Identification of a Soft Coral Garden Candidate Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) Using Video Imagery, Davis Strait, West Greenland

Stephen Long,Kirsty M Kemp,Martin E Blicher,Chris Yesson,Nanette Hammeken Arboe,Bridget Sparrow-Scinocca,Mona Fuhrmann,Rasmus Nygaard,Karl Zinglersen

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00460

Abstract

The term vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) was introduced to facilitate the spatial management of deep-seas, identifying those habitats vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance, such as trawling. Consistent interpretation of the VME definition has been hampered by a underlying paucity of knowledge about the nature and distribution of deep-sea habitats. Photographic and video platforms yield data rich, quantifiable imagery to address these knowledge gaps. A low-cost towed benthic video sled has been used to investigate deep-sea habitats and trawling impacts in west Greenland. A review of imagery from multiple cruises highlighted an area where benthic megafauna contributes to notable structural complexity on the continental slope of the Toqqusaq Bank. Quantitative analysis of imagery from this area provides the first description of a soft coral garden habitat and other communities. The coral garden and observed densities are considered in relation to the VME guidelines (FAO, 2009) and wider literature. The study proposes a 486 km2 area spanning ~60 km of continental slope as a VME. This has direct implications for the management of economically important deep-sea trawl fisheries, which are immediately adjacent. This furthers our knowledge and understanding of VMEs in North Atlantic, in a previously understudied region and demonstrates the utility of a low-cost video sled for identifying and describing VMEs.

Highlights

The deep-sea (> 200 m) is the world’s largest habitat covering ∼65% of the earth’s surface (Danovaro et al, 2017) and is increasingly subject to anthropogenic disturbance from fishing (Morato et al, 2006)
The term vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) has subsequently been applied to a wide variety of deep-sea habitats in both areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and within exclusive economic zones (EEZs) around the world
Identification of VMEs has been based on the occurrence of VME indicator species, such as cold-water coral or sponges, at significant concentrations, which is a matter of expert judgment in the absence of explicit thresholds in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidance (Auster et al, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

The deep-sea (> 200 m) is the world’s largest habitat covering ∼65% of the earth’s surface (Danovaro et al, 2017) and is increasingly subject to anthropogenic disturbance from fishing (Morato et al, 2006). Identification of VMEs has been based on the occurrence of VME indicator species, such as cold-water coral or sponges, at significant concentrations, which is a matter of expert judgment in the absence of explicit thresholds in the FAO guidance (Auster et al, 2010). This has led efforts to establish more consistent, quantitative and systematic approaches for identifying VMEs (Ardron et al, 2014; Morato et al, 2018). Biases in survey effort mean that regions such as the Northeast Atlantic have received considerable attention (e.g., Muñoz and Sayago-Gil, 2011; BuhlMortensen et al, 2015; Huvenne et al, 2016), whilst others remain comparatively poorly known

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