# Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species

Elliot John Brown, Benjamin Ciotti, Francesco Colloca, Dave Eggleston, Marie Frausing, Vânia Freitas, Julia Friese, Marcelo Gomes, Kieran Hyder, Marion Lefebvre Du Prey, et al.

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Elliot John Brown, Benjamin Ciotti, Francesco Colloca, Dave Eggleston, Marie Frausing, et al. Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species. ICES Scientific Reports, 7(72), ICES CIEM. 2025, 16 p. hal-05265463

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# WORKING GROUP ON THE VALUE OF COASTAL HABITATS FOR EXPLOITED SPECIES (WGVHES; outputs from 2024 meeting)

## VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 72

ICES SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

RAPPORTS
SCIENTIFIQUES DU CIEM

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INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE SEA

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ICES Scientific Reports

Volume 7 | Issue 72

WORKING GROUP ON THE VALUE OF COASTAL HABITATS FOR EXPLOITED SPECIES (WGVHES; outputs from 2024 meeting)

Recommended format for purpose of citation:

ICES. 2025. Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES; outputs from 2024 meeting). ICES Scientific Reports. 7:72. 16 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.29356484

Editors

Elliot J. Brown • Benjamin J. Ciotti

Authors

Elliot J. Brown • Benjamin J. Ciotti • Francesco Colloca • Dave Eggleston • Marie Frausing • Vânia Freitas • Julia Friese • Marcelo Gomes • Kieran Hyder • Marion Lefebvre du Prey • Olivier Le Pape • Rom Lipcius • Giorgio Mancinelli • Filipe Martinho • Suzanne Poiesz • Kenneth Rose • Rochelle Seitz • Rachel Turnbull • Karen van de Wolfshaar • Charlotte Van Moorleghem • Daniele Ventura • Adam Waugh • Håkan Wennhage
Contents

<table><tr><td>i</td><td>Executive summary</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>ii</td><td>Expert group information</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Review and evaluate different methods for assessment of juvenile/nursery coastal habitat (ToR a)</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Lessons learned concerning Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) management and restoration (ToR c)</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Impacts of global change on the structure and function of coastal nursery habitats (ToR d)</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Science highlight</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>References</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Annex 1:</td><td>List of participants</td><td>13</td></tr><tr><td>Annex 2:</td><td>WGVHES resolution</td><td>15</td></tr></table>
# i Executive summary

The Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES) aims to support a better understanding of the habitat needs of juvenile fish and shellfish, a key evidence-base for robust fisheries and conservation management. In 2022–2024, the working group focused on evaluating methods used to measure habitat quality in the juvenile life stage, synthesising recommendations for managing Essential Fish Habitat and examining the influence of climate change on juvenile habitat.

The group produced a major review article on methods to measure juvenile habitat quality (Ciotti et al. in review). While a large number of studies have measured juvenile habitat quality since 1970, a limited range of methods are being applied. The paper offers recommendations for how to advance insights into the function of juvenile habitats at appropriate scales.

Two working documents have been produced by the group towards preparation of papers on effective approaches to management of Essential Fish Habitats. These documents define key lessons learned and explore case studies from across the group's international experience to advise decision makers on habitat management for exploited species.

Another key output of the group is a draft paper informing on management of juvenile habitats facing global change. This considers dynamic shifts in juveniles and their habitats due to climate change and emphasises the need to obtain long-term consistent monitoring data focusing on juveniles, identify life-cycle connection, improve habitat restoration, and support the enhancement of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and other measures to increase ecosystem resilience.

Overall, the WG's products demonstrate the challenges and opportunities for understanding habitat needs of exploited coastal species, and implementing effective policy and management in a changing environment. During the next term, the WG will mine the substantial database of juvenile habitat studies to critically evaluate current practice, examine habitat restoration as a tool to support exploited species and publish recommendations for management of Essential Fish Habitat.
## ii Expert group information

