Identifying priority areas for marine protection in Europe to support fisheries

Balancing biodiversity conservation with fisheries sustainability is a challenge in marine spatial planning. We identified marine areas supporting commercially important fish species in European seas using spatial prioritisation. Species range maps from the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and fishery catch data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Sea Around Us Project (SAUP) were combined including 507 finfish, 73 crustacean and 101 mollusc species, to represent both presence-only and catch biomass scenarios. Results were consistent across scenarios, with optimal areas concentrated along the Mediterranean, Black Sea, North-East Atlantic coasts, Macaronesia, Iceland, and continental shelves of the North, Celtic and Irish Seas. Over 80% of species could be protected in 30% of European seas, and 51% in 10% of the area. Conserving commercially fished species would benefit biodiversity and fisheries stock recovery, through refugia for broodstock and juveniles, larger fish and greater genetic diversity and spillover. Our findings support evidence-based marine spatial planning that can enhance sustainable fisheries management in European seas.