FN Archimer Export Format PT AVIS TI Report of the Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF). 17–21 June 2013, Lisbon, Portugal BT AF ICES SI PORT-EN-BESSIN NANTES LA ROCHELLE SE PDG-RBE-HMMN-RHPEB PDG-RBE-EMH PDG-RBE-HGS AC ICES UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00166/27693/25886.pdf LA English DT Expertises CR CGFS 89 CGFS 90 CGFS 91 CGFS 92 CGFS 93 CGFS 94 CGFS 95 CGFS 96 CGFS 97 CGFS 98 CGFS 99 CGFS2000 CGFS2001 CGFS2002 CGFS2003 CGFS2004 CGFS2005 CGFS2006 CGFS2007 CGFS2008 CGFS2009 CGFS2010 CGFS2011 CGFS2012 EVHOE 2000 EVHOE 2001 EVHOE 2002 EVHOE 927 EVHOE 948 EVHOE 959 EVHOE 97 EVHOE 98 EVHOE 99 IBTS 2000 IBTS 2001 IBTS 2002 IBTS 2003 IBTS 2004 IBTS 2005 IBTS 2006 IBTS 2007 IBTS 2008 IBTS 2009 IBTS 2010 IBTS 2011 IBTS 2012 IBTS 92/2 IBTS 93/1 IBTS 93/2 IBTS 94/1 IBTS 94/2 IBTS 95/1 IBTS 95/2 IBTS 96/1 IBTS 96/2 IBTS 97 IBTS 98 IBTS 99 IYFS 80 IYFS 82 IYFS 83 IYFS 84 IYFS 85 IYFS 86 IYFS 87 IYFS 88 IYFS 89 IYFS 90 IYFS 91 IYFS 92 - IBTS 92/1 BO Gwen Drez Thalassa AB The ICES Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes, 2013 (Chair, Ivone Figueiredo, Portugal) was held at IPMA, Lisbon, Portugal from the 17–21 June 2013. Seventeen Expert Group members attended, with thirteen more contributing via correspondence. One representative of EC-DGMare attended as an observer to the group for a portion of the meeting. Nine ICES member states were represented. ICES WGEF meets annually, but normally provides advice on a biennial basis. Although 2013 was not an assessment and advice year, a revision of the fine-scale taxonomic or geographical units for the provision of advice for demersal elasmobranchs was undertaken, which will inform on those assessments to be conducted in 2014. Two special requests were received: • A special request from the European Commission to ICES to provide advice on the appropriateness to amend the list of deep-sea sharks, considering: i) to exclude blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus); ii) to include lowfin gulper shark (Centrophorus lusitanicus); and • A special request from the European Commission to ICES to provide advice on exploring alternative and/or complementary management measures such as closed areas/seasons or effort restrictions which may better protect demersal elasmobranchs. Twenty-four Working Documents were presented to the Group, mainly relating to survey results and port-sampling schemes. Several working documents presented results from national projects to better understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of demersal elamobranchs, including some species currently listed as ‘prohibited species’. Most elasmobranch stocks are considered to be data-limited. ICES WKLIFE expert group has explored and proposed data deficient assessment methods as tools to substantiate management advice. In 2013 WGEF conducted an exploratory Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) and evaluated its potential use on qualitative assessment and advice, particularly in the case of stocks for which otherwise no advice could historically be given. The utility of this approach in aiding the MSFD implementation and identification of candidate indicator species was also discussed. Under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive elasmobranchs are a relevant group of species to determine the Good Environmental Status (GES) of ecosystems, including for descriptor 1 (biodiversity), descriptor 3 (commercial fish stocks) and descriptor 4 (foodwebs). In 2011 the WGEF gave an overview of MSFD and the identified elements of WGEF work that could contribute to evaluate the status for MSFD descriptors and determining GES. This year the work progressed by looking at the indicators in more detail, in particularly by analysing their relevance for elasmobranchs and what progress various member states had made. PY 2013 PD JUL ID 27693 ER EF