Spanish static gear fleets are most affected by Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem regulations despite their lower seabed impact

Abstract The EU Implementing Regulation 2022/1614 established 87 area-based closures to protect Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) between 400 and 800 m in the Northeast Atlantic, with further spatial scenarios later proposed by ICES (2023). This study provides the first gear-specific assessment of the spatial and economic implications of these measures for Spanish bottom-contact fleets. Using 2016–2021 VMS, logbook, and first-sale data integrated on a 0.05° grid, we characterized the spatial distribution of fishing effort and gross revenue for the main gears—bottom trawls (BT), longlines (LLS), and gillnets (GNS)—across the entire Northeast Atlantic and the Cantabrian Sea. Core fishing grounds (CFGs) were identified for each gear, and their potential losses were also estimated. The economic consequences were further examined at the port level, quantifying the number of affected vessels and the proportion of landing value losses per port and gear. All gears experience reductions in activity and revenue, though magnitudes differ markedly. At the Northeast Atlantic scale, static gears showed the highest relative revenue losses (7%–9% under scenarios A–C and E; 4%–5% under current/D scenarios), losing up to 8%–10% of CFGs. BT showed the smallest relative losses (0.5%–4%). When focusing on the Cantabrian Sea, the impact becomes more pronounced, with LLS losses of up to 19% of total revenue, roughly double those of other gears. Economic impacts intensified under all ICES scenarios, with 127 longliners and 47 ports potentially affected. Over 80% of total losses were concentrated in a few major Galician ports, largely due to their strong dependence on the LLS fleet, while several smaller ports could face revenue reductions exceeding 40%. These results reveal a mismatch between ecological and economic impacts, as lower-impact static gears experience the highest economic losses under uniform regulatory measures. The findings highlight the need for gear-specific approaches to spatial management and for integrating economic parameters, together with broader socio-economic indicators, into conservation planning.