Advice to NEAFC on vulnerable deep-water habitats

Advice summary

New information was available on vulnerable habitats within the NEAFC regulatory area. The data provide further confirmation of their presence inside closed areas. There were also sufficient new records of VMEs outside of the closed areas to suggest a revision of closure boundaries. No new information on fishing activity (VMS) was available to ICES.
Extending closures on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge will protect any Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) in the areas concerned against significant adverse impacts resulting from bottom fishing activities on the Reykjanes Ridge. In the Sub-Polar Frontal Zone and in the north of the Azores, proposed closures will probably have no immediate effect in terms of reducing the risk of adverse impact from bottom fisheries as no current exploitation occurs in these areas.