Data from: Associations of commercial fisheries and cold-water corals and sponges

The growing threats to deep-sea ecosystems (e.g., offshore wind, seabed
mining, aquaculture) have the potential to damage these understudied
systems and to impact the fisheries that they support. However, to date,
there has not been a uniform assessment identifying which commercially
landed species are associated with the cold-water corals and other
structure-forming invertebrates (SFI) found in the deep-sea. We conducted
a meta-analysis to identify the species of fish and invertebrates landed
by commercial fisheries in California, USA (2011-2024), and evaluate their
potential associations with SFI. Captured species are assigned to Landing
Categories, which range in specificity from individual species to broad
taxonomic groups. We developed a referenced list of observations
documenting associations, and use three metrics to identify which of the
313 Landing Categories are (or are not) associated with SFI: (1) Adjacent:
species observed within one body length of SFI (target fish) or touching
SFI (target invertebrates); (2) General Proximity: species observed within
the general area of SFI or based on modeling; (3) Habitat: species’ depth
ranges and habitat requirements suggest associations. Approximately 30% of
Landing Categories were associated with cold-water SFI, but the specific
percentage varied across metrics (Adjacent: 23%; General Proximity: 27%;
Habitat: 36%). Commercially targeted fish were more likely to be
associated with SFI than invertebrates, but many invertebrates had
undocumented life histories and/or non-specific Landing Categories. This
study provides a step toward understanding the importance of SFI for
commercial fisheries and demonstrates the broad co-occurrence between
commercially landed marine species and living deep-water habitats.