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Status of marine fish and shellfish ...
Status of marine fish and ...
Indicator Assessment
Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas
Prod-ID: IND-13-en
Also known as: CSI 032 , MAR 007
Published 12 Jul 2021 Last modified 18 Nov 2021
Topics: Water and marine environment Biodiversity — Ecosystems
This page was archived on 18 Nov 2021 with reason: No more updates will be done
As a main source of protein, commercial fish stocks and other commercial sea products are renewable resources, which could sustain human needs in the long term — if exploited in an appropriate manner.
Although further improvements are still necessary, the analysis of long time series shows clear and important signs of improvement in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. At least 24-47 % of all stocks meet at least one of two criteria defining the Marine Strategy Framework Directive's 'good environmental status' (GES) in the regions respectively. Meeting these criteria means that the exploitation (i.e. fishing mortality, F) and reproductive capacity of the stocks are compatible with their maximum sustainable yield (MSY). While slightly less than half of all stocks in the region have adequate assessments allowing comparisons with at least one of the GES criteria (83% of these met at least one criterion), these assessed stocks account for approximately 75% of the landings in the NEA and Baltic Sea. Since the early 2000s, better management of fish and shellfish fisheries has contributed to a clear decrease in fishing pressure in these two regional seas, with the average fishing mortality close to FMSY in 2018. This has led to signs of recovery in the reproductive capacity of several fish and shellfish stocks. If these efforts continue, fishing mortality in the region on average should remain near FMSY and reproductive capacity should continue to improve towards the objective for healthy fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.
In contrast, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea the situation remains critical. Only six out of 70 stocks (8.6 %) in the Mediterranean Sea and none of the 7 stocks in the Black Sea meet at least one of the GES criteria in these regions. This is mainly due to the prevalence of overfishing and a significant lack of knowledge of the reproductive capacity state of fish and shellfish stocks. Most of the stocks considered in the Mediterranean Sea had adequate assessment to compare fishing mortality with the GES criterion, but few had measures or thresholds of reproductive capacity. In the Black Sea, five of the seven stocks had adequate assessments to evaluate fishing mortality but only one of these also had measures or thresholds for reproductive capacity. It is unlikely that the 2020 policy objective has been met in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Given this context, the 2020 objective of having healthy commercial fish and shellfish populations is unlikely to have been met in Europe's seas and further collective action is required.
Landings of commercial fish and shellfish per EU marine region in 2018, and proportion of landings for which stock assessments were conducted between 2015-2019
Note: This figure shows the 2018 landings of commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks per EU marine region, and the proportions of landings for which stock assessments were conducted in 2015-2019 (not all stocks have annual assessments). See the related Excel File for extra details.
Capture production (GFCM) provided by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Stock assessment database (ICES) provided by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, STECF (Dataset URL is not available) provided by Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)
Catches by fishing area (fish_ca) provided by Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat)
Europe Seas provided by European Environment Agency (EEA)
Catch statistics (ICES) provided by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Downloads and more info
In Europe, commercial fish stocks and fishing fleets are managed by the Common Fisheries Policy the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The CFP applies to all vessels fishing in European waters and also to EU vessels fishing in non-European waters. The scope of the CFP includes the conservation of marine biological resources and the sustainable management of fisheries that target them. To that end, the CFP aims for exploitation rates to ensure that, within a reasonable time frame, the exploitation of marine biological resources allows the restoration and maintenance of populations of harvested stocks above levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). MSY is the maximum catch (in numbers or biomass) that can be removed from a population (or stock) over an indefinite period. FMSY is the constant exploitation rate expected to give MSY catches in the long term. Exploiting commercial fish and shellfish stocks at or below the FMSY allows them to be maintained at, or to recover to, healthy levels that can provide food for consumers while contributing to important ecosystem and marine food web functions.
Safeguarding healthy commercially exploited fish and shellfish populations[1] is also addressed as one of the 11 descriptors (Descriptor 3) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for achieving 'Good Environmental Status' (GES). MSFD Descriptor 3 includes 3 criteria:
(i) the level of fishing pressure, represented by fishing mortality (F),
(ii) the stock's reproductive capacity, represented by spawning stock biomass (SSB) and
(iii) a healthy age and size distribution of individuals in the populations of commercially exploited fish and shellfish species.
Currently only criteria (i) and (ii) can be assessed, because at present there is no agreed method to assess the criteria (iii). The fact that all of the three GES criterion are not assessed, we refer to 'state' and not to 'status' of commercially exploited fish and shellfish populations in the text.
EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy Target 4 requiring that fishing becomes sustainable (by 2015) and that, by 2020, fish stocks are healthy, was not achieved. EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 established new targets, aiming to achieve the sustainable use of marine ecosystems and resources, and help restore the 'good environmental status' of marine ecosystems by 2030. Some of specific targets are:
- Substantially reduce the negative impacts of commercial fishing and extraction activities on sensitive species and habitats, including on the seabed to achieve 'good environmental status' by 2030;
- Adopt (EC) new action plan to conserve fisheries resources and protect marine ecosystems proposed by 2021;
- Maintain or reduce fishing mortality at or under Maximum Sustainable Yield levels to help achieve a healthy population age and size distribution for fish stocks by 2030;
- Establish fisheries-management measures in all marine protected areas according to clearly defined conservation objectives and on the basis of the best available scientific advice by 2030;
- Eliminate or reduce the by-catch of species is to a level that allows species recovery and conservation.
Figures 1-3 provide information on how much progress Europe[2] has made in its robust assessment of, and towards achieving, two of the three criteria of the MSFD's GES for commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks, namely for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity
Fig. 1 shows commercial European fish landings by EU Marine Regions in 2018. Within this figure, fish landings are divided into three categories, namely (1) landings for assessed stocks for which adequate information is available to determine whether both the GES criteria for F and SSB are met, (2) landings for assessed stocks for which adequate information is only available to determine whether the GES criteria for F or SSB is met, and (3) assessed stocks for which the available information on F and SSB is insufficient to determine if any of the relevant GES criteria are met. GES criteria refer to two (F and SSB) out of three criteria (the third cannot currently be calculate at the EU level) defining the 'good environmental status' (GES) of populations of commercial fish and shellfish species. GES is the objective of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and needed to be achieved in 2020. The stated two GES criteria are met when F and SSB are compatible with having fish/shellfish population biomass levels above those capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY). (see the Methodology section for further information on how this distinction is made.
While the information base continues to improve, knowledge gaps still remain. For the European Seas, about a third of the landings (71%) are from stocks for which their state could be assessed against at least for one GES criterion. However, there are distinct regional differences. Figure1 shows that an assessment of state is only possible for 41% of total landings from the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, compared with 77% of those from the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.
Therefore, the EU still faces the challenges of the need to:
(i) develop the third criteria addressing age and size distribution of individuals in the populations of commercially exploited fish and shellfish species;
(ii) assess more stocks to obtain better information to inform GES assessments.
[1] Commercially exploited populations applies to all marine biological resources targeted for economic profit, including the bony fish (teleosts), sharks and rays (elasmobranchs), crustaceans such as lobsters and shrimps, and molluscs (including bivalves and cephalopods)
[2] Figures 1 and 2 present data for the Arctic Ocean (including Norwegian waters), Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes. However, numbers described in the assessment text do not include these regions, and refer exclusively to assessments and landings in the following ecoregions: Azores, Baltic Sea, Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast, Celtic Seas, Greater North Sea, and widely distributed stocks. For the Mediterranean (three regions: Eastern, Central and Western) and Black Sea numbers in the figures and the text are the same.
State of the assessed European commercial fish and shellfish stocks in relation to the Good Environmental Status criteria for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity per EU marine region in 2018
Note: This figure shows the state of the assessed commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks per EU marine region, for which assessments were conducted in 2015-2019 (not all stocks have annual assessments). Majority of data is from 2018.
Trend in the state of the assessed European commercial fish and shellfish stocks in relation to the Good Environmental Status criteria for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity in the four regional seas
Note: This figure shows trends for the North-East Atlantic and the Baltic Sea in the status of assessed commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks between 1947 and 2019. The shaded areas represent the confidence limits. For the Mediterranean and Black Seas, no GES threshold is available for reproductive capacity. The dashed horizontal line represents the 2003 level for these regions. Due to the reduced number of stocks available for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (only two), the indicators are not shown for this region.
