New preliminary data on VME encounters in NAFO Regulatory Area (Divs. 3MNO) from EU;EU Spain and Portugal Groundfish Surveys (2021) and Canadian surveys (2020 Fall).

• Main Authors: Sacau-Cuadrado, M.M. (María del Mar), Durán-Muñoz, P. (Pablo)
• Other Authors: NAFO, Neves, B.M., Wareham Hayes, V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo 2022
• Subjects: NAFO; VMEs; groundfish surveys; encounters; personnel; maps; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15891

During the 14th NAFO Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WGESA) virtual meeting new preliminary data on deep-water corals and sponges were presented from the 2021 EU; EU-Spain and Portugal and Canadian bottom trawl groundfish surveys. The data was made available to the NAFO WGESA to improve mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) indicator species in the NAFO Regulatory Area (Divs. 3LMNO). During the 6th meeting of the NAFO Scientific Council WGESA, new quantitative spatial analyses were applied for corals and sponges for all the available data within the NAFO Regulatory Area (NAFO, 2013). Outcomes from those analyses produced the following thresholds for VME indicator species: 75 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.15 kg per tow for small gorgonians, and 1.4 kg per tow for sea pens. Based on these thresholds, deep-water coral and sponge catches were identified and mapped, and overlaid with the current closed areas and VME polygons. New thresholds and VME polygons were presented at the 12th WGESA meeting using additional data since 2013 (NAFO, 2020). These are: 100 kg per tow for sponges, 0.6 kg per tow for large gorgonians, 0.2 kg per tow for small gorgonians, 1.3 kg per tow for sea pens, 0.35 for Boltenia sea squirts, 0.2 for bryozoans and 0.4 for black corals. Therefore, VME polygons illustrated on the figures below are the modified ones, accepted by SC. Versión del editor