Journal Article

Coherent assessments of Europe’s marine fishes show regional divergence and megafauna loss

Pollock, Caroline, Russell, Barry C., Walls, Rachel H. L., Dureuil, Manuel, Delgado, João, Papaconstantinou, Constantinos, Pollom, Riley A., Afonso, Pedro, Stump, Emilie, Lorance, Pascal, Garcia, Silvia, Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm, Farrell, Edward D., Fernandes, Paul G., Maravelias, Christos D., Fowler, Sarah L., Keskin, Çetin, Lawson, Julia M., Pollard, David, Dulvy, Nicholas K., Uiblein, Franz, Ellis, Jim R., Florin, Ann-Britt, Carpenter, Kent E., Harvey, Michael S., Vasilakopoulos, Paraskevas, Alvarez, Helena, Polidoro, Beth A., Comeros-Raynal, Mia T., Serena, Fabrizio, Ralph, Gina M., Gil de Sola, Luís, Jung, Armelle B. J., Craig, Matthew, Collette, Bruce B., Nedreaas, Kjell, García Criado, Mariana, Nieto, Ana, McCully Phillips, Sophy R., Biscoito, Manuel, Cook, Robin M., Kovačić, Marcelo, Allen, David J., Soldo, Alen

2017

Overview

Europe has a long tradition of exploiting marine fishes and is promoting marine economic activity through its Blue Growth strategy. This increase in anthropogenic pressure, along with climate change, threatens the biodiversity of fishes and food security. Here, we examine the conservation status of 1,020 species of European marine fishes and identify factors that contribute to their extinction risk. Large fish species (greater than 1.5 m total length) are most at risk; half of these are threatened with extinction, predominantly sharks, rays and sturgeons. This analysis was based on the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European regional Red List of marine fishes, which was coherent with assessments of the status of fish stocks carried out independently by fisheries management agencies: no species classified by IUCN as threatened were considered sustainable by these agencies. A remarkable geographic divergence in stock status was also evident: in northern Europe, most stocks were not overfished, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea, almost all stocks were overfished. As Europe proceeds with its sustainable Blue Growth agenda, two main issues stand out as needing priority actions in relation to its marine fishes: the conservation of marine fish megafauna and the sustainability of Mediterranean fish stocks. Assessing the conservation status of 1,020 European marine fishes reveals half of large (>1.5 m) fishes are threatened with extinction and stock status diverges geographically: almost all Mediterranean stock is overfished, most northern European stock is not.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature
• Subject: 704/158/672 / 704/829/826 / Animal behavior / Anthropogenic factors / Assessments / Biodiversity / Biological and Physical Anthropology / Biological Sciences / Biologiska vetenskaper / Climate change / Commercial fishing / Conservation / Conservation status / Dinosaurs / Divergence / Ecology / Economic conditions / Ekologi / Endangered & extinct species / Evolutionary Biology / Extinction / Fish / Fish conservation / Fisheries / Fisheries management / Fishery management / Fishing / Food security / Life Sciences / Marine conservation / Marine fish / Megafauna / Natural Sciences / Nature conservation / Naturvetenskap / Paleontology / Sharks / Species classification / Species extinction / Sustainability / Threatened species / Wildlife conservation / Zoology