<table><tr><td>Expert group name</td><td>Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES)</td></tr><tr><td>Expert group cycle</td><td>Multiannual</td></tr><tr><td>Year cycle started</td><td>2022</td></tr><tr><td>Reporting year in cycle</td><td>3/3</td></tr><tr><td>Chairs</td><td>Elliot Brown, Denmark<br>Benjamin Ciotti, UK</td></tr><tr><td>Meeting venues and dates</td><td>June 2022, Plymouth, United Kingdom, 12 participants (3 in person, 9 online)<br>June 2023, Rennes, France, 15 participants (14 in person, 1 online)<br>June 2024, Coimbra, Portugal, 19 participants (10 in person, 9 online)</td></tr></table>
# 1 Review and evaluate different methods for assessment of juvenile/nursery coastal habitat (ToR a)

A sustainable, ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management requires knowledge of the areas that sustain fish populations at all life stages, and particularly as juveniles. A framework for evaluating the importance of juvenile habitats was established over twenty years ago (Beck et al. 2001) based on juvenile abundance, growth and survival but ultimately by the contribution of juveniles a habitat makes to the adult population (juvenile-adult contribution). While this framework remains widely supported, data requirements are challenging to deliver, given increasing recognition of complexity in juvenile habitat function. In particular, juvenile-habitat interactions are considered in a ‘seascape’ context (Beck et al. 2001; Nagelkerken et al. 2015) meaning that measurements of habitat quality must be made across multiple spatial and temporal scales to reflect fine-scale microhabitat use, ontogenetic habitat shifts (MacPherson, 1998), as well as a wider range of environmental drivers (e.g. area, physicochemical gradient, microhabitat, emergent landscape characteristics, and trophic productivity). Consequently, tools to measure abundance, growth, survival and juvenile-adult contribution are required across a range of spatial and temporal scales.

Despite the growing recognition of the importance and complexity of juvenile habitat use in supporting exploited species, the ability of field methods to collect the necessary data has not been rigorously addressed. Do suitable tools exist and are they being routinely applied? Are there critical data gaps and what methods are emerging that can overcome these gaps in future?

In response to these knowledge needs, WGVHES completed a systematic and comprehensive review of the methods that have been used to measure juvenile habitat quality (Ciotti et al. in review), with a focus on four key metrics (abundance, growth, survival, and juvenile-adult contribution). The objectives were to:

1. Understand how juvenile habitat quality is being measured and how approaches have varied over time, geographically, among taxa, and among habitats.

2. Evaluate the ability of these methods to measure juvenile habitat quality at appropriate spatial and temporal scales; and

3. Use 1 and 2 to provide recommendations to improve juvenile habitat quality measurements.

The group performed a systematic search of the literature to extract data on methods employed in papers published since 1970 that have measured juvenile habitat quality in marine / estuarine fishes, crustaceans and molluscs (Figure 1.1).
<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1.1.** Systematic review procedure employed to document methods used to measure juvenile habitat quality.</figcaption></figure>

The database of ca. 874 studies from the core focal area of the group forms an important resource to support the work of WGVHES over the coming years.

## How is juvenile habitat quality being measured?

### Abundance

We found that most studies (85%) measure abundance using capture-count methods (e.g. netting surveys) or direct visual counts. Such approaches are the most convenient method for many sampling teams and sometimes offer long time series. However, these methods do not permit certain habitat comparisons, they can be labour intensive and offer limited spatial and temporal coverage. Meanwhile, a wider range of promising non-invasive approaches are available, including the use of camera and acoustic technologies.

### Growth

Approximately half of all studies (52%) have measured growth, mostly using easily obtainable morphometric measurements: these are relatively coarse-grained and provide limited insights at fine spatial and temporal scales. Although used less widely, diet studies, otolith analyses and molecular/biochemical approaches provide options to obtain more robust and detailed insights.

### Survival

Only 16% of studies have measured survival, mainly using just two methods which both have substantial limitations: tethering and cohort analysis. Tethering, which involves measuring the disappearance of tethered prey, may poorly represent natural predator-prey interactions. Cohort analysis involves tracking the abundance of juveniles in a habitat over time, but identifying discrete cohorts and separating mortality from confounding processes of settlement and migration is challenging. Few methods to measure survival are on the horizon, so this is an area requiring substantial method development.

### Juvenile-adult contribution

Measuring the contribution that a juvenile habitat makes to the adult population is considered the gold standard metric for juvenile habitat quality but has been measured in just 9% of studies. Suitable methods are available, involving analysis of abundance patterns or tracking natural or artificial tags, but these are operationally demanding, are applicable at a relatively limited set of scales or require major simplifying assumptions.
## Which species are being studied and where?

