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This investigation presents the evolution of scientific production, based upon a bibliometric study from 1974 to May 2021, including aspects such as the progress, trends, and hotspots of coastal research in Oualidia and Sidi Moussa lagoons (Moroccan Atlantic coast). In addition, the research investigation includes publication year, document type, language, and mainstream journals. Co-words, co-country and co-authorship analysis were conducted using VOSviewer software. A total of 351 publications were extracted. Of these publications, 276 (78.63%) were academic papers. The study revealed a disparity in the research distribution: 62.11% of the total publications were referred to Oualidia lagoon and only 37.89% to Sidi Moussa lagoon. 57.26% of them were produced between 2011 and 2021. Morocco, France, and Spain are the most important countries for international cooperation in this research area. Studies did exhibit heterogeneity regarding research priorities. Some prioritized environmental monitoring and water quality issues, while others focused more on topics such as heavy metal pollution. In contrast, the application of new monitoring methods for lagoons investigation, new technologies, processes, and models of ecological restoration received little attention., Frontiers in Science and Engineering, Vol 12, No 1 (2022): Characteristics of the Oualidia-Sidi Moussa lagoonal complex

The Oualidia lagoon is a shallow, nutrient-poor system that suffers from the expansion of oyster farming and agricultural drainage discharges. From an ecological point of view, this lagoon is probably one of the minor conserved wetlands in the Moroccan Atlantic zone. Therefore, the distribution of nutrients (PO43-, NH4+, and NO2-) and physicochemical parameters (temperature, dissolved O2, and salinity) were evaluated for one and a half years. For this purpose, the monitoring of nutrients in the Oualidia lagoon was carried out in four stations. The first results showed a considerable spatial and temporal variability of the physicochemical parameters. Indeed, nutrients of anthropogenic origin have been transported from agricultural areas to the Oualidia basin. However, these inputs were compensated by water exchanges with the adjacent open sea. These exchanges exerted a dynamic dilution effect and induced a short residence time in the water, thus limiting the enrichment and accumulation of nutrients for long periods. An overview of the previous studies, a comparison, and a hydrochemical characterization were performed to evaluate this work's results and give a general picture of the Moroccan Atlantic lagoons (i.e., Moulay Bousselham, Sidi Moussa, Oualidia, and Khnifiss)., Frontiers in Science and Engineering, Vol 12, No 1 (2022): Characteristics of the Oualidia-Sidi Moussa lagoonal complex

Fisheries of small pelagics, namely sardine (Sardina pilchardus), chub mackerel (Scomber colias) and European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in Morocco and Mauritania are extremely important from the socio-economic perspective. They account for the largest biomasses landed and contribut to the national economies through employment and exports of canned products, fish meal and fish oil, while also being a major source of protein for national consumption. Stocks of small pelagics in upwelling regions are characterised by strong variability in recruitment and abundance, with environmental drivers playing a key role. Most stock assessment approaches do not take into account environmental variability or interactions between species, in an ecosystem context. Understanding the drivers of fluctuations in the variability of small pelagics would contribute to improved management and conservation. For all the above reasons, the FarFish project is awarding significant efforts towards estimating population trends of small-pelagics provided by stock assessment models to find the link with environmental variables. The work is broken into two tasks i.e. the data collection part (WP2) and the modelling part (WP6). This document reports on the WP2 task, which includes compiling the data input for different models, like life history parameters and time series of catches, landings, effort, indices of abundance, as well as finding the sources to get different environmental variables. This deliverable reports on the biological and fisheries data compiled for the three key small pelagic species. Time series suitable for modelling were compiled from a number of sources, national and international as well as fisheries dependent and fisheries independent (research surveys). Life history parameters (growth, weight-length relationships) were also compiled from different sources. Catch data time series are available since the 1970s, with reconstructed time series (Sea Around Us project) extending the time series back to 1950. Fishing effort data is available from the early 1990s, with shorter time series of abundance indices available from research surveys, for Morocco. Time series of fishing effort for Mauritania are however lacking. Together with time series of environmental variables, the data compiled will feed WP6 where new approaches and models will be applied to gain a better understanding the population dynamics of the three small pelagics and contribute to improving management. WP6 will fit stock assessment models for these data. Resulting estimates will then be contrasted with different environmental variables and links found will contribute to gain a better understanding of the population dynamics for these three small pelagics. Disentangling the environmental effect over the population could also be further used to enhance management practices.

