OSPAR's Quality Status Report 2023 Friday Ocean Findings Issue 26

We have published our latest assessment of Size Composition in Fish Communities along with our first ever pilot assessment of Feeding Guild on our assessment portal.

These assessments contribute to our 2023 Quality Status Report (QSR) which, when viewed together, build a picture of the overall condition of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and progress towards achieving our vision of a clean, healthy and biologically diverse North-East Atlantic Ocean, which is productive, used sustainably and resilient to climate change and ocean acidification. The results will also be used by OSPAR Contracting Parties to inform policy decisions.

We hope you enjoy these Indicator Assessments. Please do contact us with any comments at [email protected] #OSPARprotects

^{Wolf fish image: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen}

Size Composition in Fish Communities

The Typical Length Indicator measures the size-structure of fish communities and it decreases under high fishing pressure. The indicator is low, compared to the 1980s, in the Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas Regions, but it has increased across large parts of the central Celtic Seas and the northern Bay of Biscay.

Pilot Assessment of Feeding Guild

Spatially extensive decreases in planktivore feeding guild biomass lower in the food web were evident in the North Sea and Bay of Biscay sub-divisions. In contrast, biomass of the pisco-crustivore and piscivore feeding guilds higher in the food web increased in the Celtic Seas region and Bay of Biscay sub-division.

OSPAR Commission
https://www.ospar.org/ | [email protected]
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7430 5200
The Aspect, 12 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AS, United Kingdom

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