Fig. 2 shows the state of the assessed European fish and shellfish stocks in relation to Good Environmental Status (GES) per EU Marine Region in 2015-2018. A distinction is made between the (1) stocks meeting both the GES criteria for F and SSB being at MSY, (2) stocks meeting only one of the GES criteria, either F or SSB being at MSY and (3) stocks not meeting any of the GES criteria for F and SSB are not at MSY. Stocks are divided in relation to available information and presented in this figure as: Z, total number of stocks; Y, total number of assessed stocks; and X, number of stocks for which adequate information is available for assessment on the basis of these two GES criteria (F and SSB) in relation to MSY. As assessments are carried out in a multiannual cycle within the Mediterranean Sea, the number of stocks included for this region depends on the period covered. No total number of stocks is given for the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, since these are not biologically defined in the region. (see the Methodology section for information on how GES is determined). This assessment does not include the third GES criterion on age and size structure of the populations as this cannot be assessed at present (see the Methodology section for information on how GES is determined).
The latest available information shows that, around 36 % of the assessed commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks in Europe's seas are not in good state based on both fishing mortality and reproductive capacity criteria, or in cases where only one criteria was available, this is not in good state. Another 37 % of the stocks met at least one of the criteria for GES. For the remaining assessed stocks there was not enough information to determine GES against either of the criteria. There are strong regional differences though, with approximately 50 % of the assessed commercial fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic ocean and the Baltic Sea meet at least one of the two GES criteria (fishing mortality and reproductive capacity), while only 10.5 % are not in good state according to both of these criteria. The state of commercial fish and shellfish species is especially critical in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea where only 7.8 % of assessed units are in good state based on a single criterion (six out of 70 (8.6 %) in the Mediterranean Sea and none out of 7 in the Black Sea), and none are in good state based on both the level of fishing mortality and their reproductive capacity.
Fig. 3 shows the trend in the state of stock assessments and progress made in 'Good Environmental Status' assessment in a) the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea between 1945 and 2018; b) Mediterranean and Black Sea between 2003 and 2017.
For fishing mortality, a value greater than 1 (F > FMSY) indicates that exploitation exceeds the level that would produce the maximum yield, and is likely less sustainable in the long term.
For the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea, the figure is based on up to 78 stocks assessed in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. For most of these stocks, it was possible to calculate both F and SSB in relation to their MSY reference points (i.e. F/Fmsy and SSB/MSY Btrigger). The yearly averages and ranges for each metric are presented in Fig. 3. For fishing mortality, 1 (F = FMSY) is the value above which exploitation exceeds the level that would produce the maximum yield, and is likely less sustainable in the long term. For reproductive capacity, the basis of the value of MSY Btrigger differs by stock, either Bpa (a stock state reference point above which the stock is considered to have full reproductive capacity, having accounted for estimation uncertainty) or the lower bound of SSB when the stock is fished at FMSY (the 5th percentile of the distribution of SSB when fishing at FMSY). A value greater than 1 (SSB > MSY Btrigger) indicates that the stocks are in a healthy condition with regards to reproductive capacity. Fig. 3 shows how fishing mortality has increased over time from approximately sustainable levels (F = 1) in the 1950s to a maximum that was more than double the sustainable level, reached in the late 1990s. This was followed by a steep decline towards sustainable levels, and on average has reduced to approximately FMSY in 2018. The high past exploitation resulted in a gradual decrease in the reproductive capacity of the stocks until, in the early 2000s, a minimum was reached, which was just above the precautionary limit; this indicates that, on average, reproductive capacity was almost at risk of being impaired. Since the early 2000s, the first signs of recovery have been visible, probably as a result of the decrease in fishing mortality. During this period, there were more restrictive TACs and many decommissioning projects that reduced fishing capacity in the EU. In addition, some of these developments observed over time may have been caused by newly assessed stocks being introduced into the analysis. However, this has become increasingly less likely in recent years, for which the assessment is based on many stocks and therefore any effect caused by the addition (or removal) of assessed stocks has become relatively minor. Therefore, the conclusions of an overall reduction in fishing mortality and the subsequent recovery of reproductive capacity are expected to be robust.
For the Mediterranean and Black seas, the figure is based on 41 assessment units for reproductive capacity and 44 assessment units for F. In the Mediterranean Sea (and Black Sea) there is limited data on the biomass of the stocks and the most common indicator of stock state is F/FMSY (level of exploitation). Therefore, the graph shows F/FMSY for exploitation and SSB/SSB2003 for reproductive capacity. Yearly averages and ranges for each metric are presented in Fig. 3. For fishing mortality, 1 (F = FMSY) is the value above which exploitation exceeds the level that would produce the maximum yield, and is likely less sustainable in the long term. For reproductive capacity, a value greater than 1 indicates that reproductive capacity has improved in relation to 2003. However, in the absence of reproductive capacity reference points, this does not necessarily imply that stocks are in a healthy condition. For most stocks it is likely that reproductive capacity was below a healthy level in 2003. This figure shows how fishing mortality has remained fairly stable on average since 2003, but has been declining gradually since 2011. Reproductive capacity likewise remained fairly stable, with some improvements over the last five years as exploitation has decreased.
Environmental ambitions and objectives are clearly strong policy drivers for fishery management in Europe. This is mainly related to the existence of high-level objectives, such as the MSFD and CFP objectives related to achieving GES for the marine environment. The evidence, as analyzed above, suggests that targeted policy actions and committed management efforts can protect and/or help restore stocks, and thus help preserve ecosystem integrity in the areas, where policies are implemented in a consistent way.
Fisheries management efforts are clear examples of positive actions and how EU policies can work to reverse the trends of some long-term pressures in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. Since the early 2000s, better management of commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks has contributed to a clear decrease in fishing pressure in these two marine regions with the average fishing mortality near to FMSY in 2018. Signs of recovery in the reproductive capacity of several of these stocks have started to appear. If these efforts continue, fishing mortality in these regions should, on average, remain near FMSY and reproductive capacity should continue to improve towards the 2020 objective for healthy fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.
In contrast, there is no clear sign of improvement in relation to GES criteria in the Mediterranean Sea or Black Sea, where of the vast majority of the stocks assessed are fished at biologically unsustainable levels. There remains a lack of biomass reference points for many stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, so it is not possible to track the development towards sustainable reproductive capacity. However, in the last 5 years there are signs of an increase in biomass (compared to 2003 levels). Likewise, though F remains well above FMSY on average, recent years have seen progress on reducing the gap to FMSY. However, these figures still indicate that urgent action is needed and success will depend on the availability and quality of marine information and the commitment to implement the scientific advice and adequate uptake of management measures. In addition to improved scientific information, the accessibility of that information could be improved. This will allow more effective monitoring of progress towards CFP objectives. Multiannual management plans (COM/2020/377) for Mediterranean and the Black Seas were adopted in 2020, aiming to further reduce the fishing effort in the area.
A major step change [3] is required to reduce both the proportion of total allowable catches (TACs) set above scientific recommendations and the number of TACs set without scientific recommendations since this contravenes opportunities for earlier stock recovery. Strong management decisions and transparent decision-making processes are required if TACs are to be brought in line with scientific advice (Nimmo and Cappell, 2017).
But this is not enough, as ensuring healthy fish and shellfish populations does not depend solely on fishing at environmentally sustainable levels. Healthy fish populations depend on healthy marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems are under pressure from multiple factors, including climate change, mechanical destruction, noise resulting from human activities, the alteration of water quality by microplastics and toxic substances, ghost fishing and marine litter. Attempts to manage the European seas must account for the global context, multiple interactions between society and the environment, and possible unexpected abrupt and cumulative changes. This is crucial to improving our understanding of the system, identifying novel links and drivers of change in order to prevent non-obvious problems that could occur. Without an integrated approach to the management and protection of Europe's seas, the outlook beyond 2020 for productive seas and healthy fish and shellfish populations will continue to be a cause for concern, above all in a context of international ocean governance that should ensure the sustainable management of our global oceans.
[3] Fisheries management efforts include TACs (Totally Allowable Catches), effort control, access restrictions and technical regulations. These measures can be packaged in multi-annual plans (MAPs) in order to allow some stability of the industry, whilst continuing to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries. Furthermore, the Commission introduced a discard plan, which can lead to a decreased fisheries pressure on juveniles as fish previously banned from being landed now have to be landed and are counted towards the TAC.
