Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss

Paul G Fernandes; Gina M Ralph; Ana  Nieto; Mariana García  Criado; Paraskevas Vasilakopoulos; Christos D.  Maravelias; Robin M. Cook; Riley A.  Pollom; Marcelo  Kovačić; David  Pollard; Edward D Farrell; Ann-Britt  Florin; Beth A.  Polidoro; Julia M Lawson; Pascal  Lorance; Franz Uiblein; Matthew  Craig; David J  Allen; Sarah L Fowler; Rachel H L Walls; Mia T Comeros-Raynal; Michael S.  Harvey; Manuel  Dureuil; Manuel J Conceicao Biscoito; Caroline  Pollock; Sophy R McCully Phillips; Jim R Ellis; Constantinos  Papaconstantinou; Alen  Soldo; Çetin  Keskin; Steen Wilhelm  Knudsen; Luís Gil de Sola; Fabrizio  Serena; Bruce B Collette; Kjell  Nedreaas; Emilie  Stump; Barry C Russell; Silvia  Garcia; Pedro  Afonso; Armelle B J  Jung; Helena  Alvarez; Joao Manuel Mendes Henriques  Delgado; Nicholas K Dulvy; Kent E Carpenter

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0170

Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss

Paul G Fernandes, Gina M Ralph, Ana Nieto, Mariana García Criado, Paraskevas Vasilakopoulos, Christos D. Maravelias, Robin M. Cook, Riley A. Pollom, Marcelo Kovačić, David Pollard, Edward D Farrell, Ann-Britt Florin, Beth A. Polidoro, Julia M Lawson, Pascal Lorance, Franz Uiblein, Matthew Craig, David J Allen, Sarah L Fowler, Rachel H L WallsMia T Comeros-Raynal, Michael S. Harvey, Manuel Dureuil, Manuel J Conceicao Biscoito, Caroline Pollock, Sophy R McCully Phillips, Jim R Ellis, Constantinos Papaconstantinou, Alen Soldo, Çetin Keskin, Steen Wilhelm Knudsen, Luís Gil de Sola, Fabrizio Serena, Bruce B Collette, Kjell Nedreaas, Emilie Stump, Barry C Russell, Silvia Garcia, Pedro Afonso, Armelle B J Jung, Helena Alvarez, Joao Manuel Mendes Henriques Delgado, Nicholas K Dulvy, Kent E Carpenter

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Abstract

Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks.

Original language	English
Article number	0170
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Ecology & Evolution
Volume	1
Early online date	26 May 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0170
Publication status	Published - 26 May 2017

Bibliographical note

P.G.F. and R.C. received funding from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) pooling initiative, funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. The European Red List of marine fishes was a project funded by the European Commission (Directorate General for the Environment under service contract number 070307/2011/607526/SER/B.3).

Keywords

conservation biology
marine biology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Fernandes, P. G., Ralph, G. M., Nieto, A., Criado, M. G., Vasilakopoulos, P., Maravelias, C. D., Cook, R. M., Pollom, R. A., Kovačić, M., Pollard, D., Farrell, E. D., Florin, A.-B., Polidoro, B. A., Lawson, J. M., Lorance, P., Uiblein, F., Craig, M., Allen, D. J., Fowler, S. L., ... Carpenter, K. E. (2017). Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1, Article 0170. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0170

Fernandes, PG, Ralph, GM, Nieto, A, Criado, MG, Vasilakopoulos, P, Maravelias, CD, Cook, RM, Pollom, RA, Kovačić, M, Pollard, D, Farrell, ED, Florin, A-B, Polidoro, BA, Lawson, JM, Lorance, P, Uiblein, F, Craig, M, Allen, DJ, Fowler, SL, Walls, RHL, Comeros-Raynal, MT, Harvey, MS, Dureuil, M, Conceicao Biscoito, MJ, Pollock, C, McCully Phillips, SR, Ellis, JR, Papaconstantinou, C, Soldo, A, Keskin, Ç, Knudsen, SW, Gil de Sola, L, Serena, F, Collette, BB, Nedreaas, K, Stump, E, Russell, BC, Garcia, S, Afonso, P, Jung, ABJ, Alvarez, H, Delgado, JMMH, Dulvy, NK & Carpenter, KE 2017, 'Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss', Nature Ecology & Evolution, vol. 1, 0170. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0170

