WKBENTH4

How healthy is the seafloor—and how can we define “good condition” in a way that is both scientifically robust and usable for real-world management of human activities and pressures?

As Europe works toward improving the state of its marine environment, there is a growing need for clear, credible, and practical thresholds that can guide decision-making under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and support wider restoration and conservation objectives.

The ICES Workshop to Evaluate Options for Setting Seafloor Quality Thresholds (WKBENTH4) will take place 2–6 March 2025, chaired by Andrew Kenny (UK) and Daniël van Denderen (Denmark). WKBENTH4 is part of ICES ongoing work supporting an EU request to develop operational approaches for defining seafloor quality thresholds under MSFD Descriptor 6. Building on the scoping work carried out in WKD6SCOPE and drawing on more than 50 datasets on benthic communities and pressures across Europe, WKBENTH4 is the next step: a hands-on workshop dedicated to examining how best to set thresholds for seafloor condition across Europe's seas.

Over five days, WKBENTH4 will:

· Evaluate and compare selected methods for setting seafloor quality thresholds to identify what works best in practice, including an evaluation of how uncertainty in indicators and thresholds feeds into the assessment outcomes

· Demonstrate how different threshold choices shape real world assessments of Europe's seas.

· Explore how to combine indicators, pressures and good-state thresholds to provide a clearer, more coherent picture of seafloor health.

· Develop recommendations to inform ICES advice, future data needs, and practical guidance for managers.

· Highlight how the selected threshold methods can support the Nature Restoration Regulation, such as defining reference conditions for key benthic habitats.

Why This Workshop Matters

Setting thresholds for seafloor health and integrity is not just a scientific exercise—it is a foundation for effective marine management. Thresholds help determine when ecosystems are in good condition, or when action is needed, and how progress can be measured. With increasing pressures on marine habitats, the need for reliable, operational thresholds is of high and rising policy importance.

WKBENTH4 will bring together experts, practitioners, and policy specialists to ensure that thresholds are not only ecologically meaningful but also practical for use across regions, management contexts, and policy frameworks.

Participation

WKBENTH4 will be held as a hybrid meeting to enable broad engagement, but active participation throughout the week is essential. A balanced group of experts will be selected to ensure constructive discussion and diversity of perspectives.

Registration is required, and please note that open participant spaces are extremely limited.
To express interest, please email Ryan Dunne by 6 February, indicating your background and your ability to participate throughout the workshop.

If oversubscribed, ICES may prioritise attendance to ensure balanced expertise and regional representation. Selected participants will be informed of their place in the workshop by Friday, 13 February 2025.