| | Week 7 of Friday Ocean Findings looks at the extraction of living and non-living resources from the North-East Atlantic - fishing and sand and gravel extraction. Data on these important industries is vital for OSPAR’s work on protecting the marine environment and ensuring that the resources of the North-East Atlantic are used sustainably.
Fishing data from the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) indicated that the total reported marine fisheries landings in the North-East Atlantic in 2018 was 9.32 million tonnes with 79.3 percent of the assessed stocks in the area being fished within biologically sustainable levels. However, in 2017 OSPAR assessed the impact of bottom trawling on the extent of physical damage to predominant and special habitats. It showed that 86% of the assessed areas in the Greater North Sea and the Celtic Seas were physically disturbed, with 58% highly disturbed.
Marine sediment extraction in the North-East Atlantic has increased substantially since the early 1970s for use in the construction industry, and as material for coastal works such as land reclamation, beach replenishment and coastal defence.
These feeder reports are components of OSPAR’s Quality Status Report (QSR) 2023. The QSR will examine the current state of the marine environment and ecosystems, and the human activities benefiting from the marine environment and interacting with it.
We hope you enjoy these reports. Please do contact us with any comments at [email protected] | |
| | |
|
READ MORE 