Our review identified that studies measuring juvenile habitat quality have focused on a relatively small taxonomic diversity (Figure 1.2) and have been geographically restricted to the Western Central, Northeast and Northwest Atlantic (Figure 1.3).

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1.2. Key taxa investigated in papers studying habitat quality for juvenile fishes, crustaceans and molluscs. Additional actinopterygian orders representing 3–7% of cases include Spariformes, Eupercaria *is*, Lutjaniformes, Gadiformes, Perciformes, Labriformes and Clupeiformes.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1.3. Number of studies of juvenile habitat quality within each FAO area. Darker regions indicate higher numbers of studies published on juvenile habitat quality.</figcaption></figure>
Conclusion

The review exercise of WGVHES has indicated that, despite widespread agreement with Beck *et al.* (2001) framework, studies in the >20 years since publication are still focusing on a relatively restricted set of methods with somewhat limited capability to provide estimates of juvenile habitat quality. The limited taxonomic diversity and geographical coverage of studies further restricts the methods employed. In the review (Ciotti *et al.* in review), we provide a series of recommendations to support future research into juvenile habitat quality. We hope that these recommendations will help to generate a robust evidence-base to support alignment of conservation with fisheries management through, for example, Essential Fish Habitat, Natural Capital and Ecosystem-based approaches. A second key outcome of the work of WGVHES in this area is the generation of an exhaustive database of juvenile habitat studies to support future activities of the group.
## 2 Lessons learned concerning Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) management and restoration (ToR c)

Efforts to conserve and restore coastal habitats have accelerated in recent years. In some cases, the focus is on environmental protection or other ecosystem services, but in many cases, it is for the purpose of supporting the production of exploitable species. The concept of “Essential Fish Habitat” (EFH) was introduced in United States’ legislature in the mid-1970s through the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act, which seeks to protect habitat that fish need to spawn, feed and grow to maturity. This terminology became more broadly used in academic literature and is beginning to be considered in policy contexts in Europe and the United Kingdom. Given the long history of implementing management based on EFH in different jurisdictional contexts in the USA, other nations could benefit by learning from the challenges encountered and the most effective ways that habitat protection can be employed in support of exploited populations.

Within the WGVHES meetings, experiences working with advice and management of habitats for exploited species were shared and discussed. These discussions culminated in a list of five key “lessons learned” for scientists to use in advising decision makers about establishing policies around habitat management for exploited species.

Given the diversity of ways that the EFH concept has been applied, further efforts were made to collate examples, from across the member countries, of marine habitat management and their relationship to exploited species. This effort produced a secondary working document with case studies from international, national and sub-national experiences.

The “lessons learned” and “case studies in habitat management” documents were integrated to produce a draft manuscript for submission in the forthcoming WGVHES term.
# 3 Impacts of global change on the structure and function of coastal nursery habitats (ToR d)

## Introduction

As transitional areas between land and sea, coastal ecosystems are on the forefront of global change impacts not only due to their high human population levels and anthropogenic activities, but also due to their inherent functions as feeding grounds, migration corridors, nurseries, and spawning areas for many commercially important fish and invertebrate species.

Nursery habitats are expected to be deeply impacted by global change due to shifts in abiotic conditions (i.e., water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, acidification) over varying temporal and spatial scales (Rijnsdorp et al., 2009), as well as from man-made structures and interventions to minimize those impacts (i.e., shoreline defences, windfarms, dams, land use). These global changes will influence key biological processes and responses like growth, survival, abundance, distribution, connectivity, and timing of migration and reproduction of coastal species.

In this work, the WGVHES performed a review to identify the main drivers of change in coastal nursery habitats and assess their impact on key biological processes, relating them with community and ecosystem functioning. The overarching goal was to determine how the predicted changes can be used to better inform nursery habitat conservation and management.