Indicator definition
The indicators track the status of commercial fish stocks in European regional seas and the pressure exerted by fisheries on those stocks, as well as the quality of the information available. To that end, the following is reported:
the status of marine fish and shellfish stocks based on the current level of exploitation and reproductive capacity;
the importance of the (sub-)region, reflected by the total landings (as a proxy of catch) of fish from commercial fisheries in European seas per MSFD (sub-)region;
the availability of appropriate information for the status assessment, as reflected by the proportion of those landings covered by quantitative stock assessments (i.e. the proportion providing the required indicators and their reference levels).
State of marine fish and shellfish stocks
The MSFD requires 'Good Environmental Status' to be achieved by 2020 (EC, 2008). According to the MSFD (Descriptor 3), three criteria are relevant to determining if a fish or shellfish stock has achieved GES. Stocks should be: (1) exploited sustainably consistent with high long-term yields, (2) have full reproductive capacity in order to maintain stock biomass, and (3) the proportion of older and larger fish/shellfish should be maintained (or increased) being an indicator of a healthy stock.
Sustainable exploitation: sustainably exploited stocks are stocks for which F is at or below levels that deliver MSY, i.e. F ≤ FMSY. If values for F and FMSY are available from a stock assessment, the stock is considered to have met the GES criterion if F ≤ FMSY. For some ICES stocks without stock assessments, proxy methods exist to estimate the status of F in relation to FMSY by using catch length and other available biological information.
Reproductive capacity: in areas assessed by the ICES, the criterion for sustainable reproductive capacity (SSB > SSBMSY) has been modified, for pragmatic reasons, to SSB > MSY Btrigger. Spawning stock biomass (SSB) is consistently provided as part of ICES stock assessments, i.e. of the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea, but not, for the most part, by STECF assessments, i.e. of the Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks. Similarly to the above, a stock is considered to have been assessed against this criterion if values of SSB and a good proxy for SSBMSY (i.e. MSY Btrigger) are available from a stock assessment, and the stock is considered to have met the GES criterion if SSB > SSBMSY (or appropriate proxy).
Healthy age and size structure: in this case, the assumption is that a stock with sufficient numbers of old and large fish is healthy. However, this criterion is not sufficiently developed and no threshold for GES is known for this criterion. Therefore, it is not included.
This has resulted in four assessment categories:
Not assessed: no sufficient information available to assess status;
F: status assessed based only on F in relation to FMSY;
SSB: status assessed based only on SSB in relation to SSBMSY (or some proxy, i.e. MSY Btrigger);
F & SSB: status assessed based on both F and SSB.
Due to the ongoing discussions of the criteria integration rules for Descriptor 3, the stocks are classified as:
Stocks meeting both the available GES criteria for F and SSB
Stocks meeting only one of the available GES criteria, i.e. either F or SSB criteria are met
Stocks not meeting any of the available GES criteria, i.e. neither F nor SSB criteria are met
For those stocks for which adequate information is available to determine GES for fishing mortality (F) and/or reproductive capacity (SSB) a second distinction is made between: (1) stocks in good status based on both fishing mortality and reproductive capacity; (2) stocks in good status based on only one criteria (either because one of the two criteria are not in good status or data is only available for one criteria and it is in good status); and (3) stocks not in good status (either because one of the two criteria are not in good status or data is only available for one criteria and it is not in good status).
Total landing
Landings information for the North-East Atlantic and the Baltic Sea is based on the Stock Assessment Graphs landings data for the assessed stocks, and in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Official Nominal Catches, 2006-2018 dataset in the case of unassessed stocks/landings. Fisheries nominal catch statistics are reported annually by the national offices. In cooperation with Eurostat and FAO, ICES prepares and publishes the Official Nominal Catch statistics dataset for the Northeast Atlantic (FAO major fishing area 27). SAG catches are used whenever available, as these take discards and potential area reporting issues into account, neither of which are reflected in the nominal catches. Landings information for the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea is based on the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) capture production dataset For the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the figure is based on 2018 landings data. In this case, it was not possible to use landings data from the assessments as these refer to GSAs which are not specified in the FAO capture production dataset, divided in larger aggregation areas.
Only some of the species/taxa in the landings data can be considered 'commercial fish', which, for assessment purposes, may consist of several stocks. Only some of these stocks are covered by quantitative stock assessments such that their status can be assessed based on the above criteria.
In the North-East Atlantic area, stocks are generally defined based on biological criteria and knowledge of population migration, mixing and spawning areas. For example, cod in the northeast Atlantic is currently considered to form sixteen different stocks, between which mixing is generally negligible. These stocks are found over multiple MSFD ecoregions, and some individual stock distributions cover more than one ecoregion. However, in this analysis each stock has been assigned to a single ecoregion (see Methodology).
In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, on the other hand, stocks are mostly defined by management area because of a lack of biological knowledge. Because these stocks are based on a specific geographical area, most can be attributed to a specific MSFD (sub-)region. In the Mediterranean, assessments can refer to several stocks of the same species, but these stocks remain separate management and functional units.
The units used in this indicator are tonnes, as well as the proportion of catch for assessed stocks/non-assessed stocks. The assessment information is expressed as the proportion of landings covered by assessed stocks. The status of the assessed stocks are expressed as the proportion of the landings of assessed fish and shellfish stocks or the proportion of number of fish and shellfish stocks.
Justification for indicator selection
Commercial fish and shellfish provide most of the seafood derived from European waters and, if sustainably exploited, they could be a continuous source of healthy protein. However, the heavy exploitation of fish and shellfish can affect their reproductive capacity and thus their potential for recovery. To achieve sustainability, the levels of exploitation and reproductive capacity need to be analysed to assess the status of marine fish and shellfish in Europe. The fact that only those stocks for which regular quantitative stock assessments are conducted can be included in such a status assessment means that it is important to show what proportion of commercial species is covered by quantitative stock assessments.
Therefore, this indicator consists of three parts:
the proportion of the total catch in the MSFD (sub-)regions of Europe covered by the quantitative stock assessments conducted by the ICES and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM);
the proportion of the total number of stocks in the MSFD (sub-)regions of Europe covered by quantitative stock assessments conducted by the ICES and the GFCM;
an overview of the status of assessed fish stocks per MSFD (sub-)region and its trend over time, with GES being based on two criteria being met:
a sustainable level of exploitation (assessed by F);
reproductive capacity not being compromised (assessed by SSB).
Scientific references
Report of the Workshop to draft recommendations for the assessment of Descriptor D3 (WKD3R) ICES, 2014. ICES CM 2014/ACOM:50. 153 pp.
Report of the Workshop on guidance for the review of MSFD decision descriptor 3 – commercial fish and shellfish II (WKGMSFDD3-II) ICES, 2015. ICES CM 2015\ACOM:48. 36 pp.
MSFD D3 Advice summary ICES, 2016.
STECF 2019 Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (STECF-Adhoc-19-01). Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019, ISBN 978-92-76-02913-7, doi:10.2760/22641, JRC116446.
STEFC 2020 Mediterranean and Black Sea: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy (STECF-Adhoc-20-01). Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2020, ISBN 978-92-76-18115-6, doi:10.2760/230469, JRC120481.
Policy context and targets
Context description
The scope of the CFP includes the conservation of marine biological resources and the management of the fisheries that target them. To that end, the CFP should adapt exploitation rates to ensure that, within a reasonable time frame, the exploitation of marine biological resources allows the restoration and maintenance of populations of harvested stocks above levels that can produce the MSY. This should have been achieved by 2015 or should be achieved no later than 2020.
The aim of the MSFD is to achieve GES of the EU's marine waters by 2020 and to protect this resource, upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. The MSFD enshrines in a legislative framework the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities that have an impact on the marine environment, integrating the concepts of environmental protection and sustainable use.
To achieve its goal, the directive establishes European marine regions and sub-regions on the basis of geographical and environmental criteria. The MSFD significantly strengthens Member States' competences and responsibilities to maintain or achieve GES for all exploited fish and shellfish stocks inside territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZs) with common goals. Three criteria in relation to GES have been identified for commercial fish and shellfish:
the level of exploitation;
reproductive capacity;
age and size distribution.
These requirements for GES, according to the MSFD, are aligned with the requirement for MSY for both the 'level of exploitation' and 'reproductive capacity' criteria. The 'age and size distribution' criterion is not yet sufficiently developed.
