Trends in the status of assessed commercial fish and shellfish stocks relative to the Good Environmental Status (GES) criteria for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity in Europe's marine regions

Units

Metrics relative to Good Environmental Status (GES) thresholds
Number of assessed stocks

Additional information

- Stocks assessments have different starting years depending on data availability. In recent years, trend estimates are based on a larger number of assessed stocks and are therefore considered more robust.
- Median values (50^th percentile) are used to describe trends in fishing pressure and reproductive capacity. Shaded areas represent confidence limits (2.5^th and 97.5^th percentiles).
Abbreviations:

MSY = maximum sustainable yield;

F = fishing mortality;

F_MSY = the fishing mortality that will lead to MSY in the long term;

SSB = spawning stock biomass (a measure of reproductive capacity);

SSB_MSY = the spawning stock biomass capable of producing MSY;

MSY_Btrigger = either the biomass at the lower level of the range (5th percentile) of SSB able to produce MSY or Bpa (a stock status reference point above which the stock is considered to have full reproductive capacity, having accounted for estimation uncertainty).

Temporal coverage:
1947-2023 (Baltic Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean); 2003-2023 (Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea)

Methodology

Stock assessment data for the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea were obtained from the ICES Stock database. Stock assessment data for the Mediterranean and Black Sea were obtained from STECF CFP Monitoring report annexes.