## What are the main abiotic drivers of change and respective biological responses?

The first step was to identify the main abiotic factors that affect nurseries worldwide, highlighting that biological responses can be related to species, life stage, and even populations. Key abiotic factors included water temperature, nutrient loading and eutrophication, oxygen concentration, pH, salinity, river flow, precipitation, large-scale climate patterns (NAO, ENSO, AMO, PDO, etc.), coastal processes such as sea level rise, coastal squeeze, storm surges, habitat loss, and man-made structures such as wind farms and shoreline protection.

The second stage included the identification of individual, community, population, and ecosystem responses to global change. We first reviewed the influences of abiotic factors on individual responses in growth, abundance, and survival. Next, we examined community and population responses, including changes in abundance, distribution, and dispersion, timing of life events, which all can be a consequence of cumulative individual responses to change. We then identified the main ecosystem-level responses related with habitat loss and decrease in habitat structural complexity, changes in food-web structure and species interactions, emergence of new ecosystems, and multiple-stressor effects.

## Case studies documenting long-term changes in nursery functioning due to global change

Based on a paper submitted by our group (Ciotti et al., in review), we identified the eight well-studied habitat types used by marine fish and invertebrates as nurseries, highlighting case studies from the literature that focus on structural changes and biological responses. The habitats include soft-bottom subtidal, seagrass meadows, mangroves, other algal, open water, salt-marshes, intertidal flats, and coral reefs.
## Limitations of current knowledge and moving forward

Based on the information reviewed and case studies presented, we grouped the main limitations of the current knowledge regarding global change impacts on nurseries worldwide into different categories:

1. Consequences of habitat loss

2. New species interactions

3. Timing of interactions

4. Non-linear responses

Moving forward, we identified several ways to contribute to informing management and protection of nursery areas facing global change, which include considering the effects of global change on juveniles and juvenile habitats (which is likely to change), obtaining long-term consistent monitoring data focusing on juveniles, identifying the life-cycle connections between larvae, juveniles, and adults, improving habitat restoration, expanding international collaboration on research, management, and policy, and supporting the enhancement of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), paired with other measures to increase ecosystem resilience.

## 4 Science highlight

The review of methods to measure habitat quality over this term provides a seminal review at the core work area of WGVHES and is a resource for future activities of the group. The review is being published in 2025 and formed the basis for a poster contribution to the FSBI International Symposium 2023 in Essex, UK.
# 5 References

**Cited in the report**

Beck, M. W., Heck, K. L., Able, K. W., Childers, D. L., Eggleston, D. B., Gillanders, B.M., Halpern, B., Hays, C.G., Hoshino, K., Minello, T.J., Orth, R.J., Sheridan, P.F., and Weinstein, M. R. 2001. The identification, conservation, and management of estuarine and marine nurseries for fish and invertebrates. *Bioscience*, 51 (8): 633–641. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0633:TICAMO]2.0.CO;2

Ciotti, B. J., Brown, E. J., Colloca, F., Eggleston, D. B., Hyman, A. C., Le Pape, O., Lipcius, R. N., Maathuis, M. A. M., Poiesz, S. S. H., Rose, K. A., Seitz, R. D., Ventura, D., and van de Wolfshaar, K. E. In review. Measuring juvenile habitat quality for fishes and invertebrates. *Biological Reviews*.

Nagelkerken, I., Sheaves, M., Baker, R., and Connolly, R. M. 2015. The seascape nursery: a novel spatial approach to identify and manage nurseries for coastal marine fauna. *Fish and Fisheries*, 16 (2): 362–371. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12057

MacPherson, E. 1998. Ontogenetic shifts in habitat use and aggregation in juvenile spaid fishes. *J Exp Mar Biol Ecol*, 220 (1): 127–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0981(97)00086-5

Rijnsdorp, A. D., Peck, M. A., Engelhard, G. H., Möllmann, C., and Pinnegar, J. K. 2009. Resolving the effect of climate change on fish populations. *ICES Journal of Marine Science*, 66: 1570–1583. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsp056

**Directly produced by the group**

Ciotti, B. J., Brown, E. J., Colloca, F., Eggleston, D. B., Hyman, A. C., Le Pape, O., Lipcius, R. N., Maathuis, M. A. M., Poiesz, S. S. H., Rose, K. A., Seitz, R. D., Ventura, D., and van de Wolfshaar, K. E. In review. Measuring juvenile habitat quality for fishes and invertebrates. *Biological Reviews*.

