critical role in global climate regulation through uptake and storage of heat and carbon dioxide. However, this regulating service causes warming, acidification and deoxygenation of deep waters, leading to decreased food availability at the seafloor. These changes and their projections are likely to affect productivity, biodiversity and distributions of deep-sea fauna, thereby compromising key ecosystem services. Understanding how climate change can lead to shifts in deep-sea species distributions is critically important in developing management measures. We used environmental niche modelling along with the best available species occurrence data and environmental parameters to model habitat suitability for key cold-water coral and commercially important deep-sea fish species under present-day (1951–2000) environmental conditions and to project changes under severe, high emissions future (2081–2100) climate projections (RCP8.5 scenario) for the North Atlantic Ocean. Our models projected a decrease of 28%–100% in suitable habitat for cold-water corals and a shift in suitable habitat for deep-sea fishes of 2.0°–9.9° towards higher latitudes. The largest reductions in suitable habitat were projected for the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa and the octocoral Paragorgia arborea, with declines of at least 79% and 99% respectively. We projected the expansion of suitable habitat by 2100 only for the fishes Helicolenus dactylopterus and Sebastes mentella (20%–30%), mostly through northern latitudinal range expansion. Our results projected limited climate refugia locations in the North Atlantic by 2100 for scleractinian corals (30%–42% of present-day suitable habitat), even smaller refugia locations for the octocorals Acanella arbuscula and Acanthogorgia armata (6%–14%), and almost no refugia for P. arborea. Our results emphasize the need to understand how anticipated climate change will affect the distribution of deep-sea species including commerciall

To understand the extent of fishing activities within NAFO Regulatory Area (NRA), a characterization of distribution of fishing effort for a four-year period (2016 to 2019) was carried out. This characterization was done on the basis of two data sources: Haul by haul logbook information and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data. The results indicate that logbook data and VMS are complementary and the coupling of both datasets is a powerful methodology for describing the spatial distribution of fishing activity. The objective of this document is to describe some problems detected on the original “coupling VMS with Logbook data” methodology (NAFO, 2017) and suggest the improvements developed in order to tackle them by the implementation of a new “coupling VMS with Logbook data” methodology. Problems detected in the quality of VMS and Logbook data are also raised by this study.

The integration of survey data in the processes of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations is a key step for conservation of deep-sea ecosystems and sustainable exploitation of deep-sea fisheries resources, including the mitigation of by-catch and discards of cold-water corals and deep-sea sponges, both considered by FAO as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) indicator species. Information on corals and sponges from annual bottom trawl groundfish surveys in areas beyond national jurisdictions has been integrated into the “ecosystem management cycle” of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). Survey data have improved our knowledge on VMEs identification, distribution and extent, and has led to the proposal and implementation of conservation and management measures. These data have particular relevance to delineate and refine the boundaries of areas closed to commercial bottom fishing (14 closures), in order to prevent significant adverse impacts on VMEs, according to the mandate of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/105. Considering the European groundfish surveys in the NAFO Regulatory Area (high seas) as a case study, the paper presents an overview of how invertebrate catch data have been integrated into the fisheries management process as a basis to the implementation of VMEs closed areas. Fishing closures are considered effective spatial management measures to avoid by-catch and discards of cold-water corals and deep-sea sponges in commercial bottom fishing, mitigating the adverse impacts on deep-sea ecosystems

Seabed litter of the Flemish Pass area (NW Atlantic Ocean) was analysed and described using data from the EU-Spain groundfish survey (2006-2017 period). This study presents baseline information on seabed litter in this area. The Flemish Pass is located in areas beyond national jurisdiction within the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area Division 3L. A total of 1169 valid bottom trawl hauls were analysed (104-1478 m depth). Litter was found in 8.3% of the hauls, with mean densities of 1.4±0.2 items km–2 and 10.6±5.2 kg km–2. An increasing pattern with depth was found, the highest densities of seabed litter being identified in the deepest areas located in the Flemish Pass channel and down the northeastern flank of the Grand Bank. Fishing was found to be the main source of marine litter, and 61.9% of the hauls with litter presence showed litter included in the fisheries-related litter category. Whereas in most cases the litter was composed of small fragments of rope, in other cases it was composed of entire fishing gears such as traps. Plastics, metal and other anthropogenic litter were the next most abundant categories, accounting for 18.6%, 16.5% and 12.4% of the total, respectively.

The diversity of life in the sea is critical to the health of ocean ecosystems that support living resources and therefore essential to the economic, nutritional, recreational, and health needs of billions of people. Yet there is evidence that the biodiversity of many marine habitats is being altered in response to a changing climate and human activity. Understanding this change, and forecasting where changes are likely to occur, requires monitoring of organism diversity, distribution, abundance, and health. It requires a minimum of measurements including productivity and ecosystem function, species composition, allelic diversity, and genetic expression. These observations need to be complemented with metrics of environmental change and socio-economic drivers. However, existing global ocean observing infrastructure and programs often do not explicitly consider observations of marine biodiversity and associated processes. Much effort has focused on physical, chemical and some biogeochemical measurements. Broad partnerships, shared approaches, and best practices are now being organized to implement an integrated observing system that serves information to resource managers and decision-makers, scientists and educators, from local to global scales. This integrated observing system of ocean life is now possible due to recent developments among satellite, airborne, and in situ sensors in conjunction with increases in information system capability and capacity, along with an improved understanding of marine processes represented in new physical, biogeochemical, and biological models., biodiversity, ecosystem health, habitat suitability indices, indicators, thresholds, essential ocean variables, essential biodiversity variables, omics