This is the third and final report on the FarFish data base (FFDB). Task 2.3 (Advancing biological and ecological knowledge) of WP2 in FarFish aims to compile and make available in the FFDB, developed in WP6, data for the relevant stocks in the different Case Studies (CS). The data feeds into models and management tools that provide better understanding of the biology and ecology of the respective species and ecosystems, and will be used by other WPs (1, 3, 4, 5 & 6) for stakeholder interaction, development of management recommendations (MRs), modelling, stock assessment and for visualisation tools. The two previous reports (D2.3 and D2.6) provided an overview of the data that was obtained and used as example data sets for the implementation of the Data Limited Methods (DLM) package and as input to the other WPs. In this report we focus on other sources of data, especially data that we were not able to obtain, namely Nansen survey and national research surveys. The report provides a comprehensive overview of Nansen surveys and national research survey for the CSs. It is clear that a plethora of data suitable for application of Data DLM exists, especially in the form of national pelagic and demersal research surveys that are more continuous than the Nansen surveys. Acquisition of Nansen data was hindered by bureaucratic procedures and we strongly recommend a revision of the Data Policy to facilitate access to data. We also recommend that Nansen surveys should take into consideration the requirements for assessment and management of CSs and regional fisheries; lack of continuous time series of sampling makes Nansen data of limited use for assessment and management purposes. Reluctance on the part of CS national institutes to provide national survey data for the FFDB limited the implementation of DLM. However, some example data sets were used to illustrate the possibilities of DLM and it is hoped that CS participants will bring their own national research survey data to the FarFish DLM course organized by WP7 with the collaboration of WP6 (planned for October 2021). We strongly recommend that CS partners explore the use of national survey and fisheries biology data for assessment of data limited stocks. The report also reviews data collected by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) observers and data collected by observers within the Data Collection Framework (DCF). It was concluded that the SFPA-observer data is of limited use for scientific advice purposes, while DCF data was much more complete and detailed, and could be useful for scientific advice. The final section provides an overview of the data available in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic tunas (ICCAT) and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).

The FarFish project published a so called “Legacy booklet” towards the end of the project, which is intended to summarise progress and key results to a wider audience e.g. to stakeholders that do not have scientific background or expert knowledge on the main project topics. The publication of this “project summary report aimed at a wider audience” was described in the original project description as follows: Task 7.8 Project summary report aimed at a wider audience: In order to make the project results widely known and understood by everyone with an interest in the subject, the project coordinator will produce a project summary report at the end of the project. The report will describe in layman-terms the project as a whole, the main challenges and the most important results. This will facilitate dissemination to a wider audience, which will be important when considering the wide range of stakeholders connected to the subject. The ”Legacy booklet” is presented in this report, The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 727891/FarFish project.

More than 20% of the European fishing fleets catches are taken from non-European waters. Access to these waters is often based on agreements with coastal states that allow the EU fleet to fish from surplus stocks in return for financial support. These agreements have been subjected to criticism, as these fisheries are sometimes poorly regulated and management decisions are often based on limited knowledge, compliance, and enforcement capabilities. It is also too often the case that trust between stakeholders is lacking. The aim of the FarFish project is to overcome these hurdles. The FarFish project is designed around six case study areas in which the European fleet is actively engaged in fishing activities, including Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and Seychelles, as well as the international high-seas areas in the southeast and southwest Atlantic. Among the Research & Innovation outputs of the FarFish project is a development of a management approach where the management authorities and the resource users come to an agreement on some key objectives and how to meet them. This approach is designed to reduce micromanagement by involving stakeholders and increase the degree of co-management by delegating management responsibilities to resource users. The process is broken into a number of steps, which include a) the provision of guidelines on how to develop so called management recommendations (MRs), b) provision of an invitation from the authorities to the resource users to develop MRs, where overall objectives are established, c) development of MRs, d) third party audit of the MR, where the success of the MR is evaluated. Draft guidelines and MR invitations have been published, and this report compiles the first proposals for MRs for each of the FarFish case studies. These will then be audited by an independent auditor and the whole process will then be re-iterated. The aim is that by the end of the project, we will have a tested / validated approach for how to manage fisheries in cocreation between authorities and resource users.

