The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires European states to maintain their marine waters in "Good Environmental Status". The MSFD includes 11 descriptors of "Good Environmental Status" (GES), including "Sea-floor Integrity". This descriptor is defined as: "Sea-floor integrity is at a level that ensures that the structure and functions of the ecosystems are safeguarded and benthic ecosystems, in particular, are not adversely affected." This contribution briefly summarizes the main conclusions of an international expert group established to review the scientific basis for making this concept operational. The experts concluded that consideration of 8 attributes of the seabed system would provide adequate information to meet requirements of the MSFD: (i) substratum, (ii) bioengineers, (iii) oxygen concentration, (iv) contaminants and hazardous substances, (v) species composition, (vi) size distribution, (vii) trophodynamics and (viii) energy flow and life history traits. The experts further concluded that "Good Environmental Status" cannot be defined exclusively as "pristine Environmental Status", but rather status when impacts of all uses were sustainable. Uses are sustainable if two conditions are met:

Pedersen, S. A., Fock, H., Krause, J., Pusch, C., Sell, A. L., Böttcher, U., Rogers, S. I., Sköld, M., Skov, H., Podolska, M., Piet, G. J., and Rice, J. C. 2009. Natura 2000 sites and fisheries in German offshore waters.–ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 155–169. The principal objective of sites selected as part of Natura 2000 is to achieve or maintain a favourable conservation status of habitats and species named in the EU Birds and Habitats directives. In the German exclusive economic zone, the habitat types protected by this legislation are sandbanks and reefs; protected species include marine mammals, seabirds, and specific migratory fish species. The ICES project Environmentally Sound Fishery Management in Protected Areas (EMPAS) aims to answer two questions: (i) To what extent do specific fishing activities significantly threaten attainment of the conservation objectives of the Natura 2000 sites? (ii) What management measures would reduce these conflicts and how effective would they be at helping to ensure the favourable condition of these sites? Assessments of fishing impacts on Natura 2000 sites require basic data on the conservation status of individual habitats and species, as well as data for fine-scale distributions of ongoing fishing activities. This paper describes and discusses the process used by the EMPAS project in developing fishery-management plans for each Natura 2000 site in German offshore waters.

1. Against the background of the UN decade on ecosystem restoration and the new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and in the context of marine spatial planning and complex maritime user conflicts, reliable information on habitat suitability for large-scale restoration is an important prerequisite for implementing conservation management and for supporting successful, sustainable, and ecologically efficient restoration measures.2. In this study, habitat suitability was assessed using multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) for the restoration of the European oyster, Ostrea edulis, in marine protected areas (MPAs) of the German Bight in the North Sea: Borkum Reef Ground (Borkum Riffgrund, BRG) and Sylt Outer Reef -Eastern German Bight (Sylter Außenriff, SAR).3. Based on site selection criteria, exclusion and suitability factors for the MCDA were defined. Results were integrated with the available geodata to produce habitat suitability maps for oyster restoration in the area of interest.4. Suitable as well as unsuitable habitats have been successfully identified for both MPAs: several hundred square kilometres (≥97.2% of BRG) or several thousand square kilometres (≥74.5% of SAR) were classified as ecologically and logistically suitable for oyster restoration measures in the respective MPAs. As oyster restoration is significantly limited by human activities (e.g. bottom trawl fisheries), the management of fisheries is an important prerequisite for successful oyster restoration in both MPAs. Results show that designated fishery management measures will increase the possibilities for oyster restoration.5. In BRG, our results correspond to the known historical distribution. In SAR, our results significantly exceed the historically known distribution. The habitat suitability analysis will facilitate decision-making regarding ocean use, and will

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