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Healthy and Biologically Diverse Seas – Species

Hover over one of the 8 CP2 Regions on the map to see the status of components assessed. Clicking on the pop-up will take you to the Summary Table below for more information. In the Summary Table, clicking on the component headings in the left column will take you to the relevant page of the report.

CP2 Data Map Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 Region 8
CP2 Data Map

Summary Table

Components currently assessed
Region
Plankton

Plankton communities are not generally subjected to anthropogenic pressures. Significant changes in species have been recorded as a result of rising temperatures, which can have knock-on effects on foodwebs and marine ecosystems
Bottom-living marine fish

Status has improved since the 1980s due to recent reductions in fishing effort although communities are still thought to have deteriorated with respect to historical conditions. The main pressures are removal of fish through commercial fishing activities and changes to species distribution and composition as a result of changes in water temperature that are a result of the changing climate
Commercial fish stocks

Based on the assessment in Chapter 5 (Productive Seas), fishing mortality has declined significantly in many of the assessed fish stocks in UK waters and although there is some way to go before the majority of commercial stocks are considered to be exploited at safe levels, there have been marked improvements. The main pressure is removal of fish through commercial fishing activities. However, for some stocks the change in water temperature is thought to be a contributing factor
Estuarine fish

The lack of data available for estuarine fish makes any conclusions tentative. What evidence there is suggests an overall increase in diversity and number of fish linked to cleaner estuaries but with a significant reduction in eel recruitment reflecting an Atlantic-wide trend. Although estuarine communities have improved in some Regions, the recent decline in eels (and salmon) often reduces the overall score
Harbour seals

Harbour seals have been decreasing in abundance, dramatically in some areas (up to 50%), particularly in Regions 1, 2 & 7. Although subjected to various pressures (competition with grey seals, predation by killer whales, unregulated shooting, and declines in important prey species such as sand eels) the reason for this decline is still unknown
Grey seals

Although grey seals are generally not experiencing any problems, populations in Regions 4, 5 & 6 are no longer increasing. The reasons for this apparent plateau in the population are not clear at present
Cetaceans

Historic by-catch is suspected to be responsible for low numbers of cetaceans in the Eastern Channel (Region 3) but more data are required to confirm the cause. Impact of persistent contaminants is decreasing
Seabirds

There have been substantial declines in seabird abundance in north and north-west Scotland where the main pressures are climate change and the introduction of non-indigenous species (e.g. rat and mink affecting nesting sites). Tern numbers breeding in the Eastern Channel have declined due to natural causes (i.e. predation and storm events)
Waterbirds

Waterbirds are generally not experiencing any problems and their status has been improving since the mid-1970s. An exception is Region 5 where waterbird populations are moving east, away from traditional sites; the reasons for this change are unknown but may be due to climate change