Q 7 - How to protect deep Vulnerable marine Ecosystems (VMEs) (strategies, measures, etc.)?#
Key words: VME, indicator for vulnerable species, protection, survival, maintenance, functionality, trajectories, priorities, future, climate change, sensitivity to human impacts, connectivity
Answers#
Dispersion and connectivity modelling (Dispersion and connectivity modelling)
Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA) (Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA))
ESE1 - Ecological toolkit#
Practices: Scoping Data collection and presentation Analysis and diagnosis Prioritisation and designationSpatial scales: Transboundary / sea basin National Regional / localProtection regimes: Strict protection Non-strict protectionMarine zones: Coastal zone Deep seaCriteria classes: 1.1.1 Vulnerability 1.1.4. Life cycle critical areas
Criteria
Category Ecological and genetic criteria
Subcategory Functional
Macro-criterion Vulnerability
Macro-criterion Life cycle critical areas
Operational approaches: (Method) Dispersion and connectivity modelling (Method) Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA)
Implementation details
Note. In this question, we consider highly tied direct anthropogenic and climatic stressors to provide the most complete answer to the question. First of all, to reduce direct pressure on VME from an ecological point of view, we encourage the proposed measure of moving the limits of authorized bottom-trawling from 1000m to 800m as measure of protection of deep-sea habitats and VME species.
Defining VME
The promoted ecological approach in that case focus on area-based measures using VME species as indicators of priority conservation target (biological target). There is no regional official list of species considered as VME indicators but the FAO and Oceana present a full worldwide list of species on their website and a list of criteria used to define a VME. You need to identify the relevant institutions for each area responsible of VME management and contact them to make a state of actual knowledge and built your own species list. For example, in the Mediterranean Sea, the GFCM is responsible for the co-management of VME and bottom trawling. You can also find some working documents highlighting 76 species in the whole Med plus 2 families (Aphanipathidae and sabellidae) and 9 genus considering as VME. This question focus particularly on deep-sea species (particularly seamounts) and cold water corals.
The criteria to define VME according to the FAO are the following: - Uniqueness and rarity: area or ecosystem containing unique or rare species whose loss could not be compensate by similar area or ecosystem - Functional significance of the habitat: discrete areas or habitats that are necessary for survival, function, spawning/reproduction or recovery of fish stocks, particular life-history stages or of rare, threatened or endangered marine species - Fragility: An ecosystem that is highly susceptible to degradation by anthropogenic activities. - Life-history traits of component species that make recovery difficult: ecosystems that are characterized by populations or assemblages of species with one or more of the following characteristics: slow growth rates, late age of maturity, low of unpredictable recruitment, long lived, etc. - Structural complexity: an ecosystem that is characterized by complex physical structures created by significant concentrations of biotic and abiotic features. In these ecosystems, ecological processes are usually highly dependent on these structured systems. Further, such ecosystems often have high diversity, which is dependent on the structuring organisms.
A more complete description of these criteria could be found on the FAO website (https://www.fao.org/in-action/vulnerable-marine-ecosystems/criteria/en/).
The above criteria by the FAO defining VME’s are related to the macro-criteria from ESE1: Vulnerability (all inner criteria), Stability (Ecosystem Integrity), Functional hotspots (Presence of key functional species) , Life cycle critical areas (larval sources and spawning aggregation areas, recruitment areas).
Identification of relevant pressures in the area of interest
In general for VMEs’ the main direct pressure are fisheries, especially bottom-trawling and longlines, mining and, on the coastal areas, anchorage and tourism. As indirect stressors, climate change need to be incorporated at each level of reasoning but the complexity of stressors and stressors interactions need to be reevaluated regarding the time-scale of concern. Managers and decision-makers must be assist by a specialist in climatic projection.
Identify the level of protection or each areas of interest (based on MPA status, IUCN…)
4. Defining scientific and management strategies (general incomes) and potential management levers: 1. identify areas of VME’s concentration (hotspot) thanks to up-to-date scientific knowledge (and potentially the development of models such as habitat suitability models, taking into consideration the potential high level of uncertainty of model outputs) and promote closure to fisheries, especially bottom trawling for benthic species. You can initiate by the protection of muddy areas as they concentrate bottom-trawling and are already heavily impacted. 2. Enlarge the decision-process to more rocky areas including other fishing practices and stressors. You can define priorities of conservation (both species and areas) using risk assessment. Include analysis of sensitivity of the different species to changing conditions (integrating known survival thresholds at mid-term conditions as it seems to be the temporal scale the most relevant for VME’s risk assessment) (C.f. CAMBRA et al., 2024). Promote connectivity integration, to evaluate the potential benefits of protecting certain areas. 3. Develop appropriate protection and monitoring program in the chosen areas. At least, develop spatial closure with adequate time frame regarding species life-cycle and growth (e.g., closure must be permanent and non annual with an adequate duration of 10 years for corals) and eventually, promote restauration initiatives if relevant. Closure is considered as sufficient by the expert interviewed in the project framework but it depends on the site and the species. Apply the same reasoning for monitoring program, i.e. species development (one monitoring per year seems relevant). For monitoring program, it is necessary to develop better definitions of ecological good status, monitoring protocols, tools and metrics, commonly shared in the international community. 4. Develop knowledge on less known species (e.g. oyster reefs, white mussels, sponges…) 5. develop a methodology for data acquisition and completion, promote open source data
Notes
Sea D2.2 and FAO Website for more criteria defining what is a VME and for species lists.