Pere Puig

• Doctor in Marine Sciences
• Research Professor at Spanish National Research Council

The potential threat of fisheries on seabed carbon is a topic of growing concern, yet existing literature presents inconsistencies leaving experts divided on the topic. We conducted a global meta‐analysis to synthesize the current knowledge and quantify how demersal fishing impacts various biogeochemical properties. Direct impact studies revealed o...

Bottom trawling on marine environments can drastically modify seafloor geomorphology and sedimentary dynamics not only on the fishing grounds but also in adjacent downslope regions, particularly in submarine canyons environments, which are hotspots of benthic biomass and productivity in the deep sea. When this type of fishery occurs along submarine...

Bottom trawling in submarine canyons can affect their sedimentary dynamics, but studies addressing this topic are still scarce. In the Gulf of Palermo (NW Sicily, SW Mediterranean Sea), bottom trawling occurs on the continental slope, but principally concentrates within Oreto Canyon. Hydrographic profiles and time series data of temperature, turbid...

Trace metal contents and fluxes in downward particulate matter and dated sediment cores of the NW Alboran Sea are analysed in this study with the aim of assessing the role of the Atlantic inflow on their transport. Increases in Zn, Cu and Pb were detected in downward particulate matter collected by sediment traps after river flooding events and aft...

Sources and pathways of the Hg accumulated in the sediments of the Gulf of Lion (GoL) and its adjacent marine areas (Northwestern Mediterranean) have been explored using sediment grab samples, sediment cores, and sediment trap samples. The main source of Hg along this margin is the Rhône River, whose suspended sediments settle mainly in the prodelt...

Bottom trawling is a fishing method that involves towing of nets along the seafloor to catch demersal species. The dragging of trawling gears along the seafloor results in scraping and ploughing of the surficial sediments, leading to the formation of turbid plumes of resuspended sediments and causing measurable changes in the seabed morphology. Hig...

Bottom trawling can significantly affect benthic communities, directly through immediate removal of sessile organisms and indirectly through sediment resuspension. Submarine canyons, often surrounded by fishing grounds, are important habitats for cold-water corals (CWC). Vulnerability of CWCs to increased suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is k...

A new species of sea anemone (Actiniaria, Metridioidea) is described and illustrated from cold-water coral environments at 600 m depth at the Blanes Canyon in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Litophellia enoplosa sp. nov. is characterized by a column divisible into scapus and scapulus, the former with cuticle forming tenaculi, a mesogleal margi...

Accurately predicting the flow speed is crucial for applications of coastal ocean circulation simulations such as sediment, larval or contaminant dispersal. This study aims to assess the accuracy of simulated flow speed in a coastal circulation model in comparison with field observations. Deviation between simulated and observed flow speed was asse...

A simulation based on a hydro-sedimentary model was conducted for the period between summer 2010 and spring 2012 in the Gulf of Lion (northwestern Mediterranean Sea) to understand the spatial and temporal variability of sediment transport, erosion and deposition on the continental shelf and slope. Datasets of both simulated and observed current, t...

Submarine canyons are important conduits of sediment and organic matter to deep-sea environments, mainly during high-energy natural events such as storms, river floods, or dense shelf water cascading, but also due to human activities such as bottom trawling. The contributions of natural and trawling-induced sediment and organic matter inputs into P...

The Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon is located in the western Mediterranean Sea and is long known for hosting cold-water coral colonies in the canyon head region at depths ranging from 250 to 550 m. In 2019 during the CALADU cruise, three kinds of 3D-reconstructions were applied to better understand the distribution of coral colonies, their habitat and thei...

The effects of massive dumping of dredged material were studied during and after the last large Barcelona port expansion. A benthic tripod equipped with a current meter, a turbidimeter and a video camera was deployed at the edge of the Barcelona shelf dumpsite. Additionally, sediment cores were taken before, during and after dumping at the tripod l...

Submarine canyons are preferential pathways for transport of particulate matter and contaminants from the shelf to the deep sea. The Gulf of Palermo continental margin has a very narrow shelf (about 2–3 km wide on average) and is incised by several submarine canyons that favour shelf-slope sediment transfer. A sediment core collected on the outer s...

Continental margins are transitional areas between the land and the deep ocean where large amounts of particulate matter are supplied, transported, and ultimately deposited in the deep sea. High-energy hydrodynamic processes such as storms, ocean currents, or internal waves and tides, as well as bottom trawling activities contribute to the resuspen...

