Assessment of Bottom Trawl Impacts on the Status of Seabed Communities in European Seas

ABSTRACT Bottom trawling affects seabed habitats, but its large‐scale impacts remain poorly quantified. Assessment of trawling impacts is essential to support monitoring and achieving sustainability objectives under international conventions, sustainable development goals, and seafood certification programs. We present a Europe‐wide quantitative assessment of bottom trawling impacts, accounting for regional seabed‐community sensitivity drivers, across the Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea continental shelves. Using two risk‐based indicators of seabed status—Relative Benthic Status determined as benthic community biomass relative to seabed fauna carrying capacity (RBS tot ) and RBS sen (biomass of the 10% most sensitive fauna relative to carrying capacity)—we found substantial regional and habitat differences. The Black, Baltic and Aegean‐Levantine Seas showed low trawling intensity and high seabed status across habitats. In contrast, the Western Mediterranean, Ionian and Central Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas were the most severely impacted. Trawling affected the sensitive species biomass fraction more strongly than the total community biomass. RBS tot was in good condition (here chosen as RBS > 75% for epifauna) for over 79% of habitat‐ecoregion combinations. In contrast, RBS sen met this threshold in only 46% of these. A strong correlation emerged between the mean trawling intensity and RBS tot and RBS sen , allowing the use of SAR to estimate ecosystem status. This relationship can support decisions on where, and by how much, SAR reductions are needed to achieve good environmental status in regions where no detailed assessment is available. Our approach provides a quantitative framework to balance fishery production with ecosystem sustainability, offering tools for environmental and fisheries management in Europe.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Fish and Fisheries
Published
2026-01-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.70054
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Marine and fisheries research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
109.87

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Assessment of Bottom Trawl Impacts on the Status of Seabed Communities in European Seas

Jan Geert Hiddink, Marija Sciberras, Alice Sbrana, Grete E. Dinesen et al.
3 citations
Fish and Fisheries
Marine and fisheries research
109.87
article

Assessment of Bottom Trawl Impacts on the Status of Seabed Communities in European Seas

Jan Geert Hiddink, Marija Sciberras, Alice Sbrana, Grete E. Dinesen, Ole Ritzau Eigaard, Sebastian Valanko, María Teresa Spedicato, Gianluca Franceschini, Arnold Rakaj, Mattias Sköld, Sofia Reizopoulou, Marina Pulcini, Bianca Di Lorenzo, Renato Mamede, Andrea Pierucci, Tommaso Russo, Pascal Laffargue, I. Sobrino, Jochen Depestele, Nadia A. Papadopoulou, Emanuela Fanelli, Sandrine Vaz, M. Teresa Farriols, Belén Calero, Валентина Тодорова, Antonello Sala, Stefan G. Bolam, Michele Casini, Maria Cristina Mangano, Esther Beukhof, G. Di Bona, Wenyan Zhang, Maiorano Porzia, G Sarà, Marina Penna, Giada Riva, Irini Tsikopoulou, Gert Van Hoey, Irida Maina, Walter Zupa, Luke Batts, Juan Gil, Cristina Vina‐Herbon, José Manuel González‐Irusta, Gianfranco D'Onghia, Alessandra Nguyen Xuan, Nedo Vrgoc, Josefine Egekvist, Joanna Desmidt, P. Daniël van Denderen, Katherine Wright, Marina Delgado, Mats Blomqvist, Giuseppe Scarcella, Karin J. van der Reijden, Sasa Raicevich
article en
3 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bottom trawling affects seabed habitats, but its large‐scale impacts remain poorly quantified. Assessment of trawling impacts is essential to support monitoring and achieving sustainability objectives under international conventions, sustainable development goals, and seafood certification programs. We present a Europe‐wide quantitative assessment of bottom trawling impacts, accounting for regional seabed‐community sensitivity drivers, across the Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea continental shelves. Using two risk‐based indicators of seabed status—Relative Benthic Status determined as benthic community biomass relative to seabed fauna carrying capacity (RBS tot ) and RBS sen (biomass of the 10% most sensitive fauna relative to carrying capacity)—we found substantial regional and habitat differences. The Black, Baltic and Aegean‐Levantine Seas showed low trawling intensity and high seabed status across habitats. In contrast, the Western Mediterranean, Ionian and Central Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas were the most severely impacted. Trawling affected the sensitive species biomass fraction more strongly than the total community biomass. RBS tot was in good condition (here chosen as RBS > 75% for epifauna) for over 79% of habitat‐ecoregion combinations. In contrast, RBS sen met this threshold in only 46% of these. A strong correlation emerged between the mean trawling intensity and RBS tot and RBS sen , allowing the use of SAR to estimate ecosystem status. This relationship can support decisions on where, and by how much, SAR reductions are needed to achieve good environmental status in regions where no detailed assessment is available. Our approach provides a quantitative framework to balance fishery production with ecosystem sustainability, offering tools for environmental and fisheries management in Europe.

Fish and FisheriesVol. 27(2)
University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT), Marche Polytechnic University (IT), Flanders Marine Institute (BE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Padua (IT), Ifremer (FR), Bangor University (GB), Université de Montpellier (FR), Lowestoft Hospital (GB), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (GB), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT), International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (DK), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Heriot-Watt University (GB), Fondazione Italiana Fegato (IT), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Instituto Español de Oceanografía (ES), Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT), Joint Research Centre (IT), National Research Council (RO), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR), Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon (DE), Winfoor (Sweden) (SE), Marine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (FR), Marine Institute (IE), Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (HR), Institute of Oceanology (BG), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT), University of Aveiro (PT), University of Palermo (IT), Wageningen University & Research (NL), University of Bologna (IT), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Villum Fonden, European Commission, Ministry of Environment, Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Centro de Estudos Ambientais e Marinhos, Universidade de Aveiro, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Economic and Social Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, European Regional Development Fund, Interreg, HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Marine and fisheries research
109.87
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.