Each of the regional case studies focus on one or more fisheries that are representative of the region and comprise the full range of fishing gears that are widely used in European waters and are highly relevant in the context of mitigating their impact on benthic ecosystems.
Case studies identified are the Baltic Sea (Nephrops trawl, Otter trawls for cod, Blue mussel fishery), North Sea (Beam trawl, Shrimp trawl), Western waters (Nephrops trawl, Scallop trawl, Otter trawl on biogenic habitats), Mediterranean Sea (Otter trawl), Black Sea (Rapa whelk fishery with beam trawls and commercial demersal fisheries with bottom trawls).
In each of the case studies, a full analysis of a selected fishery including the assessment of the current impact on the benthic ecosystem and the assessment of the ecological and economic consequences of technological and management innovations could provide advice, and demonstrate how to mitigate fishery impacts on the benthic ecosystem.
This report collects all the regional case studies reports related to sea trials carried out to date. Particular attention has been paid to the description of the activities carried out. A preliminary presentation of the results obtained has also been included, even if data collected will be further analysed.