GES was not determined at the subregion level as established in Article 5(3)(b) of the MSFD. The evaluation under Art. 8 was based on the level of risk, considering that if the level of risk is reduced, given that activities that condition or alter the integrity of the seabed are unknown, GES is reached.

The evaluation of the Red List of Habitats in Europe considers that, for most habitats that occur in the Northeast Atlantic, the existing data are insufficient and GES cannot be evaluated (Gubbay et al., 2016), although pressures, conservation trends and measures can be determined. According to the list, in the Azores subdivision there are six threatened habitats, four classified as Vulnerable and two as Endangered. The habitats identified in the region are distributed over a variety of ecological contexts and in a range of depths ranging from 3 to 4 meters above the coast to depths of more than 4,000 m (from supra-coastal to abyssal, Schmiing et al., 2015 ).

D5C1 - nutrient concentrations do not reach levels that indicate negative effects as a result of eutrophication D5C2 - chlorophyll concentrations do not reach levels that indicate negative effects as a result of nutrient enrichment. D5C4 - The photic limit (transparency) of the water column is not reduced (due to increase in suspended algae) to a level that indicates negative effects of nutrient enrichment. D5C5 - The dissolved oxygen concentration is not reduced due to nutrient enrichment to levels that indicate negative effects on benthic habitats (including on biota and their associated mobile species) or other eutrophication effects.