In 2022 the EU Commission published an Implementing Regulation (2022/1614) which closed 87 areas in EU waters to bottom fishing. The closures were based on advice issued by ICES in 2021 on “areas where Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) are known to occur or are likely to occur and on the existing deep-sea fishing areas”. The closures had an immediate impact on bottom fishing, particularly off the northwest of Ireland in Division 6.a and in the southern part of the Porcupine Nephrops grounds. One of the most significant issues was that although the regulation only applied to areas within the 400-800 m depth zone, the ICES advice presented larger areas that stretched from shallower than 200 m to deeper than 2000 m and it was the coordinates of these large areas that the EU included in the Implementing Regulation. It took almost a year of discussions to get this simple fact recognised and for the SFPA to confirm that vessels were in fact allowed to fish in the VME areas as long as it was shallower than 400 m chartered depth.

In the interim, in 2023, the KFO undertook its own analysis of the ICES VME data and assessment, uncovering a litany of errors and illustrating that many of the VME closures were based on incorrect data. It also highlighted fundamental issues and a lack of transparency with the assessment methodology, inconsistencies in the development of the assessment and a complete exclusion of stakeholder input into the process.

In June 2023, the KFO submitted a report entitled “A review of the ICES Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) Advice with particular attention to the northwest of Ireland (ICES Division 6.a in the Irish EEZ)” to the Marine Institute, DAFM and the Commission. A copy of the report was also sent to ICES to inform them of the errors.

The KFO report received much attention and both the NWWAC and EAPO wrote to the Commission asking them to acknowledge and address the identified issues. Whilst the Commission acknowledged the report and sent it to ICES for comment, no effective response was every received from ICES and nor any admission of errors in their advice. This is unusual from an ICES perspective as in the past when errors have been identified in catch advice for specific fish stock assessments, ICES have been quick to acknowledge, correct the errors and re-issue advice as dictated by their own policies. It is unclear what was different in the case of the VME advice other than the fact that when the errors were identified the advice had already been used as the basis for closing 87 areas to bottom fishing.

In September 2024 ICES published the latest iteration of their VME advice and with it some vindication for the work done by the KFO. ICES made significant changes to the advised VME areas in Division 6.a and noted that “the (small) contractions are linked to updated and resubmitted evidence of VME records or corrections of positional data associated with some records in the ICES VME database. In the area to the west of Donegal, Mayo, and Galway, this results in some of the VME polygons described in earlier advice (ICES, 2023a) no longer being supported by the evidence base.” Furthermore, due to a change in the effort data used in the assessment of the large closure in the Porcupine Nephrops grounds was also no longer advised. Serious issues remain with the assessment method though, which will have to be addressed during a future benchmark of the VME assessment.

What is most surprising, is that despite subtly acknowledging the errors in the previous VME advice, ICES has not retracted that advice. It is still in the public realm despite being based on erroneous data. This sets an unwelcome precedent and is contrary to all good scientific practices that dictate that honesty and integrity are at the core of scientific research. It raises serious questions about the implementation of ICES Quality Assurance Framework and highlights the need for more transparency in the development and delivery of their advice. This is particularly relevant to the rapidly developing portfolio of environmental advice products that is provided by ICES to its clients.

It is now time for the Commission to recognise that the closures identified by ICES’ erroneous advice and implemented in 2022 have no scientific basis and the legislation should be updated to reflect the ICES advice.