Developing essential fish habitat maps: report

The project helped define areas of the sea essential to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity. Twenty-nine species and multiple life-stages were reviewed covering marine fish and shellfish of commercial and ecological importance, relevant to offshore wind development areas.

This document is part of a collection


5. References

Able K.W., Simenstad C.A., Strydom N.A., Bradley M. and Sheaves M. (2022) Chapter 4. Habitat use and connectivity. In: Fish and Fisheries in Estuaries – A Global Perspective (ed., Whitfield, A.K., Able, K.W., Blaber, S.J.M. and Elliott, M.), pp. 188-254. John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, UK.

AFBI (2021) Essential Fish Habitat Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) | Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (afbini.gov.uk)

Aires C., Gonzalez-Irusta J.M. and Watret R. (2014) Updating Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Report, Marine Scotland Science, 50(10), 88 pp.

Amorim E., Ramos S., Elliott M., Franco A. and Bordalo A.A. (2017) Habitat loss and gain: influence on habitat attractiveness for estuarine fish communities. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 197, 244-257.

Beck M.W., Heck K.L., Able K.W., Childers D.L. et al. (2001) The identification, conservation and management of estuarine and marine nurseries for fish and invertebrates. Bioscience 51, 633–641

Bell E., Bannister C., Satchel C., Garrod C. and Boon T. (2004) Report of investigation into the potential whitefish by-catch in the North Sea sandeel fishery. Fisheries Science Partnership. Fisheries Management Group, Cefas, Lowestoft, 1-19.

Birchenough, S.N.R., Bremner, J., Henderson, P., Hinz, H., Jenkins, S., Mieszkowska, N., Roberts, J.M., Kamenos, N., Plenty, S. 2013. Impacts of climate change on shallow and shelf subtidal habitats. Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership: Science Review, 2013, 193- 203.

Catalán I.A., Morales-Non B., Domingues P., Kamermans P., Auch D., Reglero P., Angelopoulos N., Franco A., Elliott M., Piraino S., Martín V. and Peck M. (2018) CERES Deliverable Report 2.1: Report on the species responses to climate-related factors, and their interactions. CERES (Climate change and European aquatic RESources) Project (EU, Horizon 2020 - BG-02-2015 Forecasting and anticipating effects of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture). April 2018.

Chaalali, A., Beaugrand, G., Boët, P. and Sautour, B. (2013) Climate-Caused Abrupt Shifts in a European Macrotidal Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 36(6), 1193-1205.

Ciotti B.J., Targett T.E. and Burrows M.T. (2013) Spatial variation in growth rate of early juvenile European plaice Pleuronectes platessa. Marine Ecology Progress Series 475, 213- 232.

Colclough, S., Fonseca, L., Watts, W. and Dixon, M. (2010) High tidal flats, salt marshes and managed realignments as habitats for fish, pp. 115-120, Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

Coull K.A., Johnstone R. and Rogers S.I. (1998) Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters. UKOOA Ltd.

Damalas D., Sgardeli V., Tserpes G., Engelhard G., Pinnegar J., Payne M., Reglero P., Ortiz- Urbina J., Saber S., Macias D., Balbin R., Petitgas P., Huret M., Bueno Pardo J., Franco A., Elliott M., Keszksa S., Batsleer J., Poos J.J., Drinkwater K., Eriksen Ibram O., Novodaru I., Catalan I. andf Maynou F. (2018) CERES Deliverable Report 2.1: Report on historical changes of biological responses to CC for different species groups. CERES (Climate change and European aquatic RESources) Project (EU, Horizon 2020 - BG-02-2015 Forecasting and anticipating effects of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture). November 2018.

Danby R.E., Clarke E.D., Fryer R. and Fernandes P.G. (2021) Estimating absolute abundance of anglerfish from multiple trawl surveys. MASTS: Annual Science Meeting, 5-7 October 2021.

De'ath G. and Fabricius K.E. (2000) Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81(11), 3178–3192.