The MSFD aims to ensure that:
populations of all commercially exploited fish and shellfish are within safe biological limits, exhibiting a population age and size distribution that is indicative of a healthy stock being produced no later than 2020 (EC, 2008, Annex I);
all EU fish and shellfish stocks should be fished to produce an MSY no later than 2015 (EC, 2006); this implies that the targets are to achieve F ≤ FMSY and SSB ≥ SSBMSY (MSY Btrigger is used as a best proxy for SSBMSY).
Related policy documents
Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 of 17 May 2017
Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 of 17 May 2017 laying down criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters and specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment, and repealing Decision 2010/477/EU
Commission Decision 2010/477/EU of 1 September 2010
Commission Decision of 1 September 2010 on criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters.
Common Fisheries Policy, EC 2013
EC, 2013. REGULATION (EU) No 1380/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC. Brussels, 10 October 2013, 12007/13
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: Implementing sustainability in EU fisheries through maximum sustainable yield.
EC (European Commission), 2006. COM(2006) 360 final. Brussels: European Commission.
Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC
Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive)
Reform of the common fisheries policy.
EC (European Commission), 2012.
Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European parliament and of the council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy
EC, 2013, 12007/13.
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The United Nations General Assembly ad opted the Resolution 70/1, Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on 25th September 2015. This document lays out the 17 Sustainable Development Goals , which aim to end poverty and hunger, protect human rights and human dignity, to protect the planet from degradation, and foster peace.
Methodology for indicator calculation
North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea
For the North-East Atlantic Ocean (considering the sub-regions) and Baltic Sea, this indicator is calculated using the ICES stock assessment database. The ICES stock assessment database consists of 198 stock assessments, and provides information, by stock and by year, on a number of variables. The period for which this information is available varies depending on the stock.
Proportion of assessed stock
Currently, the two criteria used to determine the status of commercial fish stocks are that they are:
exploited sustainably, consistent with high long-term yields;
have full reproductive capacity.
F and SSB, in combination with MSY-based reference values, are the most appropriate metrics for these two criteria. The metrics used for F and SSB may differ between stocks. Not all stocks can be assessed for both metrics.
Total landings in MSFD (sub-)regio
Stocks are assigned to an MSFD ecoregion based on the ICES subareas and divisions mentioned in the Stocks sub-section of the Indicator description. Note that the MSFD regions assigned to fish stocks are not conclusive and may change after further consultation. Under the MSFD, individual stocks may be considered in more than one ecoregion. However, for this analysis stocks are assigned to one ecoregion, considered to be most important to the stock and fishery. ICES is presently developing a system of assigning stocks to appropriate ecoregions based on distribution and migration patterns as well as location of landings.
Total landings data are extracted from the ICES Official Nominal Catches data set (note: in FAO terminology, 'nominal catches' refer to 'landings') and are assigned to the different MSFD regions based on area. The total landings for non-assessed stocks by ecoregion is calculated by subtracting total stock landings by ecoregion from the total landings by ecoregion.
Good status
The status of commercial species per MSFD ecoregion is assessed based on all stocks for which the required information on F and/or SSB is available, or (for some stocks assessed by ICES) proxy methods exist to determine the status. Overall numbers of stocks are also indicated (except for in the Mediterranean and Black Seas). Therefore for each region, four different categories are used to describe the degree of fulfillment of MSFD criteria for GES:
Stocks for which no information is available to assess F and SSB against GES criteria.
Mediterranean and Black Seas
Proportion of assessed stocks
In the Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks are mostly defined by management area because of a lack of biological knowledge. As such, they are referred to as 'assessment units' in this report to distinguish them from biologically defined stocks and no total number of stocks per region is reported. Assessment units in the Mediterranean Sea were assessed based on the assessments available through the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for fisheries (STECF), published in 2017-2019, and those in the Black Sea were based on the assessments facilitated by GFCM, performed between 2016 and 2018. As assessments are carried out in a multiannual cycle, different assessment units are included in each annual working group report.
Initially, the two criteria used to determine the status of commercial fish stocks are:
F and SSB, in combination with an MSY-based reference value, are the most appropriate metrics for these two criteria. The metrics used for F and SSB may differ between assessment units. This may result in a different number of stocks being assessed for each metric.
Total landings in MSFD (sub-)regions
Landings information for the Mediterranean and Black Seas is extracted from the FAO regional workspace including on 'GFCM (Mediterranean and Black Sea) capture production'. Landings information is available by fishing area (FAO division). Total landings for the assessed stocks for the Mediterranean and Black Seas are calculated by selecting landings for the species for which STECF provides F/FMSY information, where the following assumptions are made:
As the multiple fishing areas of the Mediterranean Sea do not directly coincide with the GSAs, overall landings are used for the Mediterranean Sea for the assessed species.
Landings are extracted by linking the common name in the stock description with the species name in the landings data set.
The total landings for non-assessed stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Seas are calculated by subtracting the total landings calculated for assessed stocks from the total landings for these two regions.
Assessed as for the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.
Methodology for gap filling
Methodology references
ICES Stock Database ICES, Copenhagen.
ICES Official Nominal Catches dataset ICES, Copenhagen.
STECF STOCK ASSESSMENT DATABASE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEA STECF STOCK ASSESSMENT DATABASE
STECF 2019– Monitoring the performance of the Common Fisheries Policy STECF-Adhoc-19-01
Uncertainties
Methodology uncertainty
MSFD (sub-)regions
The matching of catch areas and stocks to the MSFD regions/sub-regions is not final and may change following further consultations.
Data sets uncertainty
Catch and stock assessment data
Depending on the year selected, the suite of assessed stocks may change (in the Mediterranean and Black Seas because they do not conduct annual stock assessments for all stocks simultaneously; and in the ICES areas because many stocks are assessed only every 2 or more years). This may lead to indicator values changing simply because different stocks are considered each year. Therefore, the analyses presented here use the results of the latest assessment for each stock from the last 3 years (under the assumption that the most recent assessment is indicative of status until the next assessment is conducted).
Rationale uncertainty
Status of commercial specie
The status of commercial species is expressed as the proportion of stocks that fulfils one or more of the GES criteria, as this is the most straightforward method since it does not require any additional information. However, the status can also be expressed as the proportion of catches or the proportion of biomass, depending on data availability. Each method is likely to give different results.
Similarly, the status of European marine fish and shellfish over time is shown for both GES criteria considered as the annual mean ratio indicator/GES threshold, while alternatively the annual mean ratio deviation of the indicator from the GES threshold relative to that threshold can be calculated. This is also likely to give different values but is unlikely to give rise to different conclusions.
For compliance with the status assessments in relation to the CFP, the same stocks for the Mediterranean Sea as those used by the STECF are adopted. This implies that, in contrast to the previous assessment, only stocks assessed by the GFCM (hence not the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)) are used for this assessment.
Stock assessment database (ICES)
provided by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, STECF (Dataset URL is not available)
provided by Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)
Catch statistics (GFCM)
provided by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Catch statistics (ICES)
DPSIR: State
Typology: Descriptive indicator (Type A - What is happening to the environment and to humans?)
Indicator codes
CSI 032
MAR 007
Frequency of updates
Updates are scheduled once per year
EEA Contact Info info@eea.europa.eu
6a4b781ea5454c89954e83584e202510
IND-13-en
10 Oct 2019 - Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas
06 Feb 2019 - Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas
03 Apr 2018 - Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas
03 Mar 2015 - Status of marine fish stocks
12 Sep 2011 - Status of marine fish stocks
21 May 2010 - Fisheries: European commercial fish stocks
18 Feb 2009 - Status of marine fish stocks
29 Nov 2005 - Status of marine fish stocks
28 Jul 2004 - Catches by major species and areas
28 Jul 2004 - Fish stocks outside Safe Biological Limits in 2002
28 Jul 2004 - The North Sea Cod (Gadus morhua) stock
01 Jun 2001 - The North Sea cod (Gadus morhua) stock.
01 Jun 2001 - Fish stocks outside safe biological limits
Baltic Sea Bay of Biscay Black Sea Celtic Sea Greenland Sea Marine Arctic Ocean Marine Baltic sea Marine Black sea Marine Macaronesian/Atlantic ocean Marine Mediterranean sea Marine North sea Marine North-east Atlantic ocean Mediterranean Sea North Atlantic Ocean Western Mediterranean
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/status-of-marine-fish-stocks-5/assessment or scan the QR code.