Task 2.3 of work package 2 (Advancing biological knowledge and evaluation of current stock assessment models) focuses on the compilation of biological, ecological and fisheries dependent and fisheries independent data that is required for other FarFish WPs. During the first year of FarFish, some modifications in the objectives occurred, resulting in changes in the species. For example, in the Cape Verde and Seychelles CSs, the focus is now on by-catch species that are not assessed by the Regional Management Fisheries Organizations (RMFO): the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). Lists of species for each CS have now been drawn up, sources of data identified, contacts have been made with RMFOs and DG MARE, and data is being compiled. Data compilation has been largely driven by the FarFish Data Base (FFDB) template developed in WP 6 (see deliverables D6.1 and D6.4). On the other hand, other data required for visualization purposes, especially time series, is also being compiled or requested. A formal data request is being prepared for DG MARE, while coastal state CS participants will be requested to provide data for the FFDB. Talks are also ongoing with RFMOs, especially CECAF, regarding data acquisition and how FarFish can contribute or add value to assessment and management. Actions that need to be taken by Task 2.3 participants include the provision of data and uploading of data to the FFDB. Task 2.3 is ongoing (Report on biological and ecological data in FFDB pilot version 2, due in Month 26 (July 31, 2019).

This report contains basic description of the six case studies (CS) in the FarFish project. Four of the CS have Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA) with the EU and two are within international waters. The CS cover the Cape Verde tuna fishery (SFPA), the Senegal tuna and hake fishery (SFPA), the Mauritanian mixed fishery (SFPA), Seychelles tuna fishery (SFPA), the high-seas mixed fishery in the South West Atlantic (FAO Major Fishing Area 41) and the mixed fishery in the international waters of South East Atlantic (FAO Area 47). The information presented is primarily based on a review of the available literature and the data that will feed other FarFish work packages (WPs). This case study characterizations, which will be updated as the project progresses, includes descriptions of geography, oceanography, ecosystem characteristics, fisheries activity and production in the area. It also includes description of the existing management procedures and overall their objectives, stock assessment methods used; as well as identification of the main relevant authorities, operators and other stakeholders. The governance within the fisheries is also discussed, as well as issues related to compliance and transparency. The main findings in the evaluation of the SFPA or the high-seas fishery is presented; and the supply-/value chain is studied. The CS characterizations also include overviews of how FarFish will address the gaps and challenges identified, as well as links to the most relevant literature and data. The case studies cover a range of fisheries of different complexity, from largely single (or a few) tuna fisheries to multi-species demersal fisheries. The management regimes do also range from essentially no management in the case of the high-seas mixed fishery in the South West Atlantic (FAO Major Fishing Area 41), to management at the national and Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) levels. While each case study is in general unique, they all face similar problems and challenges. These include overcapacity, overexploitation, threats to food security, inadequate monitoring of catches and fishing effort, lack of compliance and enforcement, inadequate data for stock assessment and for evaluating the effects of fishing (e.g. gear selectivity), lack of expertise and training in fisheries biology, stock assessment and management, lack of data and analysis for evaluation and understanding of variability in abundance, competition between national and foreign fleets, and insufficient or inadequate value chain infrastructure. FarFish will contribute to improved data collection, monitoring and compliance as well the development of management plans through participatory processes that effectively address the problems of lack of knowledge and unsustainable harvest.

Data on the distribution of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) were obtained during a cruise in the North Sea during late summer 2001. A 1° by 1° grid of 97 stations was sampled for DIC while the pCO2 was measured continuously between the stations. The surface distributions of these two parameters show a clear boundary located around 54°N. South of this boundary the DIC and pCO2 range from 2070 to 2130 µmol kg–1 and 290 to 490 ppm, respectively, whereas in the northern North Sea, values range between 1970 and 2070 µmol kg–1 and 190 to 350 ppm, respectively. The vertical profiles measured in the two different areas show that the mixing regime of the water column is the major factor determining the surface distributions. The entirely mixed water column of the southern North Sea is heterotrophic, whereas the surface layer of the stratified water column in the northern North Sea is autotrophic. The application of different formulations for the calculation of the CO2 air–sea fluxes shows that the southern North Sea acts as a source of CO2 for the atmosphere within a range of +0.8 to +1.7 mmol m–2 day–1, whereas the northern North Sea absorbs CO2 within a range of –2.4 to –3.8 mmol m–2 day–1 in late summer. The North Sea as a whole acts as a sink of atmospheric CO2 of –1.5 to –2.2 mmol m–2 day–1 during late summer. Compared to the Baltic and the East China Seas at the same period of the year, the North Sea acts a weak sink of atmospheric CO2. The anticlockwise circulation and the short residence time of the water in the North Sea lead to a rapid transport of the atmospheric CO2 to the deeper layer of the North Atlantic Ocean. Thus, in late summer, the North Sea exports 2.2×10^12 g C month–1 to the North Atlantic Ocean via the Norwegian trench, and, at the same period, absorbs from the atmosphere a quantity of CO2 (0.4×10^12 g C month–1) equal to 15% of that export, which makes the North Sea a continental shelf pump of CO2.