Flavio, H., Seitz R. D., Eggleston D. B., Svendsen J. C., and Støttrup J. G. 2023. Hard-bottom habitats support commercially important fish species: a systematic review for the North Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. *PeerJ*, 11: e14681. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14681

**From group members, linked to their work in the group**

Champagnat, J., **Brown, E. J.**, Rivot, E., and **Le Pape, O.** In press. Modelling the impact of hypoxia on critical essential fish habitats throughout the life cycle of exploited marine species. *ICES Journal of Marine Science*. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae178

Dawson, J., Lincoln, H., Sturrock, A. M., **Martinho, F.**, McCarthy, I.D. 2024. Recruitment of European sea bass (*Dicentrarchus labrax*) in northerly UK estuaries indicates a mismatch between spawning and fisheries closure periods. *Journal of Fish Biology* 105: 564-576. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15843

Graham, J. A., Watson, J. W., García, L. M. G., Bradley, K., Bradley, R., Brown, M., **Ciotti, B. J.**, Goodwin, D., Nash, R. D. M., Roche, W. K., Wogerbauer, C., and **Hyder, K.** 2023. Pelagic connectivity of European sea bass between spawning and nursery grounds. *Frontiers in Marine Science*, 9:e1046585. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1046585

Hepburn, R., Scott, T., Prodger, S., and **Ciotti, B. J.** 2024. Drivers of variability in surf zone habitat use by sandy beach fish: Unwitting citizen scientists reveal detailed spatiotemporal patterns. *Est Coast Shelf Sci*, 309:108957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2024.108957
**Hyman, A.C.**, Chiu, G.S., Fabrizio, M.C., and **Lipcius, R.N.** 2022. Spatiotemporal modelling of nursery habitat using Bayesian inference: environmental drivers of juvenile blue crab abundance. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9: 834990, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.834990.

Lourenço, S., Bueno-Pardo, J., Vaz, A., Primo, A. L., Costa, F., Pardal, M. A., **Martinho, F.** 2023. Short and long-term temperature variations drive recruitment variability in marine and estuarine juvenile fishes. Marine Pollution Bulletin 192, 115093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115093

Peiffer, F., Lima, A. R. A., Henriques, S., Pardal, M. A., **Martinho, F.**, Gonçalves, J. M. S., Gonçalves, E., Correia, M., Silva, G. J. F. 2024. Habitat suitability of two flagship species, *Hippocampus hippocampus* and *Hippocampus guttulatus*, in the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula - implications for conservation. Global Ecology and Conservation 53, e02993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e02993

Stamp T., Pittman, S. J., Holmes, L. A., Rees, A., **Ciotti, B. J.**, Thatcher, H., Davies, P., Hall, A., Wells, G., Olczak, A., and Sheehan, E. V. 2024. Restorative function of offshore longline mussel farms with ecological benefits for commercial crustacean species. Science of the Total Environment, 951:174987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174987

Stamp, T., West, E., Colclough, S., Plenty, S., **Ciotti, B.**, Robbins, T., and Sheehan, E. 2023. Suitability of compensatory saltmarsh habitat for feeding and diet of multiple estuarine fish species. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 30 (1):44-55. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12599

Vaz, A., Primo, A.L., Crespo, D., Pardal, M.A., **Martinho, F.** 2023. Interannual variability in early life phenomenology is driven by climate and oceanic processes in two NE Atlantic flatfishes. Scientific Reports. 13, 4057. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30384-7

Watson, J. W., Radford, Z., Bannister, H., Bradley, R., Brown, M., **Ciotti, B. J.**, Goodwin, D., Graham, J. A., Nash, R. D. M., Roche, W. K., Wogerbauer, C., and **Hyder, K.** 2024. Assessing the coherence in biological and environmental drivers of young sea bass abundance across important estuarine nursery areas of the northern European sea bass stock. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10:e1209311. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1209311

Wood, M. A., and **Lipcius, R. N.** 2022. Non-native red alga *Gracilaria vermiculophylla* compensates for seagrass loss as blue crab nursery habitat in the emerging Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. PLoS ONE, 17(5): e0267880. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267880
Annex 1: List of participants

