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Pham, Christopher K. . et. al.-- 13 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, supporting information http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095839 ; Anthropogenic litter is present in all marine habitats, from beaches to the most remote points in the oceans. On the seafloor, marine litter, particularly plastic, can accumulate in high densities with deleterious consequences for its inhabitants. Yet, because of the high cost involved with sampling the seafloor, no large-scale assessment of distribution patterns was available to date. Here, we present data on litter distribution and density collected during 588 video and trawl surveys across 32 sites in European waters. We found litter to be present in the deepest areas and at locations as remote from land as the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The highest litter density occurs in submarine canyons, whilst the lowest density can be found on continental shelves and on ocean ridges. Plastic was the most prevalent litter item found on the seafloor. Litter from fishing activities (derelict fishing lines and nets) was particularly common on seamounts, banks, mounds and ocean ridges. Our results highlight the extent of the problem and the need for action to prevent increasing accumulation of litter in marine environments. © 2014 Pham et al. ; This research was supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007∧2013) under the HERMIONE project, Grant agreement (GA) no. 226354. The authors would like to acknowledge further funds from the Condor project (supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism (PT0040/2008)), Corazon (FCT/PTDC/MAR/72169/2006; COMPETE/QREN), CoralFISH (FP7 ENV/2007/1/21314 4), EC funded PERSEUS project (GA no. 287600), the ESF project BIOFUN (CTM2007-28739-E), the Spanish projects PROMETEO (CTM2007-66316-C02/MAR) and DOS MARES (CTM2010-21810-C03-01), la Caixa grant >Oasis del Mar>, the Generalitat de Catalunya grant to excellence research group number 2009 SGR 1305, UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the Ecosystems of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the Sub-Polar Front and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (ECOMAR) project, the Marine Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP), the ERC (Starting Grant project CODEMAP, no 258482), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Lenfest Ocean Program (PEW Foundation), the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform through Strategic Environmental Assessment 7 (formerly the Department for Trade and Industry) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through their advisors, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the offshore Special Areas for Conservation programme, BELSPO and RBINS-OD Nature (Belgian Federal Government) for R/V Belgica shiptime. The footage from the HAUSGARTEN observatory was taken during expeditions ARK XVIII/1, ARK XX/1, ARK XXII/1, ARK XXIII/2 and ARK XXVI/2 of the German research icebreaker "Polarstern". The authors also acknowledge funds provided by FCT-IP/MEC to LARSyS Associated Laboratory and IMAR-University of the Azores (R&DU #531), Thematic Area E, through the Strategic Project (PEst-OE/EEI/LA0009/2011∧2014, COMPETE, QREN) and by the Government of Azores FRCT multiannual funding. CKP was supported by the doctoral grant from the Portuguese Science Foundation (SFRH/BD/66404/2009; COMPETE/QREN). AP was supported by Statoil as part of the CORAMM project. MB would like to thank Antje Boetius for financial support through the DFG Leibniz programme. JNGP was supported by the doctoral grant (M3.1.2/F/062/2011) from the Regional Directorate for Science, Technology and Communications (DRCTC) of the Regional Government of the Azores. ERLL was supported by a CSIC-JAE-postdocotral grant with co-funding from the European Social Fund. Publication fees for this open access publication were supported by IFREMER. ; Peer Reviewed

