The Second Workshop on Lists of Commercial Fish and Shellfish species for reporting of MSFD D3 (WKD3Lists2)

WKD3Lists2 created lists of regionally relevant commercial fish and shellfish species (and higher order taxa) for the use of Article 8 reporting by EU member states under Descriptor 3 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The regional taxa lists were based on landings data from the Fisheries Dependent Information data base (FDI) provided by EU member states and compiled by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). 

The taxonomy of landings data was consolidated by regional experts and the consolidated data were combined to obtain absolute and proportional landing weights and values for each (sub)region, which were used to apply dual (weight and vale) selection thresholds to compile (sub)regional D3-taxa-lists. 

Regional D3-taxa-lists were produced for two MSFD regions (Baltic Sea & Black Sea) and eight MSFD subregions: The Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, the Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast, Macaronesia, Western Mediterranean, the Ionian Sea & Central Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean-Levantine Sea.

To exclude taxa with very low landing weights or value from the final lists, two types of thresholds (cumulative and minimum) with differing cut-off values were evaluated (90%, 95%, 98% and 99% for cumulative and 0.1% and 1% for minimum thresholds). Depending on the cut-off value, the number of taxa included varied substantially and in most (sub)regions the application of thresholds reduced the initial number of taxa by more than 50%. 

WKD3Lists2 did not recommend any threshold type or cut-off value to be applied generically in all (sub)regions, but identified trade-offs between inclusiveness and parsimony of relevant content i.e. higher cut-off values will lead to longer lists including many taxa with relatively low landings weights/values. In some (sub)regions, thresholds with lower cut-off values (90% to 95%) were considered feasible by regional experts (Mediterranean subregions, Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast, Macaronesia), whereas in other MSFD (sub)regions cut-off values in the range of 98-99% were considered as appropriate (Baltic Sea, Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas).

The regional D3-taxa lists by WKD3Lists2 were created without considering the availability of data or assessments i.e. many species are included, for which no assessment information is available. WKD3Lists2 decided on this approach because a representative selection of of commercially targeted taxa was considered to indicate knowledge and data gaps in current data collection and assessment schemes. 

Regional species lists shall be used by EU member states for the national reporting of D3. Stocks and species from the regional lists shall be considered by member states, and additional stocks/species can be added where appropriate (e.g. those stocks/species of national or local of importance that do not appear on the regional lists). x

WKD3Lists2 discussed and compiled recommendations on how Member States can complement the regional lists of D3-taxa. A key recommendation is to maintain taxa reported in 2018 under D3, even if they are not part of the regional D3-taxa list for 2024. Wherever possible, Member States should report on stock level. WKD3Lists2 also discussed linkages between D1 and D3-reporting of commercial taxa.