Development trends of marine communities in protected areas of the North Sea: baseline and tools for long-term monitoring

Puntos clave

• The aim is to establish baseline data on fish and epifauna communities to assess long-term effects post-exclusion of mobile bottom trawling.
• Generated baseline data on fish and epifauna communities
• Investigated the exclusion of mobile bottom trawling in Natura 2000 sites
• Assessed alternative monitoring methods for applicability and feasibility
• Baseline data indicates changes in fish and epifauna community structures
• Exclusion of mobile bottom trawling may positively affect community occurrence
• Proposed monitoring tools could enable long-term assessments

Resumen