First draft created:
Filed under: fish stocks fisheries good environmental status fishing
Filed under: fish stocks, fisheries, good environmental status, fishing
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text:
Amazon's "All or Nothing" to follow Arsenal soccer club
Amazon Prime Video has unveiled the next installment in its original 'All or Nothing' documentary series, All or Nothing: Arsenal, about the storied Premier League soccer club, chronicling the team ...
Amazon Prime Video has unveiled the next installment in its original 'All or Nothing' documentary series, All or Nothing: Arsenal, about the storied Premier League soccer club, chronicling the team during its 2021-22 season.
All or Nothing: Arsenal promises an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the biggest franchises in the world during a key season as the team looks to return to elite European competition, and will also follow Arsenal's players off the pitch as they deal with the pressure of competition.
The docuseries will be produced by 72 Films, executive produced by Mark Raphael, Clare Cameron and John Douglas. All or Nothing: Arsenal will launch on Prime Video in 2022.
The series follows All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur and All or Nothing: Manchester City, and comes after the announcement of All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this year.
"'All or Nothing' is about intimate access to the passion and commitment behind elite sport, and in Arsenal we have the perfect subject for the next chapter. We are looking forward to Prime members around the world experiencing another Premier League season with a new club, through 'All or Nothing"s signature quality storytelling and access," said Dan Grabiner, head of UK Originals for Amazon Studios, in a release.
"We're excited to have the opportunity to go behind the scenes at Arsenal to capture the exhilaration and drama of a unique season at the club," added Clare Cameron, executive producer at 72 Films. "The opportunity to get close-up access to a squad of talented young players, both on and off the pitch, see the return of the fans to football and understand what makes Arsenal such an iconic club, will make for a compelling 'All or Nothing' series."
Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images News via Getty Images
All or Nothing, All or Nothing: Arsenal, All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs, All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, Amazon Prime Video
Amazon sends "The Grand Tour" host James May to Japan
Eugenio Derbez family vacation format heads to Pantaya, Amazon
Amazon Studios doubles down on Serena Williams with first-look deal
Amazon Studios, Cream Films to follow Toronto Maple Leafs in "All or Nothing"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Death of King Óttarr
Description: This vignette depicts the death of King Óttarr who was killed by the Danes. This scene takes place in Chapter 27 of Ynglingesoga, the first saga in Kongesagaer, in Gustav Storm 's Norwegian translation of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The illustration is based on Snorri's use of lines from the late 9th-century skaldic poem Ynglingatal, which Samuel Laing rendered in his 1844 English translation of Heimskringla as:
By Danish arms the hero bold,
Ottar the Brave, lies stiff and cold.
To Vendel's plain the corpse was borne;
By eagles' claws the corpse is torn,
Spattered by ravens' bloody feet,
The wild bird's prey, the wild wolf's meat.
The Swedes have vowed revenge to take
On Frode's earls, for Ottar's sake;
Like dogs to kill them in their land,
In their own homes, by Swedish hand.
Snorri Sturluson Laing, Samuel Kongesagaer (1899 ed.) Heimskringla, History of the Kings of Norway Munthe, Gerhard Ynglinga saga, Saga of the Ynglings Ynglingatal Óttarr (Heimskringla), Ottar (Heimskringla)
Óttarr (Heimskringla) (non.)
Ottar (Heimskringla) (en.)
A king in Ynglinga Saga, the first saga in Heimskringla, who was killed in battle by the Danes.


Irit Eizips, Chief Executive Officer at CSM Practice, shares her thoughts on UserIQ's 2018 SaaS User Adoption & Onboarding Benchmarking Report.
Irit Eizips, Chief Executive Offer at CSM Practice will be sharing best practices for creating an onboarding experience that is meaningful for your customers and that will ultimately, reduce churn.
Hello, my customer success friends. Irit Eizips here from CSM Practice, the Customer Success Consulting firm.
I was reading through the benchmark report from UserIQ. I noted that many of the respondents said that they don't have a very well-defined onboarding process. So I decided to dedicate this video to share some of the best practices for creating an onboarding experience that's meaningful for your new customers and will result in reduced churn. Look, at the end of the day, whether a client churns or not is mainly dependent on two things. One, a meaningful relationship with you and your company. And secondly, a meaningful value to them based on their business needs.
The first thing that you might want to think about is sending out an email from your CEO. Starting with a welcome email from the CEO helps establish the relationship with your clients on a positive note. The next email you wanna fire off is a direct email from your customer success manager. For those of you saying, "Irit, we're a very large organization and actually onboarding is largely dependent on the professional services or perhaps the account executive is the one that sets up the initial kickoff meeting." That's totally fine. Regardless, the customer success manager should have a touchpoint during onboarding. And it's very imperative that they will sort of be the good cop/bad cop and serve as the quarterback for the client during the onboarding period even if they're not the one leading the onboarding effort. In fact, not only do I recommend that the customer success manager sends one email that says, "Welcome aboard," right after the CEO's email, but potentially if you have a customer success solution that could launch a series of emails, have them start sending it out automatically every few days with additional introductions to resources for self-learning and a better understanding, value of the solution to customers like them.
So you can actually, if you're more sophisticated, you can actually build something that's similar to what we call ABM, which is account based marketing, and launch a different series of emails pending the account's profile. For that, you will have to actually define what is the value or the main categories of value that the sales rep has identified in the beginning of the process for larger accounts, or identify within the application what are the main use cases that your client is looking to achieve with you.
After we've nurtured that account, I definitely recommend that the customer success manager would be part of the kickoff meeting and start building that relationship with the customer during onboarding. So certainly check up points during the onboarding are not uncommon for high touch, certainly for white glove clients. Even mid-market accounts should receive some level of personal touch, especially if we identify that they are in risk during the onboarding phase. And again, we're not expecting necessarily the customer success manager to own the onboarding process. Even if the onboarding process is handled by another team, we want to make sure that we have some tools at our disposal to identify the customer's health. And for that, I recommend to do two things. One is carefully monitor the customer's health during onboarding. And the second one is to send a survey midway through the onboarding to get their level of sentiment about the onboarding. Are the happy with us? Is it in line with their expectations? So that you can flag any risks in onboarding ahead of time.
Your score card for customers during onboarding should be vastly different than the ones that are already past the onboarding phase and are well into their adoption and expansion phases. Why? First of all, we're not expecting adoption to be extremely high or even in the same patterns as customers that have already achieved their first value delivered. Secondly, we might have a different first value delivered identified with each, and so we might have different adoption metrics that we want to look into during the onboarding to really say whether or not a client is adopting as fast as we want to versus as deep as we would like, which is something that I might recommend doing during the adoption phase. So, during the onboarding, we would look at different indicators of health than we would during adoption, and thereby, you should definitely consider creating a separate health score for customers during onboarding versus the ones that are not.
The two other things that I'd like to suggest, and I'll finish with that, is definitely have a good understanding of what is the first value delivered for your customer and why did the customer purchase your solution. This is going to be critical to drive in year one. Pay attention that not only is this embedded or recorded in one of your systems, but then in year two, expand on that value perception. So, it is your mission to identify what was the first value delivered or the initial reason that the clients purchased your solution, and then expand on that in year two. And then monitor your adoption and usage trends to see that they are actually expanding on additional use cases. That's a great use for a solution like UserIQ to track these kind of trends. If you need any help with your user adoption data and what to do and how to get the most value out of it, whether you're using just UserIQ or other customer success systems, that you can leverage it, contact us at CSM Practice. We have a vast experience leveraging adoption data to create health scores, calls to action, and being proactive with your customers.
That's it for me. Thank you so much for listening. Please check out the User Adoption and Onboarding Benchmarking Report from UserIQ. Take care.


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Tech and Mobility News
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Breakfast Series
Faces of Detroit
Business Professionals
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Home Business Features Crafted by Lear
Crafted by Lear
With a 2009 bankruptcy in the rearview mirror, Matt Simoncini and Lear Corp. have set their sights on expanding the supplier's global automotive seating business by cultivating its Detroit roots.
Paul A. Eisenstein
It wasn't all that long ago that downtown Detroit's Capitol Park district was little more than a blighted and forgotten relic of the city's once grand past. If you happened to wander by, you were likely to step up your pace to pass through as quickly as possible.
