| Resumo: |
Fisheries and aquaculture are of major importance to the coastal communities throughout the Bay of Biscaye. Almost half of French fishermen rely on catches from the Bay which achieve and estimated first sale value of more than 525m annually. Moreover, emblematic species such as eels have an additional economic as weil as social value for coastal communities. Similarly, the main French shellfish rearing areas are located within the Bay of Biscaye. They contribute predominantly to the yearly spat (mussel & oyster) recruitment, used to sustain the entire French shellfish industry. These activities have a direct impact on ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Meanwhile, drastic environmental changes have been reported over the last 30 years, including a climate change pattern inducing additional ecosystem changes. Nutrient inputs from freshwater outputs have qualitatively and quantitatively changed effecting coastal communities (e.g., impacts on benthic communities, or Solea solea population dynamics (nursery grounds)). The average seawater temperature has increased by 1.5QC over the last 25 years in subsurface and deeper waters.
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