The GES for D1 is defined, inter alia, by:
... the coastal waters in accordance with the Water Framework Directive are in good environmental status and in good chemical status.
... are in a favourable conservation status for the habitat types of Annex I (habitat type 11) to the Habitats Directive relevant to the marine sector in the North Sea.
... the species of Annex II to the Habitats Directive, relevant for the marine sector in the North Sea, as well as species of the Birds Directive relevant to the marine sector in the North Sea, are in favourable conservation status due to the quality of their food habitat.
... the species, species groups and habitats listed in the Wadden Sea are in good condition.
... the objectives are achieved by single species or group specific conventions (e.g. ASCOBANS, seaport).
... the Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQO), as defined by OSPAR.

The species group of cephalopods has not been evaluated.

Explanation: Germany does not update the general description of good environmental status (GES) from 2012 at descriptor level in this reporting exercise. Over the reporting period, Germany has worked with the North Seas countries in the framework of the EU?s MSFD process and in OSPAR to develop methodological standards (indicators, evaluation procedures). Specific aspects of criteria and indicators that contribute to a quantitative assessment of good environmental status are reported in the reporting scheme Art. 8_GES. For the assessment of the criteria set out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848, the relevant assessments under other EU directives shall be taken into account under Article 8_GES, taking into account, as far as possible, the regional assessments that have been coordinated so far and, on a case-by-case basis, supplemented by national assessments.

GES not determined at sub-regional level as laid down in Article 3 (5) (b) of the MSFD. In the assessment under Article 8, it was based on D1C2, it was considered that if for 75 % of the species current biomass levels are not below those observed at the beginning of the series or the annual fishing mortality rate (F) is equal to or lower than the reference point (Fpa) and the spawning biomass (SSB) is not below BMSY or Bpa, the GES of the group is reached. The assessment of the group has been carried out only in cases where the number of species with assessment was equal to or greater than three.

GES not determined at sub-regional level as laid down in Article 3 (5) (b) of the MSFD. The description of Decision (EU) 2017/848 continued. The mortality rate per species due to by-catches of commercially-exploited cephalopod species is below the levels that put the species at risk and its long-term viability is ensured.


N/A

D1.5: The relevance of the cephalopods for the determination of good environmental status of German North Sea waters is currently unclear: For example, the burden of encumbrance is unclear. There is no directed fishery in Germany, but bycatch occurs. These are extremely low at between 2 and 20 tonnes. As regards the assessment of the state of octopus in the North Sea, there is currently no coordinated assessment procedure and the data base is uncertain. The high annual fluctuations in abundance make it difficult to define good environmental status for the populations concerned. Scientific Working Groups under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) are working on the development of methods and the collection of data.

D1.5: No cephalopod species could be assessed due to lack of data and / or operational indicators. Work on the methodology of D1C2 indicators and thresholds is underway for cephalopods in coastal soft environments from data collected during scientific campaigns. Indicators likely to inform the criteria D1C3 and D1C4 (ICES, 2016) are also identified, but these methodologies are not operational to date and do not allow to quantitatively assess the achievement or not of the good ecological state. knowledge on deep water cephalopods remains very fragmented and questions the very possibility of being able to evaluate them one day. The methodological standards associated with this descriptor will be clarified following further studies, as provided for in the 2019 Ministerial Decree relating to the definition of good ecological status of marine waters. The assessment is available via: https://doi.org/10.13155/60197.

D1.5: List of species...