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ICES Special Request Advice NEAFC waters Published 24 April 2015

1.6.5.1 NEAFC request on vulnerable deep-water habitats in the NEAFC Regulatory Area Advice summary ICES has reviewed new evidence for the occurrence of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the NEAFC Regulatory Area. There are no changes to previous ICES advice. Request NEAFC requests ICES to continue to provide all available new information on distribution of vulnerable habitats in the NEAFC Convention Area and fisheries activities in and in the vicinity of such habitats, and provide advice relevant to the Regulatory Area and the above mentioned objectives. [see Background below.] Elaboration on ICES advice A total of 510 new records that indicate the presence of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) were submitted to ICES in 2015. The majority of these were outside the NEAFC Regulatory Area. ICES does not recommend any changes to previous advice on fisheries management based on these new records. Suggestions ICES has identified some issues with the gear coding within the NEAFC VMS data. This appears to be a systemic rather than an isolated issue, which has been noted in previous years, and includes trawl gear types [in the case of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Reykjanes Ridge)] and longline gear types (in the case of Josephine Seamount). This issue is highlighted in the two maps shown below, showing NEAFC VMS data filtered by the set longline (LLS) gear type. The left-hand map shows LLS gear with records deeper than 2000 m removed. This limit was chosen as ICES is not aware of any longline bottom fishing deeper than this (and in this area the limit may be around 1200 m). The right-hand map shows LLS gear with all records retained (no depth filtering). From the maps, the difference between the apparent distributions of LLS fishing activity is clear; this causes difficulties in the interpretation of the data, and in determining whether bottom fishing activities in the NEAFC regulatory area are having any significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems. ICES recommends that the gear coding of VMS data be improved.

ICES Advice 2015, Book 1 1

Published 24 April 2015 ICES Special Request Advice

Figure 1.6.5.1.1. Detailed maps showing the 2014 longline fishery on and near Josephine Seamount [VMS points are filtered by gear type

(set longlines, LLS)]. In left-hand map, points deeper than 2000 m are excluded. The NEAFC existing fishing area is delineated in orange whilst the bottom fishing closure proposed in ICES 2013 advice (ICES, 2013b) is shown in pink. All boundaries are indicative and not definitive.

Basis of the advice Background This issue refers to NEAFC’s recommendation 19:2014. The objective of that Recommendation is to ensure the implementation by NEAFC of effective measures to prevent significant adverse impacts of bottom fishing activities on vulnerable marine ecosystems known to occur or likely to occur in the NEAFC Regulatory Area based on the best available scientific information provided or endorsed by the ICES. That recommendation contains relevant definitions and refers to FAO International guidelines for the management of deep-sea fisheries in the high seas. Results and conclusions New records of VME indicators Two research surveys were undertaken in 2014 by Marine Scotland Science over Rockall Bank. Within the NEAFC Regulatory Area, VME indicators were observed in trawl bycatch to the south of the NW Rockall closed area and within the Haddock Box closed area (Figure 1.6.5.1.1). VME indicators included stony corals, sponges, and sea pens, but none of these were found in large quantities. In 2014, a Russian bottom-trawler fishing survey with an observer onboard was also undertaken at Rockall Bank between longitudes 56°25'–57°01'N and latitudes 15°16'–14°56'W and at a depth range of 210–350 m. No bycatch of VME indicator species were recorded during this survey.

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ICES Special Request Advice Published 24 April 2015

Figure 1.6.5.1.2. Map of the Rockall Bank showing new VME indicator records presented alongside existing VME indicator data

(transparent) and OSPAR habitats submitted to the 2013 OSPAR database. Black lines indicate Russian commercial trawler tracks with observers on board. All boundaries are indicative and not definitive.

Fishing activities in or near VMEs Hatton and Rockall Banks Most fishing activity in the Hatton–Rockall area appears to be restricted to ‘existing fishing areas’ with areas closed prior to 2015 being avoided (Figure 1.6.5.1.2). In some areas there also appears to be fishing between existing fishing areas, especially to the southwest of Rockall Bank. The majority of filtered VMS records are coded as “bottom trawling” in the ‘Haddock box’.



