The impact of fishing on benthic habitats has previously been investigated however; a conclusive classification of potentially sensitive habitats per gear type does not exist. Currently only qualitative estimates of fishery impact using Broad-scale habitat maps are possible. Here a sensitivity matrix using both fishing pressure (fishing Intensity) and habitat sensitivity is employed to define habitat disturbance categories. The predominant fishing activities associated with physical abrasion of the seafloor area are from bottom contacting towed fishing gear. The swept area of the aforementioned gear in contact with the seabed is generally considered a function of gear width, vessel speed and fishing effort (ICES. 2015). The varying characteristics of fishing gear, their interaction with the sea floor and species being targeted; provide scope for differing interactions with subsurface (infaunal) and surface (epifaunal) dwelling communities. An evaluation of the abrasion pressure and habitat sensitivity split into surface and subsurface pressure allows greater insight to the ecological effects. Fishing intensity was calculated annually and based on the area of sea floor being swept (or swept area ratio SAR) by gear type. Calculations are based on SAR’s of gear types per area, per year. Fishing pressure ranks and habitat sensitivity ranks obtained from WGSFD working group (01 WGSFD - Report of the Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data 2015) can be incorporated within a GIS environment to existing ICES fisheries data to provide habitat disturbance maps (fishing pressure maps+ habitat sensitivity maps) ICES. 2015. Report of the Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD), 8–12 June 2015, ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES CM 2015/SSGEPI:18. 150 pp.

Phyto plankton Abundance: Identify the 3 most abundant phytoplankton species in the North Atlantic and calculate a timeseries of their abundance within the basin.

The Oil Platform Leaks challenge attempts to determine the likely trajectory of the slick and to release rapid information on the oil movement and environmental and coastal impacts in the form of a bulletin broadcast 72 hours after the event. This bulletin indicates what information can be provided, evidencing the fitness for use of the current available marine datasets, as well as pointing out gaps in the current Emodnet data collection framework. The exercise relies on two tools operated by CLS: The OSCAR model (Oil Spill Contingency and Response, operated at CLS under license) made available by SINTEF and used to simulate the oil spill fate and weathering at water surface, in the water column and along shorelines. A QGIS system to display and cross the oil spill forecast with coastal data (information on environment and human activities). The declarative data given for the OSCAR simulation are: Date and time of oil spill, Location and depth of oil spill, Oil API number or oil type name, Oil spill amount or oil spill rate

We took inspiration from a “Matrix of marine activities” (appropriate for each IUCN management category) extracted from IUCN paper, to achieve the first objective by computing 1 product comprising the following 12 components: Product ATLANTIC_CH02_Product_1 / MPA Atlantic network classified in IUCN classification • Traditional fishing area • Sustainable fishing area (industrial) • Leisure fishing area • Leisure activity area (diving, surfing, tourist beaches) • Shipping area (shipping trajectory, aids navigation) • Scientific activity area • Renewable energy generation facility area (ocean energy facilities, wind farms) • Aquaculture area (finfish production, shellfish production) • Shipping infrastructure area (harbours, dredging area...) • Waste discharge area • Mining area (aggregate extraction, hydrocarbon extraction) • Habitation area (urban area) Each geographic information required for the components was compiled into a layer in grid format. These grids were intersected with the MPAs layer to assign each MPA a IUCN category according to the conditional matrix illustrated below : If the MPA area contains : Habitation area (urban area) The IUCN category is :V If the MPA area contains : Mining area (aggregate extraction, hydrocarbon extraction) The IUCN category is V If the MPA area contains : Waste discharge area The IUCN category is : V If the MPA area contains : Shipping infrastructure area (harbours, dredging area...) The IUCN category is IV If the MPA area contains : Aquaculture area (finfish production, shellfish production) The IUCN category is IV If the MPA area contains : Renewable energy generation facility area (ocean energy facilities, wind farms) The IUCN category is IV If the MPA area contains : Leisure fishing area The IUCN category is IV If the MPA area contains : Sustainable fishing area (industrial) The IUCN category is IV If the MPA area contains : Shipping area (shipping trajectory, aids navigation) The IUCN category is II If the MPA area contains : Leisure activity area (diving, surfing, tourist beaches) The IUCN category is Ib If the MPA area contains : Traditional fishing area The IUCN category is Ib If the MPA area contains : Scientific activity area The IUCN category is Ia

One product and 3 components were developed in order to fulfill the third objectif ATLANTIC_CH02_Product_5 / Distribution of ocean monitoring systems to assess climate change existing into the MPA network • Physical parameter monitoring • Chemical parameter monitoring • Biological parameter monitoring The aim of the product is the identification of ocean monitoring systems to assess climate change in MPAs.

Assess whether the MPA network constitutes a representative and coherent network as described in article 13 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 3 products were specified to achieve the second objectif of the challenge: ATLANTIC_CH02_Product_2 / Quantitative analyse of MPA coherency The product comprises 4 components: Distribution of vulnerable marine habitats : Shape represent the distribution of different vulnérable habitats Distribution biologically or ecologically significant areas (EBSAs) Critical areas of vulnerable species Distribution of indicator species The method used computes the percentage coverage between : Vulnerable habitats like carbon sinks, reef, kelp... Ecologically or biologically significant area Life critical area (feeding , breeding, migratory routes, spawning, dispersal larvea, nursery…) for indicator species Distribution of indicator species in the study area and MPA network location.

Temporal series (annual mean values) with error of estimation and Long Term Average (LTA) with error of estimation of total phosphate load for each river mouth where in situ data is available. Different sources can be mixed if any.

Pentadal time-series of the area in the North Atlantic (IHO, 1953) where ice occurred. On a 1 degree grid find all cells that experienced ice in at least 1 month of each 5 year period between 1915 and 2014, and then calculate the total area that these cells covered.

Annual resolution time-series of the annual averaged basin average-SST. Calculate the annual average SST on a 1degree grid and then find the area weighted average.

This product is a map of the uncertainty of available digital bathymetry measurements for the North Atlantic Ocean. This is done for a spatial resolution feasible for this large area (25km x 25km). It is designed to assess the quality of the bathymetry readings with a view to supporting assessments of future need. The product is formulated through a number of characteristics of the data including age of measurement and slope.