International Workshop, Horta 2-5-June 2008. ; The first workshop on developing a sustainable aquaculture industry in the Azores was organised as a joint venture between the Institute of Marine Research at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores (IMAR/DOP) and the private enterprise seaExpert. The aim of the meeting was to determine the necessary steps to establish a sustainable Aquaculture Industry in the Azores and to identify priorities for further aquaculture research in the Region. Experts were invited from diverse areas, bringing specialized knowledge and understanding of a broad variety of factors involved in setting up an aquaculture industry. Speakers from across the world shared experience of aquaculture projects from other island ecosystems including: Madeira, the Canaries, Malta, Cyprus and Hawaii. Representatives of official institutions such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) of the U.S.A., and Centro Tecnológico del Mar of Spain (Fundación Cetmar) offered advice regarding planning, management and policy issues. A specialist from an independent company, Akvaplan-niva, with vast experience in Aquaculture development in Europe was also invited to offer suggestions and advice to local government representatives and stakeholders. The first part of the meeting was composed of a series of lectures: issuing the status of Aquaculture Worldwide and on the Portuguese scale; regulatory measures for aquaculture in the EU; trade, marketing, quality and safety of aquaculture products; oceanic and land-based production systems; and partitioned systems. Attention was also given to specific species that could be potentially produced in the Azores Region. A series of discussion forums were launched during the second part of the meeting. These were designed to determine the specific requirements and steps needed in order to launch an aquaculture industry in the Azores. Amongst the topics discussed were: the structure of management of a successful aquaculture initiative, the steps needed to establish such an initiative, focal species, and suitable technologies and strategies. ; INTERREG III B; FEDEER; USDA ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In international fisheries management, scientific advice on the presence of "vulnerable marine ecosystems" (VMEs) per United Nations resolutions, has generally used qualitative assessments based on expert judgment of the occurrence of indicator taxa such as cold-water corals and sponges. Use of expert judgment alone can be criticized for inconsistency and sometimes a lack of transparency; therefore, development of robust and repeatable numeric methods to detect the presence of VMEs would be advantageous. Here, we present a multi-criteria assessment (MCA) method to evaluate how likely a given area of seafloor represents a VME. The MCA is a taxa-dependent spatial method that accounts for both the quantity and data quality available. This was applied to a database of records of VMEs built, held and compiled by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). A VME index was generated which ranged from 1.51 to 4.52, with 5.0 being reserved for confirmed VME habitats. An index of confidence was also computed that ranged from 0.0 to 0.75, with 1 being reserved for those confirmed VME habitats. Overall the MCA captured the important elements of the ICES VME database and provided a simplified, spatially aggregated, and weighted estimate of how likely a given area is to contain VMEs. The associated estimate of confidence gave an indication of how uncertain that assessment was for the same given area. This methodology provides a more systematic and standardized approach for assessing the likelihood of presence of VMEs in the North-East Atlantic. ; TM was supported by Program Investigador FCT (IF/01194/2013), IFCT Exploratory Project (IF/01194/2013/CP1199/CT0002) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (POPH and QREN), PO2020 MapGes (Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000056), and also acknowledge funds provided by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the strategic project (FCT/UID/MAR/04292/2013) granted to MARE. PDM was supported by IEO project ECOPESLE-2, FN was supported by Scottish Government ...

Este artículo contiene 13 páginas, 3 figuras, 4 tablas. ; Deep-sea sponge grounds are vulnerable marine ecosystems, which through their benthic-pelagic coupling of nutrients, are of functional relevance to the deep-sea realm. The impact of fishing bycatch is here evaluated for the first time at a bathyal, sponge-dominated ecosystem in the high seas managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. Sponge biomass surfaces created from research survey data using both random forest modeling and a gridded surface revealed 231,140 t of sponges in the area. About 65% of that biomass was protected by current fisheries closures. However, projections of trawling tracks estimated that the sponge biomass within them would be wiped out in just 1 year by the current level of fishing activity if directed on the sponges. Because these sponges filter 56,143 ± 15,047 million litres of seawater daily, consume 63.11 ± 11.83 t of organic carbon through respiration, and affect the turnover of several nitrogen nutrients, their removal would likely affect the delicate ecological equilibrium of the deep-sea benthic ecosystem. We estimated that, on Flemish Cap, the economic value associated with seawater filtration by the sponges is nearly double the market value of the fish catch. Hence, fishery closures are essential to reach sponge conservation goals as economic drivers cannot be relied upon. ; This research has been performed within the scope of the SponGES project, which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 679849. This document reflects only the authors' views and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. The EU groundfish surveys in the NAFO area were co-funded by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), the Spanish Institute for Marine Research Superior Council of Scientific Investigations (IIM-CSIC) and the European Union through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) within the National Program of collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy. AC is supported by Program Investigador (IF/00029/2014/CP1230/CT0002) from FCT. This study had also the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), through the strategic projects UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE. Fisheries and Oceans, Canada provided support through their International Governance Strategy project funds (Science Advice in Support of the 2020 NAFO Review of Closed Areas to Protect Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the NRA) to EK. ; Peer reviewed

With increasing demand for mineral resources, extraction of polymetallic sulphides at hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts at seamounts, and polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains may be imminent. Here, we shortly introduce ecosystem characteristics of mining areas, report on recent mining developments, and identify potential stress and disturbances created by mining. We analyze species' potential resistance to future mining and perform meta-analyses on population density and diversity recovery after disturbances most similar to mining: volcanic eruptions at vents, fisheries on seamounts, and experiments that mimic nodule mining on abyssal plains. We report wide variation in recovery rates among taxa, size, and mobility of fauna. While densities and diversities of some taxa can recover to or even exceed pre-disturbance levels, community composition remains affected after decades. The loss of hard substrata or alteration of substrata composition may cause substantial community shifts that persist over geological timescales at mined sites. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ; European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) under the MIDAS project; FCT [IF/00029/2014/CP1230/CT0002, SFRH/ BPD/110278/2015]; Spanish RTD project NUREIEV [CTM2013-44598-R]; Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [SGR 1068]; Generalitat de Catalunya autonomous government; European Union Horizon research and innovation programme [689518]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [UID/MAR/04292/2013]; German Ministry of Research (BMBF) [03F0707A-G]; Program Investigador FCT [IF/01194/2013/CP1199/CT0002] ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion