Advice on areas where Vulnerable Marine
Ecosystems (VMEs) are known to occur or are likely to occur in EU waters
ICES
17 September, 2024
General information
This interactive document presents the distribution of Vulnerable
Marine Ecosystem (VME) polygons in EU waters of the Celtic Seas and the
Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast areas, and their overlap with mobile
bottom-contacting gear (MBCG) fishing activity and depth strata.
Polygons are created based on five spatial scenarios (Table 1) and
properties and locations of the polygons presented in
ICES
(2023) and this
2024
advice are compared. This interactive document should be read in
conjunction with the main advice document and vice versa.
Scenarios (Table 1)
Table 1. Description of the scenarios used to create VME polygon options.| Scenario | Description of VME polygons | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| A |
|
Creates polygons that include all c-squares with VME habitat, high VME index, or medium VME index. In addition, polygons include low VME-index c-squares that are adjacent to a c-square with VME habitat, high VME index, or medium VME index, regardless of MBCG fishing intensity. |
| B |
|
Creates polygons following Scenario A, with the addition of c-squares including VME physical elements associated with evidence of VME presence, regardless of MBCG fishing activity. |
| C |
|
Creates polygons that include all c-squares with VME habitat, high VME index, or medium VME index (as in Scenario A), but also includes c-squares with low VME index after accounting for MBCG fishing intensity. Low VME index c-squares are included (i) if MBCG fishing intensity is unlikely to have led to SAI on the VME, (ii) if adjacent to c-squares with VME habitat, high VME index, medium VME index, or to c-squares with low VME index where MBCG fishing intensity is unlikely to have led to SAI. |
| D |
|
Creates polygons that include c-squares with VME habitat, high VME index, medium VME index, or low VME index, only where MBCG fishing intensity is unlikely to have led to SAI on the VME. |
| E |
|
Creates polygons based on a combination of Scenarios B and C. This scenario applies the broadest definition of where VMEs are known to occur or are likely to occur. |
Key to map layers (Table 2)
Table 2. Key to map layers in figures CS1 and BI1.| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| EU assessment area | EU waters included in the assessment |
| Depth zone 400–800m | Depth zone of 400–800 m, determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. A (2024 advice) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario A in this (2024) advice, clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. B (2024 advice) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario B in this (2024) advice, clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. C (2024 advice) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario C in this (2024) advice, clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. D (2024 advice) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario D in this (2024) advice, clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. E (2024 advice) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario E in this (2024) advice, clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| EU-established VME areas | Areas subject to prohibition of fishing with bottom gears (EU, 2022) |
| VME Index – 2024 | C-squares with VME habitat (known VME occurrence), and high, medium, and low VME index (likely VME occurrence), based on the most recent update of the VME data base |
| Deviating VME Index scores | C-squares with new and/or updated status in the latest VME Index (2024) compared to the VME Index advised in 2023 (ICES, 2023) |
| EU fishable domain | C-squares corresponding to bottom contacting gears fishing locations (mobile and static) for the reference years (2009–2011) within the 400–800m depth zone, as reported in (ICES, 2022) |
| MBCG intensity (2009–2022) | Average annual fishing intensity of mobile bottom-contacting gear (MBCG) fisheries over 2009–2022 |
| VME physical elements | Seabed topographic features (seamounts, coral mounds, and banks), readily identified using high-resolution multibeam data, with which VME are often associated (ICES, 2023) |
| VME polygons Sc. A (ICES, 2023) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario A and reported in ICES (2023), clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. B (ICES, 2023) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario B and reported in ICES (2023), clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. C (ICES, 2023) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario C and reported in ICES (2023), clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. D (ICES, 2023) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario D and reported in ICES (2023), clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
| VME polygons Sc. E (ICES, 2023) | VME polygons as defined using Scenario E and reported in ICES (2023), clipped to the boundaries of the 400–800 m depth zone as determined at the c-square scale |
References
References- ICES. 2023. Advice on areas where Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) are known to occur or are likely to occur in EU waters. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2023. Link
- EU. 2022. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1614 of 15 September 2022 determining the existing deep-sea fishing areas and establishing a list of areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems are known to occur or are likely to occur. Official Journal of the European Union L242, 1−141. Link
Celtic Seas
Map of VME polygons
Figure CS1. Location of VME polygons identified in
this 2024 advice and in ICES (2023). VME polygons are clipped to the
boundaries of the depth zone, as determined at the c-square scale. The
map layers are described in the ‘Key to map layers’ tab, under the
‘General information’ page.