Dickey-Collas M., Briggs R.P., Armstrong M.J. and Milligan S.P. (2000) Production of

Nephrops norvegicus larvae in the Irish Sea. Marine Biology 137, 937-981.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Nephrops-norvegicus-Location-of-adult-grounds-in-Irish-Sea-shaded-area-Dashed-line_fig2_226863506

Ducrotoy J.-P., Elliott M., Cutts N.D., Franco A., Little S., Mazik K. and Wilkinson M. (2019) Chapter 33 - Temperate Estuaries: their ecology under future environmental changes. In Wolanski E., Day J.W., Elliott M. and Ramachandran R. (Eds.), Coasts and Estuaries: The Future. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 577-594. ISBN: 9780128140048

EFSA Scientific Committee, Hardy A., Benford D., Halldorsson T., Jeger M.J., Knutsen H.K., et al. (2017) Scientific Opinion on the guidance on the use of the weight of evidence approach in scientific assessments. EFSA Journal 15(8), 4971, 69 pp.

https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4971

Environment Agency (2021) TraC Fish Counts for all Species for all Estuaries and all years. Available at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/41308817-191b-459d-aa39-788f74c76623/trac-fish-counts-for-all-species-for-all-estuaries-and-all-years.

Elliott, M., Borja, Á., McQuatters-Gollop, A., Mazik, K., Birchenough, S., Andersen, J.H., Painting, S. and Peck, M. (2015) Force majeure: Will climate change affect our ability to attain Good Environmental Status for marine biodiversity? Marine Pollution Bulletin 95, 7– 27.

Elliott S.A.M., Turrell W.R., Heath M.R. and Bailey D.M. (2017) Juvenile gadoid habitat and ontogenetic shit observations using stereo-video baited cameras. Marine Ecology Progress Series 568, 123-135.

Ellis J.R., Milligan S.P., Readdy L., Taylor N. and Brown M.J. (2012) Spawning and nursery grounds of selected fish species in UK waters. Science Series Technical Report, Cefas, Lowestoft, 147 pp.

Fernandes P.G., Armstrong F., Burns F., Copland P., Davis C., Graham Net al. (2007) Progress in estimating the absolute abundance of anglerfish on the European northern shelf from a trawl survey. ICES CM2007/K:12, 14 pp.

https://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/CM%20Doccuments/CM-2007/K/K1207.pdf

Fox C.J., McLay A. and Dickens S. (2019) Development and application of electrofishing with towed video as a new survey method for razor clams (Ensis spp.) Fisheries Research 214, 76–84

Franco A., Elliott M., Franzoi P. and Torricelli P. (2008) Life strategies of fishes in European estuaries: the functional guild approach. Marine Ecology Progress Series 354, 219-228.

Franco A., Fiorin R., Zucchetta M., Torricelli P. and Franzoi P. (2010) Flounder growth and production as indicators of the nursery value of marsh habitats in a Mediterranean lagoon. Journal of Sea Research 64, 457-464.

Freitas V., Cardoso J.F.M.F., Lika K., Peck M.A., Campos J., Kooijman S.A.L.M. and van der Veer H.W. (2010) Temperature tolerance and energetics: a dynamic energy budget-based comparison of North Atlantic marine species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365, 3553-3565.

Frost M. and Diele K. (2022) Essential spawning grounds of Scottish herring: current knowledge and future challenges. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. Published online 9 April 2022. h ttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-022-09703-0

Fujii, T. and Raffaelli, D. (2008) Sea-level rise, expected environmental changes, and responses of intertidal benthic macrofauna in the Humber estuary, UK. Marine Ecology Progress Series 371, 23-35.

Gillanders B.M., Able K.W., Brown J.A., Eggleston D.B. and Sheridan P.F. (2003) Evidence of connectivity between juvenile and adult habitats for mobile marine fauna: An important component of nurseries. Marine Ecology Progress Series 247, 281–295.

González-Irusta J.M. and Wright P.J. (2016a) Spawning grounds of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the North Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science 73, 304–315.

González-Irusta J.M. and Wright P.J. (2016b) Spawning grounds of haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in the North Sea and West of Scotland. Fisheries Research 183, 180–191.

González-Irusta J.M. and Wright P.J. (2017) Spawning grounds of whiting (Merlangius merlangus). Fisheries Research 195, 141–151.

Graham, C.T. and Harrod, C. (2009) Implications of climate change for the fishes of the British Isles. Journal of Fish Biology 74(6), 1143-1205.

Haegele C.W. and Schweigert, J.F. (1985) Session 2: Spawning, Development, and Survival of Early Life Stages of Herring Distribution and Characteristics Herring Spawning Grounds and Description of Spawning Behavior. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 42, 39– 55.

ICES (2010) Report of the Benchmark Workshop on Sandeel (WKSAN), 6–10 September 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES CM 2010/ACOM:57, 201 pp.

ICES (2012) Report of the Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK), 27 April - 03 May 2012, ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen. ICES CM 2012/ACOM:13. 1346 pp.

ICES (2017) Manual of the IBTS North Eastern Atlantic Surveys. Series of ICES Survey Protocols SISP 15, 92 pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.3519.

ICES (2018). Report of the Benchmark Workshop on Anglerfish Stocks in the ICES Area (WKANGLER), 12–16 February 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES CM 2018/ACOM:31, 177 pp.

ICES (2019a) Manual for the Offshore Beam Trawl Surveys, Version 3.4, April 2019, Working Group on Beam Trawl Surveys, 54pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5353.

ICES (2019b) Manual for mackerel and horse mackerel egg surveys, sampling at sea. Series of ICES Survey Protocols SISP 6, 82 pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5140.

ICES (2019c) Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE). ICES Scientific Reports. 1:36, 948 pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5574

ICES (2020) Manual for the North Sea International Bottom Trawl Surveys. Series of ICES Survey Protocols SISP 10-IBTS 10, Revision 11, 102 pp.

http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.7562.

IPCC (2014) Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.

Jones L.A., Irving R., Coyle M.D., Evans D., Gilliland P.M. and Murray A.R. (2004) The Western Approaches Marine Natural Area - A contribution to regional planning and management of the seas around England. English Nature report. DOI - 10.13140/RG.2.2.32361.01127

Katara I., Peden J., Bannister H., Ribeiro J., Fronkova L., Scougal C., Martinez R., Downie A.-L. and Sweeting C. (2021) Conservation hotspots for fish habitats: A case study from English and Welsh waters. Regional Studies in Marine Science 44, 101745.

Kraus R. and Secor D.H. (2005) Application of the nursery-role hypothesis to an estuarine fish. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2091, 301-305.

Langton R., Boulcott P. and Wright P. (2021) A verified distribution model for the lesser sandeel Ammodytes marinus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 667, 145–159.

Laurenson C.H., Priede I.G., Bullough I.W. and Napier I.R. (2001) Where are the mature anglerfish? - The population biology of Lophius piscatorius in northeastern European waters. ICES Report, The Life History, Dynamics and Exploitation of Living Marine Resources: Advances in Knowledge and Methodology, CM 2001/J:27.

Lewis D. and Gale W. (1994) A Sequential Algorithm for Training Text Classifiers. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (pp. 3–12), Springer-Verlag.

Mackinson S., Pastoors M., O'Connell S., Berges B., Forbes-Birnie J., McAulay S., Brigden K., Fraser S., O'Malley M. and Farrel Ed. (2021) The 2020 industry-science survey of herring in the Western British Isles (ICES div 6a, 7bc), 122 pp.

Marine Scotland (2017a) UKCP09 projections - Sea Surface and Seabed Temperature Change (medium emissions, 2080-2090 projections). https://marine.gov.scot/information/ukcp09-projections-sea-surface-and-seabed-temperature-change-medium-emissions-2080-2090

Marine Scotland (2017b) UKCP09 projections - Sea Level / Storm surges, Tides and Wave Height Change (medium emissions, 2080-2090 projections).

https://marine.gov.scot/information/ukcp09-projections-sea-level-storm-surges-tides-and-wave-height-change-medium-emissions.

Marine Scotland (2020) Identification of Sabellaria spinulosa reef on the Scottish east coast . Available at: https://blogs.gov.scot/marine-scotland/2020/12/02/identification-of-sabellaria-spinulosa-reef-on-the-scottish-east-coast/#:~:text=Sabellaria%20spinulosa%20is%20a%20tube,the%20development%20of%20offshore%20wind.

Marine Scotland (2022) Case Study: Sandeels in Scottish waters. Available at:

https://marine.gov.scot/sma/assessment/case-study-sandeels-scottish-waters.

Masselink, G. and Russell, P. (2013) Impacts of climate change on coastal erosion. MCCIP Science Review, 71-86.

Mesquita C., Dobby H., Pierce G.J., Jones C.S. and Fernandes P.G. (2021) Abundance and spatial distribution of brown crab (Cancer pagurus) from fishery-independent dredge and trawl surveys in the North Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science 78(2), 597 610.

MMO (Franco A., Thomson S., Bhatia N. and Barnard S.) (2013) Spatial models of Essential Fish Habitat (South Coast Inshore and Offshore Marine Plan Areas). A report produced for the Marine Management Organisation by the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, 73pp. MMO Project No: 1044. ISBN: 978-1-909452-21-3.

MMO (Authors: Franco A. and Thomson S.) (2016) Follow on to the Development of Spatial Models of Essential Fish Habitat for the South Inshore and Offshore Marine Plan Areas. A report produced for the Marine Management Organisation by the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, pp 142. MMO Project No: 1096. ISBN: 978-1-909452-40-4.

NatureScot (2020) Priority Marine Features in Scotland seas. Available at

https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/priority-marine-features-scotlands-seas.

NMFS and NOAA (2002) EFH Final Rule. Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). Federal Register 67 (January 17, 2002), 2343-2383. Available at:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2002/01/17/02-885/magnuson-stevens-act- p rovisions-essential-fish-habitat-efh

Nicolas, D., Chaalali, A., Drouineau, H., Lobry, J., Uriarte, A., Borja, A. and Boët, P. (2011) Impact of global warming on European tidal estuaries: some evidence of northward migration of estuarine fish species. Regional Environmental Change 11(3), 639-649.

NOAA (2022). Essential Fish Habitat. Available at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/essential-fish-Habitat#essentially,-fish-habitat Last updated by Office of Habitat Conservation on 06 April 2022.

Pasquaud, S., Béguer, M., Larsen, M.H., Chaalali, A., Cabral, H. and Lobry, J. (2012) Increase of marine juvenile fish abundances in the middle Gironde estuary related to warmer and more saline waters, due to global changes. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 104–105(0), 46-53.

Perry, A.L., Low, P.J., Ellis, J.R. and Reynolds, J.D. (2005) Climate change and distribution shifts in marine fishes. Science 308, 1912–1915.

Pontee, N. (2013) Defining coastal squeeze: A discussion. Ocean & Coastal Management 84(0), 204-207.

Potter I.C., Tweedley J.R., Elliott M. and Whitfield A.K. (2015) The ways in which fish use estuaries: a refinement and expansion of the guild approach. Fish and Fisheries 16(2), 230- 239.

Pörtner, H.O. and Peck, M.A. (2010) Climate change effects on fishes and fisheries: towards a cause-and-effect understanding. Journal of Fish Biology, 1-35.

Prandle, D., Lane, A. 2015. Sensitivity of estuaries to sea level rise: Vulnerability indices. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 160, 60-68.

Pronier, O. and Rochard E. (1998) Fonctionnement d'une population d'éperlan (Osmerus eperlanus, Osmériformes Osmeridae) située en limite méridionale de son aire de répartition, influence de la température. Bulletin français de la pêche et de la pisciculture 350–351: 479–497.

R Core Team (2021) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.

Ramiro Sánchez B., Jaworski A., Clarke L. and Bailey N. (2015) West Coast of Scotland Demersal Fish Project. Marine Scotland Science, Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen.

Rijnsdorp A.D., Daan N., Vanbeek F.A. and Heessen H.JL. (1991) Reproductive variability in North–Sea Plaice, Sole, and Cod. ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 47, 352– 375.

Rijnsdorp A.D., Peck M.A., Engelhard G.H., Möllmann C. and Pinnegar J.K. (2009) Resolving the effect of climate change on fish populations. ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 66(7), 1570-1583.

Rindorf A., Wanless S. and Harris M.P. (2000) Effects of changes in sandeel availability on the reproductive output of seabirds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 202, 241- 252.

Roach M., Cohen M., Forster R., Revill A.S. and Johnson M. (2018) The effects of temporary exclusion of activity due to wind farm construction on a lobster (Homarus gammarus) fishery suggests a potential management approach. ICES Journal of Marine Science 75(4), 1416–1426.

Robins, P.E., Skov, M.W., Lewis, M.J., Giménez, L., Davies, A.G., Malham, S.K., Neill, S.P., McDonald, J.E., Whitton, T.A., Jackson, S.E. and Jago, C.F. (2016) Impact of climate change on UK estuaries: A review of past trends and potential projections. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 169, 119-135.

Scottish Government (2021) Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party: draft shared policy programme. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-shared-policy-programme/pages/our-natural-environment/#page-top.

Shetland UHI (2022) Fisheries. Available at https://www.shetland.uhi.ac.uk/research/fisheries/

Stebbing, A.R.D., Turk, S.M.T., Wheeler, A. and Clarke, K.R. (2002) Immigration of southern fish species to south-west England linked to warming of the North Atlantic (1960–2001).

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 82(02), 177-180.

Strong J.A., Mazik K., Franco A., Roberts L, Bhatia N and Smyth K. (2017) Implications of climate change for the Scottish Marine Protected Area Network Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. - SNH use only.

Struyf, E., Van Damme, S. and Meire, P. (2004) Possible effects of climate change on estuarine nutrient fluxes: a case study in the highly nutrified Schelde estuary (Belgium, The Netherlands). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 60(4), 649-661.

Taylor, J.A., Murdock, A.P., Pontee, N.I. 2004. A macroscale analysis of coastal steepening around the coast of England and Wales. The Geographical Journal, 170, 179-188.Therneau

T., Atkinson B. and Ripley B. (2019) Package 'rpart': Recursive Partitioning and Regression Trees. R package version 4.1-16. h ttps://cran.r-project.org/package=rpart

Van der Kooij J., Scott B.E. and Mackinson S. (2008) The effects of environmental factors on daytime sandeel distribution and abundance on the Dogger Bank. Journal of Sea Research 60, 201–209.

Velazco S.J.E., Ribeiro B.R., Laureto L.M.O. and Júnior P.D.M. (2020) Overprediction of species distribution models in conservation planning: A still neglected issue with strong effects. Biol. Conserv. 252, 108822. h ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108822

Wells R.J., Teague N., Davie S., Kenworthy J., Stephen F., Moxham E. and Alvis H. (2022) Essential Fish Habitats for English Waters. APEM Ltd Technical Report P00007924. Natural England, May 2022.

Worsøe Clausen L., Power G., Timoshenko N. and Tangen O. (2005) Report of the Blue Whiting Otolith Ageing Workshop. ICES Planning Group on Commercial Catch, Discards and Biological Sampling (PGCCDBS). Co-sponsored by the Commission Regulation (EC) No1639/2001.

Wright P.J., Christensen A., Régnier T., Rindorf A. and van Deurs M. (2019) Integrating the scale of population processes into fisheries management, as illustrated in the sandeel, Ammodytes marinus. ICES Journal of Marine Science 76, 1453–1463.

Zuur A.F., Ieno E.N. and Smith G.M., Eds. (2007) Chapter 9. Univariate tree models. In: Analysing Ecological Data. Springer, 143-161.

Contact

Email: ScotMER@gov.scot

Back to top