ICES will, as a consequence of the review of the 2010 Commission Decision on criteria and methodical standards on good environmental status of marine waters for descriptor 3 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, hold a dedicated workshop on criterion 3.3.
During the ICES workshops on Descriptor 3 earlier this year it became evident that reaching an agreement on indicator and a reference point for an age and size structure that fulfills Criterion 3.3 would be challenging. Some of the experts attending the workshop advocated forย criterion 3.3 to be droppedย from the MSFD as they believe it is redundant to criterion 3.1 (level of pressure of the fishing activity) and 3.2 (reproductive capacity of the stock).
However, while the achievement of MSY is a step in the right direction for the recovery of European fish stocks, it will not guarantee that stocks are maintained in a healthy condition. Healthy fish stocks are typically characterised by a varied age class range often with a relatively high proportion of sexually mature, older and larger individuals. Such population characteristics are important for the resilience of the stock to natural variability and human induced pressures, as well for the resilience of the whole ecosystem, since different sizes and ages of fish have different ecological functions.
It was decided at the previous workshop that further work was needed to select and define indicators and associated reference levels for Criterion 3.3 that respond to changes in populations age and size distribution subjected to fishing. This was further agreed and endorsed at the Marine Strategy Coordination meeting before summer. ICES has now been tasked by DG ENVI to provide guidance on development of operational methods for the evaluation of the MSFD criterion D3.3. This first workshop is seen as phase 1 of the process of developing 3.3 and will take place at ICES HQ 14-17th of March 2016.