<table><thead><tr><td>Name</td><td>Institute</td><td>Country</td><td>Email</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Elliot Brown</td><td>National Institute of Aquatic Sciences, Technical University of Denmark</td><td>Denmark</td><td>elbr@aqua.dtu.dk</td></tr><tr><td>Benjamin Ciotti</td><td>University of Plymouth</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>benjamin.ciotti@plymouth.ac.uk</td></tr><tr><td>Francesco Colloca</td><td>Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples</td><td>Italy</td><td>francesco.colloca@szn.it</td></tr><tr><td>Dave Eggleston</td><td>North Carolina State University</td><td>United States</td><td>eggleston@ncsu.edu</td></tr><tr><td>Marie Frausing</td><td>National Institute of Aquatic Sciences, Technical University of Denmark</td><td>Denmark</td><td>mhafr@aqua.dtu.dk</td></tr><tr><td>Vânia Freitas</td><td>Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental</td><td>Portugal</td><td>vpfreitas@ciimar.up.pt</td></tr><tr><td>Julia Friese</td><td>Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries</td><td>Germany</td><td>julia.friese@thuenen.de</td></tr><tr><td>Marcelo Gomes</td><td>Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Marcelo.Gomes@cefas.gov.uk</td></tr><tr><td>Kieran Hyder</td><td>Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>kieran.hyder@cefas.gov.uk</td></tr><tr><td>Marion Lefebvre du Prey</td><td>University of Plymouth</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>marionlefdup@gmail.com</td></tr><tr><td>Olivier Le Pape</td><td>L'Institut Agro Rennes-Angers</td><td>France</td><td>olivier.le.pape@institut-agro.fr</td></tr><tr><td>Rom Lipcius</td><td>Virginia Institute of Marine Science</td><td>United States</td><td>rom@vims.edu</td></tr><tr><td>Giorgio Mancinelli</td><td>University of Salento</td><td>Italy</td><td>giorgio.mancinelli@unisalento.it</td></tr><tr><td>Filipe Martinho</td><td>University of Coimbra</td><td>Portugal</td><td>fmdm@ci.uc.pt</td></tr><tr><td>Suzanne Poiesz</td><td>Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research</td><td>Netherlands</td><td>Suzannepoiesz@gmail.com</td></tr><tr><td>Kenneth Rose</td><td>University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science</td><td>United States</td><td>krose@umces.edu</td></tr><tr><td>Rochelle Seitz</td><td>Virginia Institute of Marine Science</td><td>United States</td><td>seitz@vims.edu</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><tr><td>Brian Stock</td><td>Institute of Marine Research</td><td>Norway</td><td>brian.stock@hi.no</td></tr><tr><td>Rachel Turnbull</td><td>University of Plymouth</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>rachel.turnbull@postgrad.plymouth.ac.uk</td></tr><tr><td>Karen van de Wolfshaar</td><td>Wageningen University &amp; Research</td><td>Netherlands</td><td>karen.vandewolfshaar@wur.nl</td></tr><tr><td>Charlotte Van Moorleghem</td><td>Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food</td><td>Belgium</td><td>charlotte.vanmoorleghem@ilvo.vlaanderen.be</td></tr><tr><td>Daniele Ventura</td><td>Sapienza University of Rome</td><td>Italy</td><td>daniele.ventura@uniroma1.it</td></tr><tr><td>Adam Waugh</td><td>Natural England</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Adam.Waugh@naturalengland.org.uk</td></tr><tr><td>Håkan Wennhage</td><td>Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</td><td>Sweden</td><td>hakan.wennhage@slu.se</td></tr></table>
Annex 2: WGVHES resolution

The Working Group on the Value of coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES), chaired by Benjamin Ciotti, UK; and Elliot Brown, Denmark, will work on ToRs and generate deliverables as listed in the Table below.

