Impact o f bottom-trawle d g ears in t wo E uropean m arine r egions

Fisheries management, m ainly focused on single species, is sh ifting to an Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM). Its objective is to sustain healthy ecosystems and the fisheries they support. Marine capture fisheries o f the EU Members States are all managed by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) but fo r each region differen t regulations may apply. Our study focuses on demersal fisheries in tw o European marine regions w ith d ifferen t ecosystem and management characteristics, the North Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Our aim is to develop and use a suite o f differen t types of generic indicators applicable to differen t ecosystems and fisheries, to support EAM. Flere we review both the ecological com ponents th at appear to be affected in each region by the fishing practices th at target demersal resources. Then, by developing appropriate scenarios using environm ental and socio-economic indicators we expect to contribute towards building a state o f the art m ethodology in line w ith applying an EAM.