Calls on the Commission to introduce new programmes for the collection of scientific data, if necessary using research vessels; believes that one example might be that undertaken by the Spanish fisheries administration in the regulatory area of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, mapping the Hatton Bank, where deep-water species are caught, and where the research focused on the distribution of seamounts, cold-water coral reefs and hydrothermal vents in order to identify sensitive zones in the areas in which fishing fleets operate;

13. Calls on the Commission to introduce new programmes for the collection of scientific data, if necessary using research vessels; believes that one example might be that undertaken by the Spanish fisheries administration in the regulatory area of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, mapping the Hatton Bank, where deep-water species are caught, and where the research focused on the distribution of seamounts, cold-water coral reefs and hydrothermal vents in order to identify sensitive zones in the areas in which fishing fleets operate;

We know that the kind of fishing commonly carried out over sensitive deep-water ecosystems can be horrifically destructive – cold-water coral, sea-mounts and hydrothermal vents can be destroyed.

13. Calls on the Commission to introduce new programmes for the collection of scientific information, if necessary using research vessels; believes that one example might be that undertaken by the Spanish fisheries administration in the regulatory area of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, mapping the Hatton Bank, where deep-water species are caught, and where the research focused on the distribution of seamounts, cold-water coral reefs and hydrothermal vents in order to identify sensitive zones in the areas in which fishing fleets operate;

108. Calls for increased efforts to end the disgraceful by-catch and discard problem which is a serious consequence of the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas regime of the CFP; takes the view that the by-catch depredation of marine mammals, seabirds and turtles is an abhorrence that must be stopped and that, in addition, the damage caused by fishing gear to sensitive seabeds and vulnerable deep water habitats, such as cold-water reefs, seamounts and sponge fields, requires that these be given special protection from fishing gear; points out that lost nets also lead to 'ghost-fishing' which can cause considerable fish-stock deple ...[+++]tion and habitat damage;

On the cold slopes, however, the soils have developed into formations resulting from the evolution of the molasse: they are deeper, particularly at the lower part of slope, often with textures with a predominance of clay; the problem of excess water tends to be more pronounced there, especially in the dips of the slopes.