Now, however, Capitol Park is a model of the city's transformation and revival, with several renovated apartment complexes completed or under construction, along with new shops and restaurants. In fact, every building bordering the triangular park behind the Westin Book Cadillac hotel has been recently modernized or is being renovated.
These days, visitors often slow their pace to take it all in. And if you pause for a moment, especially late in the day, above the cacophony of traffic and construction you might catch a few notes from a blues guitar echoing off the concrete and sandstone structures. Listen and follow the sound and it will draw you to one of Capitol Park's oldest buildings, nearly demolished by neglect but now in the midst of a restoration.
Like a Pied Piper with a wah-wah pedal, the sound from the guitarist leads to a historic brick building's stairwell, whose walls are decorated with graffiti created by local artists. Finally, you'll emerge onto the fourth floor, where, tie slackened and a jacket draped on the back of a chair, you'll find Matt Simoncini letting loose.
"This is where I like to come and relax after a long day," he says, a smile spreading across his face as he gently strokes a Fender guitar. Simoncini, 56, would be honored to sit in with any of the jazz, blues, or Motown artists who have called Detroit home over the years, but playing a guitar is just a way for the CEO of Lear Corp. to balance both sides of his brain. And the supplier's $18 billion Innovation Center, housed in the old building on State Street, is a fitting place to do just that.
Lear spent about $10 million to acquire and renovate what originally housed the Brown Brothers Cigar Co. when it was built 129 years ago. Long abandoned, the six-story brick building was acquired by Dan Gilbert's Bedrock development arm and, Simoncini proudly notes, is the only piece of property that Bedrock has sold since it began gobbling up large swaths of downtown real estate in 2012. Still a work in progress, the Innovation Center brings together Lear designers and engineers, as well as 20 paid interns from Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies, both in Detroit.
"This building (will) generate creative, cutting-edge ideas that, in five years, I believe, will begin to go into production, whether it's the design of a seat or the software that runs a car," Simoncini says as he settles back in the Innovation Center's fourth floor boardroom, where a wall-to-wall, palatial window lets him watch the work underway across the park.
The center, with its distinctive Victorian Romanesque design, is a 25-minute drive from Lear's headquarters and office campus along Telegraph Road, just north of Eight Mile. It is only natural to consider, given the distance, why Lear didn't take the idea for the Innovation Center and build it in the suburbs.
Simoncini initially responds as he would to an investor, emphasizing his "fiduciary responsibility" to deliver maximum return on investment. By locating in Detroit, he explains, Lear can readily tap into the growing pool of talent that has been repopulating a city long drained by suburban flight and corporate disinvestment. "It's got such a great vibe," he says. "If you can get people to come here and check the city out, they will stay here. For the first time in a long time, I'm really excited about the city."
"The car is becoming a rolling smart device. It'll be safer, more intelligent, and loaded with conveniences." – Matt Simoncini
Separating Simoncini from his fiduciary duties, you quickly discern the civic pride of a kid who grew up on the east side of Detroit attending Finney High School and then Wayne State University. He came from an immigrant family; his parents were raised in what had been a solid Italian neighborhood near Detroit City Airport.
There's not much left of that community today. It was drained, like so many others, in the wake of the exodus to the suburbs starting in 1950, culminating after the 1967 riots, and brought to a head by blockbusting and redlining, and the search for what was long seen as a better life on the other side of Eight Mile.
Detroit's population today is barely a third of its official 1.8 million peak in the 1950 census. Many of the jobs that kept its largely unskilled workforce employed are gone, as well. In fact, Lear's own story mirrors the exodus.
The story begins with Fred Matthei, who in 1917 founded American Metal Products Co. in Detroit. The business initially produced a mix of welded, stamped, and tubular metal parts for the automotive and aircraft industry. At first, it had one plant in the city and 18 employees. Business took off in 1928, when AMP produced the first car seat frames that utilized steel coils. By the time the industry began retooling for World War II in 1941, the company was selling more than $1 million a year in seats, and employed 900 workers at its Detroit plant.
Switching to military production was profitable, but nothing like the postwar boom that would follow when returning GIs began buying cars by the millions. By 1950, AMP was a $31 million a year business.
The company was a steady innovator — one of the first to develop electrically adjustable seats — while also producing commodity parts like axles and prop shafts. By the 1960s, it company was a multinational enterprise operating in Mexico, Germany, Brazil, England, and Venezuela. The big change came in 1966, when Lear Siegler Inc. acquired AMP.
And, yes, as the corporate website notes, there really was a Lear — Bill Lear, to be more precise. He was an autodidact from Quincy, Ill., with a string of 110 patents to his name, including numerous advances in aviation electronics and communication, the first successful car radio, and the first 8-track tape player. He also had a passion for flying, and would eventually become the first person to manufacture a corporate luxury aircraft, the eponymous Lear Jet.
Lear Siegler grew the seating business rapidly, breaking the $1 billion mark before the end of the 1970s by using innovations like the so-called Captain's Chairs to capture more than a quarter of the North American automotive seating business. It targeted overseas growth, as well, and by the mid-1990s the company was operating more than 100 global facilities in 19 countries, and employing more than 35,000 workers.
The company name changed repeatedly, from Lear-Siegler Inc. to Lear Siegler Seating Corp. to Lear Seating Corp. and, finally, to Lear Corp. Along the way, the company kept outgrowing its headquarters, moving from central Detroit to the west side — and ultimately to a string of buildings off Telegraph Road in Southfield.
For his part, Simoncini seemed determined, perhaps destined, to stay in Detroit. He helped put himself through school working at Eastern Market. After graduating from Wayne State he became a certified public accountant, landing at the consulting firm then known as Deloitte and Touche in 1985 before moving to what used to be known as United Technologies Automotive.
UTA was, in 1999, just the latest of the many industry suppliers Lear had gobbled up over the years. When Simoncini climbed aboard, he quickly found the fast track. By 2001, he was serving as CFO for Lear's operations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 2004, he was running global finance operations. In 2007, Simoncini was named Lear's CFO.
Although it was quick, it wasn't an entirely smooth climb up the corporate ladder. Shifting industry strategies led the company to sell off its struggling Interior Systems Division in 2005, along with 26 plants and two joint ventures in China.
Then, business all but screeched to a halt when, in 2009, the U.S. and global economy collapsed, taking much of the domestic auto industry with it. Lear was one of many suppliers that were forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy — others in the same predicament included giants like Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp. Working together, Simoncini and CEO Bob Rossiter crafted a slick turnaround plan. Where Delphi took years to plow through bankruptcy court, Lear's tour took barely four months before the company had an agreement in hand from secured lenders and bondholders. Rossiter retired two years later, and Simoncini took his mentor's place as Lear's CEO in late 2011.
The company he inherited has since become one of the industry's fastest-growing suppliers, reaching sales of $18.2 billion for 2015. In the third quarter of 2016, Lear reported record sales of $4.5 billion, with net income up 18 percent to a record $214 million. When the supplier increased its full 2016 outlook, Moody's responded by upgrading the firm's rating to investment grade last September, declaring, "Lear's demonstrated (its) ability to improve profit margins in both its seating and electronic units through new business, higher volumes, and ongoing cost reductions."
Lear is now the second-largest automotive seat supplier, lagging behind only Adient, the new name for the seating unit recently spun off by longtime rival Johnson Controls. Simoncini is determined to topple the king of the hill through a mix of organic growth, acquisitions, and alliances. One of the most significant moves was the January 2015 acquisition of Eagle Ottawa, an automotive leather supplier based in Auburn Hills. The deal wasn't cheap, at $850 million, but no other Lear operation touches more American-made automobiles, supplying leather for about half of the vehicles on the road. Eagle Ottawa's revenue surged from $485 million in 2011 to $1 billion just three years later.
From that single plant in Detroit with 18 employees, Lear now has 132,000 workers at 235 facilities in 34 countries.
As Lear has grown since the economic recovery began, it has made some unexpected moves. It is cautiously exploring some nonautomotive investments, including a high-tech lighting joint venture in Mexico. Overall, automotive operations account for more than 95 percent of revenue; of that, seats are the single-biggest piece of the product portfolio, accounting for 70 percent of the supplier's revenue. "But electrical is $4.5 billion and growing," Simoncini says. "It would rank as one of the largest automotive suppliers on its own. It's only small compared to our seating."
