Distribution of catch from deep-sea impacting fishing on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W), for the period 2010-2015. The average of yearly fishing catch for the period 2010-2015 is displayed as an index on the ATLAS grid of 25km * 25km resolution. Source data originated from the Global Fisheries Landings V4.0 database. The dataset was filtered to select only the fishing gears that have an impact on large areas of the seafloor (dredges, bottom trawls, and Danish seines). Within each cell, all remaining catch records were summed to get the total catch rate of the considered year. This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.

Distribution of three geomorphologic features (fracture zones, canyons, and seamounts) on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W). Source vector data originated from the GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Features Names for fractures, Harris & Whiteway (2011) for canyons, and Yesson et al. (2011) for seamounts. The presence (value=1) of fracture zones or seamounts and the total length of canyons (in km, independently for shelf-incising or blind canyons) was extracted in 25km * 25km gridsquares. This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.

Distribution of three bathymetric terrain variables (depth, slope and Bathymetric Position Index) on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W). This dataset originated from three source layers (3km * 3km resolution) computed within the work package 3 of EU ATLAS project, and based on the EMODnet Digital Bathymetry portal and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). From these source layers, the mean depth (m), slope (degree) and BPI (no unit) were calculated for each 25km * 25km gridsquare. This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.

Presence of deep-sea mining exploration zones on the North Atlantic (18°N to 76°N and 36°E to 98°W). These areas correspond to the three polymetallic sulphides exploration contracts on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, attributed to Poland, France and Russia. Each of the three contract areas is divided into 100 squares of 10km by 10km. Source polygons originated from the International Seabed Authority. The presence (value=1) of deep-sea mining was extracted in 25km * 25km gridsquares. This dataset was built to feed a basin-wide spatial conservation planning exercise, targeting the deep sea of the North Atlantic. The goal of this approach was to identify conservation priority areas for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and deep fish species, based on the distribution of species and habitats, human activities and current spatial management.