Scientific Council WG-ESA Report, 2019
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Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Serial No N7027 NAFO SCS Doc. 19/25 SC WORKING GROUP ON ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AND ASSESSMENT – NOVEMBER 2019 Report of the 12th Meeting of the NAFO Scientific Council Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WG-ESA) NAFO Headquarters, Dartmouth, Canada 19-28 November 2019 Contents I. Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................................................................4 1. Impact of Trawling on Stock Assessments .................................................................................................................5 2. Fishery Production Potential ............................................................................................................................................5 3. Update of Empirical Analysis......................................................................................................................................... 17 a) Empirical determination of seabed impact and validation of resilience model .................................. 17 4. Update of NEREIDA Analysis overlap of NAFO Fisheries with VME ............................................................ 22 5. VMS Data and Availability ............................................................................................................................................... 29 a) Layers created in 2019 .................................................................................................................................................. 29 b) Future improvements .................................................................................................................................................... 33 6. Fish Habitat Modelling ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 7. Agent-based Modelling ..................................................................................................................................................... 41 8. Biological Traits Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 49 9. Work Plan SAI ....................................................................................................................................................................... 59 10. FAO Criteria ........................................................................................................................................................................... 59 11. Weighting objectives SAI ................................................................................................................................................. 60 12. Kernel Density (KDE) Analysis/Review of Closures ........................................................................................... 63 a) New data collected in bottom trawl surveys in 2019 ...................................................................................... 66 b) Assessment of Protection for VMEs in the NAFO Regulatory Area ........................................................... 67 c) Effectiveness of Current Closures ............................................................................................................................. 84 13. Review of VME Indicators ............................................................................................................................................... 90 14. ATLAS Flemish Cap SDM ................................................................................................................................................. 92 15. Ecosystem Summary Sheet ............................................................................................................................................ 98 16. Activities Other than Fishing (ATLAS) ................................................................................................................... 117 17. Marine Spatial Planning ................................................................................................................................................ 120 18. Oil and gas activities ....................................................................................................................................................... 125 19. Marine Mammals and Turtles .................................................................................................................................... 127 20. AOB......................................................................................................................................................................................... 128 a) Presentation to IAAC ................................................................................................................................................... 128 b) Discussion with ICES ................................................................................................................................................... 129 c) Date and place of next meeting ............................................................................................................................... 129 Annex 1: WG-ESA 2019 Meeting Agenda Terms of Reference and Specific Topics to address .............................. 130 Annex 2: Summary of Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................... 132 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization www.nafo.int Report of WG-ESA, 19 -28 Nov. 2019 2 Annex 3: List of Participants ................................................................................................................................................................. 134 Recommended Citation NAFO. 2019. Report of the Scientific Council Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment, 18 - 29 November 2019, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. NAFO SCS Doc. 19/25. Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization www.nafo.int 3 Report of WG-ESA, 19 -28 Nov. 2019 WG-ESA Meeting Participants 19-28 November 2019 Back: Tom Blasdale, Jordy Thomson, Neil Ollerhead, Mariano Koen-Alonso, Elizabethann Mencher, Garry Stenson, Kenji Taki, Pablo Durán Muñoz, Anna Downie Middle: Barbara Neves, Susanna Fuller, Andrew Cuff, Mark Simpson, Ellen Kenchington, Javier Murillo-Perez, Mar Sacau Front: Pierre Pepin, Andrew Kenny Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization www.nafo.int Report of WG-ESA, 19 -28 Nov. 2019 4 Report of the SC Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WG-ESA) 19-28 November 2019 I. INTRODUCTION The NAFO SC Working Group on Ecosystem Science and Assessment (WG-ESA), formerly known as SC Working Group on Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management (WG-EAFM), had its 12th meeting on 19-28 November 2019 at NAFO Headquarters, Dartmouth, Canada. The work of WG-ESA can be described under two complementary contexts: a) work intended to advance the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM), which typically involves medium to long-term research, and b) work intended to address specific requests from Scientific Council (SC) and/or Commission (COM), which typically involves short to medium-terms analysis, aligned to Ecosystem Approach priorities. ToRs to be addressed in 2019 were: Theme 1: Spatial considerations ToR 1. Update on identification and mapping of sensitive species and habitats in the NAFO area. In support of the EAFM develop research and summarize new findings on the spatial structure and organization of marine ecosystems with an emphasis on connectivity, exchanges and flows among ecosystem units in the NAFO Convention Area. Theme 2: Status, functioning and dynamics of marine ecosystems ToR 2. Develop research and summarize new findings on the status, functioning, productivity of ecosystems (including modelling multi-species interactions) in the NAFO Convention Area. Theme 3: Practical application EAFM ToR 3. Develop research and summarize new findings on long-term monitoring of status and functioning of ecosystem units (including ecosystem summary sheets) and the application of ecosystem knowledge for the assessment of impacts and management of human activities in the NAFO Convention Area. Theme 4: Specific requests ToRs 4+. As generic ToRs, these are placeholders intended to be used when addressing expected additional requests from Scientific Council or Fisheries Commission that don’t fit in to the standing ToRs above. Work under these themes served to address the following Commission Requests (COM Doc. 19-29): [3] The Commission requests that Scientific Council continue its evaluation of the impact of scientific trawl surveys on VME in closed areas, and the effect of excluding surveys from these areas on stock assessments [ToR 3]. [5] The Commission requests the Scientific Council to continue to refine its work under the Ecosystem Approach and report on these results to both the WGEAFFM and WGRBMS. [ToR 3]. [6] In relation to the assessment of NAFO bottom fisheries in 2021, the Scientific Council should: [ToR 2]: • Assess the overlap of NAFO fisheries with VME to evaluate fishery specific impacts in addition to the cumulative impacts; Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization www.nafo.int 5 Report of WG-ESA, 19 -28 Nov. 2019 • Consider clearer objective ranking processes and options