Convergent signs of degradation in both the capacity and the quality of an essential fish habitat: state of the Seine estuary (France) flatfish nurseries

摘要

The Bay of Seine is a potentially important nursery ground, especially for flatfish. This area, however, is also strongly anthropogenically influenced. A composite approach was chosen to compare the flatfish nursery function of the Seine estuary with other coastal and estuarine areas and to determine the impact of anthropogenic disturbances. It emerges that alteration of the nursery function in the Seine estuary is related to the loss of nursery habitat and to a lower quality of the residual surfaces. These observations stressed the importance of habitat destruction and decreased quality of remaining habitat for fish stocks renewal.