A key reason for growth in electrical sales is the anticipated explosion in sales of battery-based vehicles. On average, Lear has twice as much content on a dollar basis in plug-ins and pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, than it does on conventional gasoline models.
In addition to software, the company provides a wide range of electrical components and, where Lear once focused on basic junction boxes and wiring, "instead of just routing power, we're routing data and signals into the vehicle, so we have to be experts on cybersecurity, as well," Simoncini says.
They may seem like two different worlds, but Simoncini sees plenty of synergies between Lear's seating and electrical operations (the latter now employs more than 700 engineers). "The car is becoming a rolling smart device. It'll be safer, more intelligent, and loaded with conveniences," he says — and many of those, he's betting, will be built right into the seat. "When you talk about connectivity, to us, that's about gathering information about the passenger and feeding it back, whether it's their heart rate, posture, body temperature, or how safety restraints are adjusted. I think we're just scratching the surface of what this product could be."
Lear has even developed a prototype seat that might be thought of as a mobile chiropractor, subtly helping set a driver's spine straight as they drive.
There's clearly a demand for better seating. Climb into the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class and you'll not only be able to heat or cool your body, but you'll also receive a "hot stone massage." Manufacturers have traditionally been reluctant to push things too far, questioning whether consumers really want — or would be willing to pay for — a wide array of possible features. Lear, for its part, is arguing that technologically advanced seats could deliver a competitive advantage for manufacturers, especially in the luxury market. The supplier is also promoting more radical designs and breakthrough materials, such as carbon fiber.
"We have customers asking us to do things we don't know how to do yet," says Mandy Rice, manager of the new Crafted by Lear design and engineering showcase that officially opened in December near the company's Southfield headquarters. "We'll see some seats that push the design envelope go into production in the 2019 to 2021 time frame." While she won't discuss specific projects, one advance is likely to be Lear's new Illumitrim seats, which include built-in accent lighting.
Some of the most radical changes in automotive seating could come with the launch of autonomous, and even driverless, vehicles. If the driver is freed up from actually having to keep his or her hands on the wheel, a vehicle's interior could be transformed into a mobile lounge, where occupants are able to turn their seats to face one another, watch a big-screen TV, work, or even sleep during the day's commute.
Even as manufacturers explore new seating options, however, Simoncini concedes Lear constantly weighs the costs of producing seats and components domestically or overseas.
"You're constantly trying to balance the equation," he says, although the math might be changing. "The reality is that some things will never be able to be produced, from a
labor standpoint, in the U.S. using nonpoverty wages. So, certain components we won't be able to make (here) and get
shareholders the return on investment they expect. But other things, when you balance the freight costs, the geostability risks, the benefits of being able to send engineers right to the factory without taking a plane trip, there are certain things we think we can do right here in Detroit."
Lear already has launched a joint venture to produce seat frames locally, and it's looking at ways to eliminate the labor-intensive process of hand-stitching seat covers, perhaps by using 3-D printing.
Simoncini insists the company is committed to bringing more manufacturing jobs to Detroit, and hints there could be something to talk about in the near future, though he won't yet reveal what he's working on.
"There's been a lot of speculation," say Mel Stephens, Lear's executive vice president of communications and investor relations, when asked about rumors the company is negotiating for a plot of land on the site of American Axle and Manufacturing's campus that straddles the Detroit-Hamtramck border. While Stephens stresses there's "nothing imminent," he also adds, "there's a lot of open space" available within the Detroit city limits.
"The Detroit narrative is changing… We're having a lot more success attracting world-class talent." – Rick Rodgers
For his part, Simoncini is quick to say Lear has no plans to move its headquarters out of Southfield, as it demonstrated with the opening of the Crafted by Lear facility. It does have a clear goal of increasing its Detroit presence, however; along with the Capitol Park facility, it has purchased the old Hemmecher Building in the newly renamed Paradise Valley neighborhood. A quick walk from the Detroit Athletic Club, it covers about 50,000 square feet, or twice the size of the Innovation Center, and will eventually serve as an administrative facility complemented by ground-floor stores and restaurants.
Lear's presence in downtown Detroit "is a physical statement of commitment for Lear and Matt to Detroit, and creates a 'flywheel effect' of optimism (about) the future," says Mark Reuss, global product development chief of General Motors Co. "The Innovation Center can only help bring others to work here instead of exporting this expertise elsewhere."
Bringing people to Detroit is becoming far less of a problem than it was just a few years ago, when automakers and automotive suppliers struggled to recruit college graduates, often losing top talent to hipper, high-tech companies in places like Boston; Austin, Texas; and Silicon Valley. That's changing fast, as rapidly rising office occupancy rates in downtown and Midtown demonstrate.
"The Detroit narrative is changing," says Rick Rogers, president of the College for Creative Studies, which operates two campuses in Midtown. "We find when we go out to recruit faculty and students, people who previously wouldn't have given a thought to moving to Detroit are now taking it very seriously. We're having a lot more success attracting world-class talent."
Rogers credits a number of factors and people for that shift, including Quicken Loans and Bedrock billionaire Dan Gilbert, as well as industry leaders like Simoncini. Matt "always makes it clear he's a Detroit kid. He grew up in the city and is as committed to making the city as good a place for all people as he can," Rogers says.
Beyond the auto business, Simoncini and Lear have proven to be major contributors in the city's philanthropic community. Along with his wife, Mona, a CCS graduate, he chaired the school's charity wine auction this past year, helping raise a record $3.4 million. "I had a front-row seat to watch his ability to motivate people and see the energy and passion he puts into things he believes in," Rogers says.
Much of that philanthropy is focused on education, notes Margaret Trimer-Hartley, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan in downtown Detroit. The auto industry had collectively cut back its charitable efforts following the Great Recession, but "Matt was one of the first" to ramp things back up. "He is certainly leading the supplier sector. He's everywhere that matters. He's very considerate and careful in what he puts his money into."
One of the most recent programs Simoncini helped fund is Junior Achievement's Financial Freedom Project, which is intended to teach middle school students "how to get to the end of the month with more money than (days in the) month left ," Trimer-Hartley explains.
Simoncini is particularly active in educational projects. His voice takes on an urgent tone describing what he sees as perhaps the biggest obstacle to a long-term revival of the Motor City. Rebuilding Detroit's education system is critical, he contends, "if the city's neighborhoods are going to thrive."
Otherwise, he frets, the hipsters who have been filling up Detroit's new apartments, lofts, and townhouses will eventually get married, start families and, when their kids get old enough, "they'll move toFerndale or Grosse Pointe Park unless we have good schools."
Apart from education, Simoncini is determined to nurture and grow Lear's traditional seating business, even as he looks for new opportunities in a world of increasingly high-tech automobiles. But he's also taken on a role as Detroit's biggest cheerleader, sounding the praises of a resurgent
Motor City.
"Detroit is my home and it has a special place in my heart," says Simoncini, a man clearly determined to bring new residents into the city, and to rebuild both the education and jobs base that will help keep them there.
It's no slam-dunk. There are plenty of challenges to overcome. And that's going to take "creativity and energy," he says. But if you ask anyone who knows Simoncini, those are two words that clearly define him.
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We at CatSynth took a break from our busy schedule of art, friends, and family in New York to visit the Brooklyn Cat Cafe.
The concept of the "cat cafe" originated in Japan, but has spread around the world, including at least three in New York. Like Cat Town in Oakland, it is an all-volunteer effort focused on finding foster and forever homes for the cats in their care. It is located in a small storefront on Atlantic Avenue in the shadow of the bridges and downtown Brooklyn, but a peek inside reveals a space covered in cats.
Many were napping, like the line above, but they are also quite playful and affectionate. They are, of course, cats.
This sweet black kitty greeted me with a nose kisses.
Hilda was perhaps the most playful on this evening, looking visitors in the eyes as she played with various toys. She especially liked this wires dangling from the main table.
Burton was a big fellow and quite a character. A very friendly cat, he minded me a big of our friend Marlon, aka "the big merp" in Oakland, but with Sam Sam's markings.
One of the hardest parts of traveling is leaving behind my cats. So having cat cafes is in the cities I visit is most welcome. The change to play with cats, cuddle them, and pet them can brighten the stormiest night.
The cats are clearly loved and well cared for, and there are rules for visitors that help ensure a safe and respectful space for them. Most of these fall under the rubric of "don't be a jerk", but there are also reminders of the fact that each cat has a different level of comfort with human behavior. If a cat is wary of being pet, respect their boundaries. If a cat needs a break from human interaction and wants to hide (and I can certainly sympathize with that), let them. And the result is a place filled with love among human and feline alike, and many cats have found their forever homes through visits to the cafe.
