DATASET

Ocean Productivity available to Fish (OPFish) - European marine biogeographical regions ANNUAL - 2003-2020 (% of daily favorable occurrence, 1/24° by 1/24°)

Collection: EMIS : Environmental Marine Information System 

Description

As a proxy for potential fish production, the Ocean Productivity available to Fish (OPFish) was successfully tested against commercial and scientific spatial fisheries datasets in the European Seas, notably in detecting local overfishing. The OPFish uses the productivity frontal features derived from chlorophyll-a horizontal gradients, which characterize 10-20% of the global phytoplankton production that effectively fuels higher trophic levels . This satellite-derived proxy of potential fish feeding was shown to greatly facilitate the identification of local fishing opportunities by quantifying the useful fraction of plankton production that could support fisheries catches. More information: https://fishreg.jrc.ec.europa.eu/fish-habitat, Peer-reviewed publication:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/faf.12585

OPFish was calculated using daily chlorophyll-a (mg.m−3) data from the MODIS-Aqua ocean color sensor (2003–2016; 1/24° resolution) and the Ocean Color Index (OCI) algorithm (Hu et al., 2012). These data was extracted from the NASA portal (https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/l3/) with the archive reprocessing of January 2018. The OPFish has daily values from 0 to 1 following the equation:

OPFish = C_g * C_r * DL

(see details in Druon et al. 2021) where OPFish = Ocean Productivity available to Fish (potential fish production in relative level),

Cg = linear function derived from the norm of the horizontal gradient of chlorophyll-a, from 0 to 1,

Cr = value 1 if within the suitable chlorophyll-a range, and 0 otherwise,

DL = relative day length duration from 0 to 1 (day length in hours divided by 24). Hu, C., Lee, Z., & Franz, B. (2012). Chlorophyll a algorithms for oligotrophic oceans: A novel approach based on three-band reflectance difference. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 117, 1–25. doi:10.1029/2011JC007395 Druon JN, Gascuel D, Gibin M, Zanzi A, Fromentin JM, Colloca F, Hélaouët P, Coll M, Mannini A, Bluemel J, Piroddi C, Bastardie F, Macias-Moy D, Vasilakopoulos P, Winker H, Serpetti N, Guillen J, Palialexis A, Gras M, Hekim Z, Dubroca L, Pinto C, Steenbeeck J and Martinsohn J

(2021) Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas. Fish and Fisheries, 00, 1-21, DOI:10.1111/faf.12585 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/faf.12585

Contact

Email
jean-noel.druon (at) ec.europa.eu

Contributors

How to cite

Druon, Jean-Noel (2021): Ocean Productivity available to Fish (OPFish) - European marine biogeographical regions ANNUAL - 2003-2020 (% of daily favorable occurrence, 1/24° by 1/24°). European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) [Dataset] PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/bce67a6d-45ea-4fc1-a685-b775d5b31953

Keywords

Climate change Demersal fishing gears Eutrophication Feeding Habitat Fish production Fisheries Fishing Restricted Area GIS digital format Marine protected area Ocean color Overfishing Pelagic fishing gears Environmental monitoring facilities Satellite observations

Data access

Ocean Productivity available to Fish (OPFish) - European marine biogeographical regions ANNUAL - 2003-2020
URL 

Publications

Publication 2021
Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas
Druon, J., Gascuel, D., Gibin, M., Zanzi, A., Fromentin, J., Colloca, F., Helaouet, P., Coll, M., Mannini, A., Bluemel, J., Piroddi, C., Bastardie, F., Macias Moy, D., Vasilakopoulos, P., Winker, H., Serpetti, N., Guillen Garcia, J., Palialexis, A., Gras, M., Hekim, Z., Dubroca, L., Pinto, C., Steenbeek, J. and Martinsohn, J., Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas, FISH AND FISHERIES, ISSN 1467-2960 (online), 22 (6), 2021, p. 1227-1247, JRC122437.
  • WILEY, HOBOKEN, UNITED STATES
Publication page 
  • Abstract

    This study evaluates the relationship between both commercial and scientific spatial fisheries data and a new satellite-based estimate of potential fish production (Ocean Productivity available to Fish, OPFish) in the European Seas. To construct OPFish, we used productivity frontal features derived from chlorophyll-a horizontal gradients, which characterize 10%–20% of the global phytoplankton production that effectively fuels higher trophic levels. OPFish is relatively consistent with the spatial distribution of both pelagic and demersal fish landings and catches per unit of effort (LPUEs and CPUEs, respectively). An index of harvest relative to ocean productivity (HP index) is calculated by dividing these LPUEs or CPUEs with OPFish. The HP index reflects the intensity of fishing by gear type with regard to local fish production. Low HP levels indicate lower LPUEs or CPUEs than expected from oceanic production, suggesting over-exploitation, while high HP levels imply more sustainable fishing. HP allows comparing the production-dependent suitability of local fishing intensities. Our results from bottom trawl data highlight that over-exploitation of demersal species from the shelves is twice as high in the Mediterranean Sea than in the North-East Atlantic. The estimate of HP index by dominant pelagic and demersal gears suggests that midwater and bottom otter trawls are associated with the lowest and highest overfishing, respectively. The contrasts of fishing intensity at local scales captured by the HP index suggest that accounting for the local potential fish production can promote fisheries sustainability in the context of ecosystem-based fisheries management as required by international marine policies.

Publication
Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas.
Druon JN, Gascuel D, Gibin M, Zanzi A, Fromentin JM, Colloca F, Hélaouët P, Coll M, Mannini A, Bluemel J, Piroddi C, Bastardie F, Macias-Moy D, Vasilakopoulos P, Winker H, Serpetti N, Guillen J, Palialexis A, Gras M, Hekim Z, Dubroca L, Pinto C, Steenbeeck J and Martinsohn J (2021) Mesoscale productivity fronts and local fishing opportunities in the European Seas. Fish and Fisheries, 00, 1-21, DOI:10.1111/faf.12585
URL 

Spatial coverage

Type Value
GML
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GML
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WKT
POLYGON ((42 72, -44 72, -44 25, 42 25, 42 72))

Temporal coverage

From date To date
2003-01-01 2020-01-01

Additional information

Published by
European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Created date
2021-07-06
Modified date
2022-04-04
Issued date
2021-07-05
Landing page
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-tools-and-databases/environmental-marine-information-system-emis_en 
Data theme(s)
Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food
Update frequency
annual
Identifier
http://data.europa.eu/89h/bce67a6d-45ea-4fc1-a685-b775d5b31953
Popularity