Marine Trophic Index percentage change between 1950 and 2004

Units

Percent

Additional information

Geographical coverage note: Baltic Sea Barents Sea, Black Sea, Celtic-Biscay Shelf, Faroe Plateau, Greenland Sea, Iberian Coastal, Iceland Shelf/Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea

• In the majority of European seas, the Marine Trophic Index (MTI) has been declining since the mid 1950s, which means that populations of predatory fish are declining and populations of smaller fish and invertebrates are increasing; this indicates that fisheries are not exploiting the resources sustainably (EEA, 2009).
• There are significant differences in the decline in MTI rates in the different seas (EEA, 2009).