Distribution of Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) in the Mediterranean Sea during the summer season Distance sampling surveys are extensively used to estimate the abundance of wide-ranging species but are prone to detection biases. This may be particularly acute for strip-transect protocols, which assume perfect detection. We examined this assumption by quantifying the detection probability of a declining seabird (Scopoli’s shearwater, Calonectris diomedea), with particular attention to time-of-day and observation conditions at sea. We found detection probability was negatively affected by sun glare but positively by cloud cover and considerably dropped during mid-day hours due to circadian changes in behaviour (reduced detectability while resting). This result urges for systematically assessing and correcting detection bias when using strip-transect data to derive abundance information. Here, we did so by building a detection-corrected presence-absence ensemble model and combining it with a compilation of colony sizes and locations. A Monte-Carlo simulation ensured uncertainty propagation within and across data sources. The corrected abundance map showed shearwaters were largely prevalent in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia hosting most of the population both at sea and at colonies (45% of the global population; 79% of breeding pairs). This first accurate map is an essential conservation tool, emphasizing the importance of transnational actions for such species, that know no political boundaries.

A metier in the Fisheries Information System is a fishing practice defined by a fishing gear and a target species. They are used for statistical purposes to evaluate fishing strategies and efforts.

The gear repository of the Fisheries Information System includes, on the one hand, the FAO fishing gears enriched with national specificities and, on the other hand, the sampling gears used during the fisheries surveys conducted by Ifremer and its partners.

Geolocations of Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) breeding colonies in the Mediterranean Sea. Distance sampling surveys are extensively used to estimate the abundance of wide-ranging species but are prone to detection biases. This may be particularly acute for strip-transect protocols, which assume perfect detection. We examined this assumption by quantifying the detection probability of a declining seabird (Scopoli’s shearwater, Calonectris diomedea), with particular attention to time-of-day and observation conditions at sea. We found detection probability was negatively affected by sun glare but positively by cloud cover and considerably dropped during mid-day hours due to circadian changes in behaviour (reduced detectability while resting). This result urges for systematically assessing and correcting detection bias when using strip-transect data to derive abundance information. Here, we did so by building a detection-corrected presence-absence ensemble model and combining it with a compilation of colony sizes and locations. A Monte-Carlo simulation ensured uncertainty propagation within and across data sources. The corrected abundance map showed shearwaters were largely prevalent in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia hosting most of the population both at sea and at colonies (45% of the global population; 79% of breeding pairs). This first accurate map is an essential conservation tool, emphasizing the importance of transnational actions for such species, that know no political boundaries.

The scientific species repository of the Fisheries Information System lists the species observed during fishing campaigns or within the framework of the observations of collection programmes (ObsVentes, ObsMer, Campaigns, etc.).

Distribution of predicted suitable habitat for six cold-water-coral, six deep-water fish and one sponge species, on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W). For each species, predicted habitat distribution was obtained for present-day conditions (1951-2000) and for the future climate refugias, i.e. the areas that were predicted as suitable both for present-day and forecasted future (2081-2010) conditions. The dataset gathers 26 raster layers created on the same grid of 25km * 25km resolution, downgraded from source layers (3km *3km resolution) that were created within the work package 3 of EU ATLAS project. The presence (value=1) of climate refugia and the relative cover (value ranging from 0 to 1) of present-day suitable habitat was extracted in gridsquares. This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.

The repository of location in the Fisheries Information System is divided into 3 categories: places on land, areas at sea and regulatory areas at sea. Each of these is organised hierarchically. There are 93 levels of places in Harmonie: a metadata sheet exists for each of them with, when it exists, a geographical layer.

For some commercial species, coefficients called live weight equivalents allow the live weight of the fish to be calculated from the weight recorded on landing, or from the net weight of the various processed products prepared on board or in factories located on the coast.

The MFSP repository of the Fisheries Information System corresponds to the combination of Parameters, Supports, Fractions, Methods and Units. It allows variables to be entered, banked and retrieved. It is associated with many other repositories: species, gear, etc.