The Brooklyn Cat Cafe is run by the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, which is dedicated to finding homes for cats and other animals in their community. They opened the cafe in 2016.
By our one-year anniversary in May of 2017, the cafe had welcomed over 35,000 visitors — an average of over 95 visitors cuddling with our cats per day — and placed over 250 cats in permanent adoptive homes.
To find out more about the cafe, including visiting, adopting cats, and how to donate or volunteer, please visit their website.
We at CatSynth are staying safely ensconced at HQ as the rather poor smoke-filled air reaches our doorstep. Fortunately, we are safe and have everything, which no longer true for so many to our north in Sonoma and Napa. This is still an on-going situation which we are following on social media and through local sources like SFGate. It is just devasting to see scenes and places I recognize going up in flames.
As things are still in the emergency and evacuation phase, the focus is on shelter, and of course fighting the fire.
To accommodate the estimated 20,000 evacuees, a number of local landmarks have opened their doors to the growing influx of escapees. Below is a list of shelters, organizations, schools, and businesses we've found that are currently operating as safe spaces; they need able-and-willing volunteers and donations of essential supplies.
Natural disasters of this magnitude affect more than human lives. Donate your time—and extra bags of dog and cat food—to the North Bay branches of the Humane Society and SPCA as they go about the tough work of accommodating new shelter animals.
Animal shelters in the region are evacuating some of their residents to places south here in SF and in Oakland. In some cases, it may the shelter is in danger. In others, they are making space for animals lost or otherwise affected by the fires. Our friends at the SF SPCA and Cat Town Oakland are helping out.
Many wineries and other institutions are affected. We haven't heard updates from some our favorite places around St Helena and Calistoga. We did hear that the di Rosa Art Center galleries and staff are all safe. Friends have reported in safe as well. We will continue to follow things – it is so hard to watch but also so hard to look.
The Humane Society of the United States, anticipating a deluge of lost and abandoned pets after the recent natural disaster, began coordinating flights of animals already in Texas shelters to other parts of the country. Eventually, they relocated hundreds of adoptable cats and dogs in the days before and after the storm. The same happened with Irma in Florida and the Virgin Islands. The same is happening after Maria in Puerto Rico.
HSUS is collecting and distributing donations for animal and human relief work. Many local organizations are helping as well. You can find out more from The Humane Society of Puerto Rico's Facebook Page on current status and needs.
You can see feline evacuees from Puerto Rico to Safe Haven for Cats in North Carolina in this video, via this article.
Tiger is a cute orange-striped cat looking for a nice home.
What makes his story different from a typical cat-adoption ad on on a blog is that Tiger is in Lebanon. Politically, I am generally supportive of Israel and have relatives in Haifa, but nothing makes one feel for the people on the "other side" in a war quite like stories of animals and children and the people who care for them. (I guess I find it true for stories about artists and musicians, too, but I'll save that for another post). Consider the otherwise happy story of Barbara and Fluffy and the "amazing girl" who adopted them. She could be the model of my own ideal child. One can only hope that neither she nor her cats have suffered during the attacks on Beirut.
I also read about a program at the American University of Beirut (AUB) where students care for the many cats that roam the campus, providing food, shelter, health care and positive human interaction, and discouraging their fellow students from abusing the cats.
I doubt relatively liberal AUB is much of a Hezbollah stronghold, so would hope it escapes any attacks on the city. I haven't seen a lot of news concerning AUB during the current fighting, aside from evacuations and the university hospital being a primary center for treating the sick and wounded. Those operating animal shelters in Beirut and conducting rescues do find themselves closer to the neighborhoods that have seem much of the bombing, including the southern suburbs.
I enourage cat and animal lovers to check out these and other articles at animals.beirut.com for a sympathetic look at people (and their animal friends) in war outside of the usual political and ideological shouting on both sides. Over the next few days, I will try to post cat-related resources from other sides of the multiple Middle-East conflicts.


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Least Like The Other: Searching For Rosemary Kennedy – Irish National Opera – Review
By No More Workhorse on September 15, 2021 • ( 1 Comment )
by Paddy McGovern
Sep 11 – 18, 2021 8pm – Dublin O'Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College
Sep 22, 2021 8pm – Cork Cork Opera House
Sep 25, 2021 8pm – Limerick Lime Tree Theatre
Fresh from the great success of Richard Strauss's Elektra at Kilkenny a few weeks ago, The Irish National Opera's revival of their already acclaimed Least Like The Other: Searching for Rosemary Kennedy reaffirms their reputation for outstanding productions of challenging work. The opera, created by Brian Irvine and Netia Jones, was first performed as part of the 2019 Galway International Arts Festival, with fourteen live musicians working with two conductors. Like all theatre and music companies, the Covid pandemic has demanded imaginative adaptation regarding venues and logistics – and indeed performers. The INO has risen to the challenge triumphantly, the instrumental parts being pre-recorded and experienced by the audience on fourteen speakers in "surround sound".
The tragedies surrounding the Kennedy clan, the assassinations of Jack and Bobby, the plane crashes that took away their father's favourite, first Joe Junior, later his sister, the brilliant and beautiful Kathleen, are well known. Joe Kennedy Snr and his wife Rose were determined to do everything in their power to mould their family into the embodiment of the "American dream". The children were great athletes, dazzlingly good looking and brilliantly intelligent – except for one, Rosemary, who was born with a degree of intellectual disability. Her tragedy, carefully hidden from view for decades, is the focus of the opera.
In a 1974 interview used in this production Rose Kennedy said: "Like every mother, I want my children to be as perfect as possible, morally, mentally and physically." The emphasis on perfection, on winning, on coming first is brilliantly conveyed by Jones's staging, as rapid-fire questions are voiced and simultaneously flashed on screens, with Irvine's accompanying score evoking Rosemary's increasing bewilderment and lostness. Multiple efforts were made to eliminate any sign of abnormality and when all else failed Joe and Rose decided to opt for an experimental procedure, frontal lobotomy, with catastrophic consequences for their daughter.
Mezzo-soprano Naomi Louisa O'Connell's portrayal of Rosemary is an outstanding achievement, more than deserving of OperaWire's description of her as "a phenomenally versatile, intelligent actress." Vocally secure throughout a musically demanding score, her concentration on the emotion of the part is unfaltering even as her singing is 'interrupted' and cross-cut by voice-over, staccato questions and discordant orchestration. Dancer/actor Stephanie Dufresne and actor Ronan Leahy combine several roles, from Rosemary's siblings to staff at the mental institution where she was to spend most of her life. Aoife Spillane Hinks combines the role of assistant director with that of on-stage voice-over, conveying comments, 'professional' pronouncements and snippets from family recollections and interviews with the matriarchal Rose. Each of them is up to the standard of the staging of the opera which is outstanding in its clarity, imaginative reach and execution.
The set – clinical, austere, relentlessly oppressive – lighting, soundscape and projections all serve to draw us into the experience of this intense, brilliant, seventy-minute experience. The video sequence of the Rosemary figure swimming, all free and fluid movement, bathed in sky blue and dazzling white, suggests the quality of life she might have enjoyed. Its tweaking in muted colour and dimmed light, at the finale, is an inspired touch by the director, one among many.
Given its bleak subject matter, you won't be humming any arias on your way home, but as the production moves to Cork next week, no one who appreciates first-class theatre or enthralling contemporary music should miss it.
Mezzo-soprano – Naomi Louisa O'Connell – SEPTEMBER 11, 14, 16, 18, 22, 25
Soprano – Amy Ní Fhearraigh – SEPTEMBER 15, 17
Stephanie Dufresne, Ronan Leahy
Aoife Spillane-Hinks
Conductor – Fergus Sheil
Director / Designer / Video Designer – Netia Jones
Lighting Designer – Sinéad Wallace
Sound Designer – David Sheppard
Associate Sound Designer – Kevin McGing
Choreographer – Muirne Bloomer
Assistant Director – Aoife Spillane-Hinks
Categories: Header, Music, Theatre, Theatre Review
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Eleanora Salter and the Monster From the Sea – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
Brigid Connaughton says:
Anyone interested in pure theatre should not miss this thrilling production by Irish National Opera Company
The review says it all .