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>MEETING<br>DATES</th><th>VENUE</th><th>REPORTING DETAILS</th><th>COMMENTS (CHANGE IN CHAIR, ETC.)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Year 2022</td><td>20–24 June</td><td>Plymouth,<br>UK</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Year 2023</td><td>26–30 June</td><td>Rennes,<br>France</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Year 2024</td><td>17–21 June</td><td>Coimbra,<br>Portugal</td><td>Final report by 15 Au-<br>gust to SCICOM</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

ToR descriptors

<table><thead><tr><th>ToR</th><th>Description</th><th>Background</th><th>Science Plan<br>Codes</th><th>Duration</th><th>Expected Deliverables</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a</td><td>Review and evaluate different methods for assessment of juvenile/nursery coastal habitat.</td><td>Many field methods have been used to assess juvenile habitat quality and quantity. The WG will continue its investigation of the usefulness and practicality of these different methods using a systematic literature review assembled in the previous WG term.</td><td>2.3, 3.2, 4.4</td><td>1, 2 year</td><td>Finalize paper started in previous WG term; Follow-on papers that use the assembled literature dataset on methods.</td></tr><tr><td>b</td><td>Review the nursery role of hard bottom habitats.</td><td>A critical gap in our knowledge of juvenile habitat is the lack of information on the value of hard bottom habitats</td><td>2.3, 3.2, 4.4</td><td>1 year</td><td>The WG will resubmit the review and synthesis paper on the distribution, measurement, and functional role of hard bottom habitats.</td></tr><tr><td>c</td><td>Review and report on lessons learned concerning Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) management and restoration.</td><td>Many countries are defining essential fish habitat and incorporating this concept into management with mixed success. Habitat restoration is also proceeding, often with high monetary investments. Issues include non-standard definitions and methods for quantification, socio-political and policy challenges, uncertainties in the underlying science, and confusing communication.</td><td>1.3, 6.4, 4.4</td><td>1, 2 year</td><td>The WG will prepare a Perspectives paper that uses the US experience, and other past and ongoing examples, to compile “lessons learned.”</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td>Review the role of nursery habitats under climate change & novel</td><td>How the nursery role of many habitats will be modified with climate change and under novel ecosystem conditions continues to be</td><td>1.9, 2.3, 2.5</td><td>2, 3 year</td><td>The WG will prepare a review and synthesis paper on the possible roles of nursery habitat going into</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>ecosystems.</th><th>an important issue.</th><th></th><th>the future.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>e</td><td>Review and synthesize findings from WGVHES relevant to fisheries management.</td><td>The WG will celebrate 10 years at the end of the requested new 3-year term. To facilitate the transfer and uptake of WG outcomes and outputs to management, a short synthesis of the work realized since 2012 (i.e., everything in one place) would be an effective communication tool.</td><td>4.4, 5.2, 6.4, 6.6</td><td>3 year The WG will prepare a short communication or outreach document that outlines the key findings and insights produced by the WG over its existence and highlight how these results have management implications.<br/>The group will report directly to ACOM on these findings.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Summary of the Work Plan

<table><tr><td>Year 1</td><td>Continue the work on ToR a and c. Finalise a first paper on ToR a.<br/>Finalise the paper on the review of hard-bottom habitats (ToR b).</td></tr><tr><td>Year 2</td><td>Continue the work on ToR a and c. Initialize the work on ToR d</td></tr><tr><td>Year 3</td><td>Continue the work on ToR a, d. Finalise a paper on ToR c.<br/>Achieve ToR e by writing a short synthesis of the work realized since 2012, to facilitate the transfer and uptake of WG outcomes and outputs to management.</td></tr></table>

## Supporting information

<table><tr><td>Priority</td><td>The current activities of this Group will lead ICES into issues related to the importance of coastal habitat for fisheries management.</td></tr><tr><td>Resource requirements</td><td>The research programmes which provide the main input to this group are already underway, and resources are already committed. The additional resource required to undertake additional activities in the framework of this group is negligible.</td></tr><tr><td>Participants</td><td>The Group is normally attended by 10-15 members and guests.</td></tr><tr><td>Secretariat facilities</td><td>Standard EG support.</td></tr><tr><td>Financial</td><td>No financial implications.</td></tr><tr><td>Linkages to ACOM and groups under ACOM</td><td>There are no obvious direct linkages.</td></tr><tr><td>Linkages to other committees or groups</td><td>This work could be relevant to WGMPCZM. We will try to connect our groups by inviting the Chairs to make a short presentation at each others' meetings and/or to participate in meetings, as may be appropriate.</td></tr><tr><td>Linkages to other organizations</td><td>There are no obvious direct linkages.</td></tr></table>