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title = "Coherent assessments of Europe{\textquoteright}s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss",

abstract = "Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks.",

keywords = "conservation biology, marine biology",

author = "Fernandes, {Paul G} and Ralph, {Gina M} and Ana Nieto and Criado, {Mariana Garc{\'i}a} and Paraskevas Vasilakopoulos and Maravelias, {Christos D.} and Cook, {Robin M.} and Pollom, {Riley A.} and Marcelo Kova{\v c}i{\'c} and David Pollard and Farrell, {Edward D} and Ann-Britt Florin and Polidoro, {Beth A.} and Lawson, {Julia M} and Pascal Lorance and Franz Uiblein and Matthew Craig and Allen, {David J} and Fowler, {Sarah L} and Walls, {Rachel H L} and Comeros-Raynal, {Mia T} and Harvey, {Michael S.} and Manuel Dureuil and {Conceicao Biscoito}, {Manuel J} and Caroline Pollock and {McCully Phillips}, {Sophy R} and Ellis, {Jim R} and Constantinos Papaconstantinou and Alen Soldo and {\c C}etin Keskin and Knudsen, {Steen Wilhelm} and {Gil de Sola}, Lu{\'i}s and Fabrizio Serena and Collette, {Bruce B} and Kjell Nedreaas and Emilie Stump and Russell, {Barry C} and Silvia Garcia and Pedro Afonso and Jung, {Armelle B J} and Helena Alvarez and Delgado, {Joao Manuel Mendes Henriques} and Dulvy, {Nicholas K} and Carpenter, {Kent E}",

note = "P.G.F. and R.C. received funding from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) pooling initiative, funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. The European Red List of marine fishes was a project funded by the European Commission (Directorate General for the Environment under service contract number 070307/2011/607526/SER/B.3).",

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T1 - Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss

AU - Fernandes, Paul G

AU - Ralph, Gina M

AU - Nieto, Ana

AU - Criado, Mariana García

AU - Vasilakopoulos, Paraskevas

AU - Maravelias, Christos D.

AU - Cook, Robin M.

AU - Pollom, Riley A.

AU - Kovačić, Marcelo

AU - Pollard, David

AU - Farrell, Edward D

AU - Florin, Ann-Britt

AU - Polidoro, Beth A.

AU - Lawson, Julia M

AU - Lorance, Pascal

AU - Uiblein, Franz

AU - Craig, Matthew

AU - Allen, David J

AU - Fowler, Sarah L

AU - Walls, Rachel H L

AU - Comeros-Raynal, Mia T

AU - Harvey, Michael S.

AU - Dureuil, Manuel

AU - Conceicao Biscoito, Manuel J

AU - Pollock, Caroline

AU - McCully Phillips, Sophy R

AU - Ellis, Jim R

AU - Papaconstantinou, Constantinos

AU - Soldo, Alen

AU - Keskin, Çetin

AU - Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm

AU - Gil de Sola, Luís

AU - Serena, Fabrizio

AU - Collette, Bruce B

AU - Nedreaas, Kjell

AU - Stump, Emilie

AU - Russell, Barry C

AU - Garcia, Silvia

AU - Afonso, Pedro

AU - Jung, Armelle B J

AU - Alvarez, Helena

AU - Delgado, Joao Manuel Mendes Henriques

AU - Dulvy, Nicholas K

AU - Carpenter, Kent E

N1 - P.G.F. and R.C. received funding from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) pooling initiative, funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. The European Red List of marine fishes was a project funded by the European Commission (Directorate General for the Environment under service contract number 070307/2011/607526/SER/B.3).

PY - 2017/5/26

Y1 - 2017/5/26

N2 - Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks.

AB - Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks.

KW - conservation biology

KW - marine biology

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-017-0170

DO - 10.1038/s41559-017-0170

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-334X

VL - 1

JO - Nature Ecology & Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology & Evolution

M1 - 0170

ER -

Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this