Figure 1.6.5.1.3. More detailed map showing 2014 NEAFC VMS data (filtered for potential bottom-trawl gears and excluding points deeper

than 2000 m) across Hatton and Rockall Bank. Existing NEAFC fishing areas are delineated in orange. Where these fishing areas intersect closed areas, the lines are hatched. Pre-2015 NEAFC fishing closures are outlined in blue, while new NEAFC fishing closures brought into force in 2015 are outlined in green. All boundaries are indicative and not definitive.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Reykjanes Ridge) There are VMS records suggesting that extensive bottom trawling occurs in two areas on the Reykjanes Ridge (Figure 1.6.5.1.3). It was, however, unclear if these records are valid bottom fishing records, particularly in the northern of the two areas, as known mid-water trawl fisheries for redfish and roundnose grenadier occur just north of this area. All this activity is recorded in ‘new fishing areas’. ICES (2013a) advised that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge will have VMEs; hence bottom fishing in the area may cause adverse impacts on these ecosystems.



Figure 1.6.5.1.4. Map showing 2014 NEAFC VMS data (filtered for bottom-trawl gears and excluding points deeper than 2000 m) across

the northern section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. All boundaries are indicative and not definitive. Josephine Seamount A part of the Josephine Seamount is currently a NEAFC ‘existing fishing area’. In 2013 ICES advised that the entire seamount and adjacent areas be closed to bottom fishing due to numerous records of VME indicator organisms, primarily gorgonian corals. While NEAFC VMS data from 2013 and 2014 showed no records of trawling activity within the proposed closure area on Josephine Seamount, there is evidence of a longline fishery from 2014 VMS data (Figure 1.6.5.1.4). It is not known if some of these records are miscoded fisheries using longlines that do not touch the seabed.



Figure 1.6.5.1.5. More detailed map showing the 2014 longline fishery on Josephine Seamount (VMS points are filtered by gear type (set

longline, LLS)). Note that points deeper than 2000 m are excluded. The NEAFC existing fishing area is delineated in orange whilst the bottom fishing closure proposed in ICES 2013 advice (ICES, 2013b) is shown in pink. All boundaries are indicative and not definitive.

Methods Fishing activities in or near VMEs ICES analysed NEAFC’s VMS data for 2014 for all fishing in the NEAFC Regulatory Area. Gear codes were selected to distinguish gears that might potentially interact with seabed habitats [beam trawl (TBB), bottom otter trawl (OTB), bottom pair trawl (PTB), multi-rig otter trawl (OTT), and longlining (set longline, LLS)]. In order to distinguish vessel activity that had a high likelihood of representing fishing activity (as opposed to steaming) only VMS records from vessels with speeds of between 1 and 4 knots (OTB and TBB), 1.5 and 4 knots (OTT), and 1.5 and 3 knots (PTB) were further analysed. While vessel speed histograms were used to determine optimum speed filtering of records indicating fishing activity was being undertaken, there was insufficient data for this to be achieved with gear code TBB; a speed filter of 1–4 knots was used. There was some uncertainty concerning the correct speeds to use in defining fishing activity for LLS, possibly due to miscoding of longline gear types.



Additional information Development of systems for weighting the reliability and significance of VME indicator records, and standardizing recommended closed-area boundaries In 2014, ICES started work on a system to weight the reliability and significance of VME indicator records. This system was designed to formalize expert opinion and utilize as much relevant information as possible from the ICES VME database. Multiple criteria were used to the weight each record, in order to evaluate the likelihood of a data point representing the presence of an actual VME. In 2015 ICES has continued its development of the weighting system, and has explored:

• Moving away from viewing individual points in the VME indicator database to a spatially gridded data layer, taking into account all of the records present within one grid cell. This was important in compensating for biases caused by the use of different survey methods. For example, a short (500 m) ROV transect was producing multiple scores while a long (several kilometres) fisheries trawl was producing only one single value.

• The consideration of ‘Uncertainty’ associated with each grid cell, examining factors such as (a) how well sampled the grid cell was, (b) the provenance of the records in that cell (e.g. visual survey, fisheries data, or inferred from other methods), (c) the time span of the data, and (d) how recent the last survey was.

• The fact that not all ‘VME indicators’ have the same vulnerability to human impacts, and considering the former against the FAO (2009) criteria for VMEs.

• Methods to combine individual geographic locations of VMEs to standardize advice on boundaries for fisheries management.

Excellent progress was achieved in 2015, and further work will continue in 2016. Sources and references FAO. 2009. International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 73 pp.

ICES. 2013a. Assessment of the list of VME indicator species and elements. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2013. ICES Advice 2013, Book 1, Section 1.5.5.3. 13 pp.

ICES. 2013b. Vulnerable deep-water habitats in the NEAFC Regulatory Area. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2013. ICES Advice 2013, Book 1, Section 1.5.5.1. 10 pp.

ICES 2015. Report of the ICES/NAFO Joint Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), 16–20 February 2015, Horta, Azores, Portugal. ICES CM 2015/ACOM:27. 110 pp.


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