Despite the drive towards equality between women and men in research institutions in recent years and the progress that has been made, there is still a long road ahead. Science is still associated with the male image, and women’s work and contributions are often invisible. Like many other spheres of society, research institutions contribute to the...

Sea pens (Octocorallia, Pennatulacea) are a specialized and morphologically distinct group of octocorals. The majority of them have adapted to survive on soft sediments with the help of an anchoring muscular peduncle. The whip-like sea pen Protoptilum carpenteri is considered a deep-sea North Atlantic species, which recently has been documented als...

Increases of water turbidity and suspended sediment transport in submarine canyons have been associated with high-energy events such as storms, river floods and dense shelf water cascading (DSWC), and occasionally with bottom trawling along canyon flanks and rims. To assess the variations on the water column turbidity and sediment transport in the...

Bottom trawling in submarine canyons can affect their natural sedimentation rates, but studies addressing this issue are still scarce. In the Gulf of Palermo (SW Mediterranean), bottom trawling occurs on the slope around Oreto, Arenella and Eleuterio canyons. Analyses of excess ²¹⁰Pb concentrations and grain size fractions in sediment cores from th...

Cold-water coral reefs (CWC) are known to be biodiversity hotspots, however, the sponge assemblages found to dwell within these habitats haven not been studied in depth to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The present article provides the first insight on the associated sponge fauna of the recently discovered CWC communities on the Catalan Margin and,...

Major deep‐convection activity in the northwestern Mediterranean during winter 2005 triggered the formation of a complex anomalous deep‐water structure that substantially modified the properties of the Western Mediterranean deep layers. Since then, evolution of this thermohaline structure, the so‐called Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT), has b...

Plain Language Summary Bottom trawling grounds have been expanding to deeper areas of the oceans since the mid‐XXth century, causing substantial effects to fish populations. In order to reduce this impact, new management strategies have been introduced, such as establishing temporal trawling closures to allow fish populations to recover. Bottom tra...

Submarine canyons are deep, large-scale incisions that occur on the continental shelf and slope of all ocean margins. These landforms serve as preferential particle-transport conduits that connect the coastal zone with the deep-sea. Canyons have been studied for decades and are among the most iconic submarine geomorphic features. Advances in marine...

Knowing the displacement capacity and mobility patterns of industrially exploited (i.e., fished) marine resources is key to establishing effective conservation management strategies in human-impacted marine ecosystems. Acquiring accurate behavioral information of deep-sea fished ecosystems is necessary to establish the sizes of marine protected are...

Three instrumented lines were installed on the continental slope and the basin of the Gulf of Valencia for thirteen months (May 2010 to June 2011) aiming to study particle fluxes and their relationship with environmental parameters. Total mass flux varied between 52 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ in the central part of the basin and 7199 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ in the northern slo...

This Collective Article presents information about 21 taxa belonging to seven Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Porifera, three Cni-daria, two Arthropoda, three Mollusca, one Echinodermata, and ten Chordata) and extending from the western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Spain: first rec...

Nowadays, there are an increasing number of reports of deep-sea accumulation of marine debris, often associated with a wide array of pernicious effects on benthic fauna. Nevertheless, there is still a huge knowledge gap regarding the interaction of benthic organisms and marine debris. In this paper, we report for the first time the colonization of...

A coupled ocean-wave model was used to investigate residence times of the water masses on the Gulf of Lion shelf and their export routes during autumn 2010 and winter 2010–2011. Particular attention is paid to the Cap de Creus region and submarine canyon, a key site for the export of water from the Gulf of Lion shelf. First, model results were comp...

An integrated approach, combining swath bathymetry, an extensive dataset of vibrocores and high‐resolution seismic reflection data was used to assess the origin and evolution of offshore sand ridges in a tideless continental shelf (Gulf of Valencia, western Mediterranean). The sand ridges are located in the mid‐outer shelf at 55‐85 m water depth, o...

Cold-water corals (CWC) are known to be deep-sea biodiversity hotspots, yet there is still a huge knowledge gap regarding their associated fauna. As so, CWC ecosystems pose as a perfect environment for the discovery of new species. In this context two new species of Hamigera (Demospongiae) have been recorded associated with CWC in antipodal parts o...

Trace metal pollution of coastal sediment is monitored in many countries to control its evolution and the effectiveness of preventive and corrective measures. However, temporal variability of trace metal pollution is not always due to changes in pollution management, as natural processes can induce a significant variability in the trace metal conte...

In 2016, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) initiated a new monitoring program aiming at studying sediment transport processes off the shelf and slope of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This area is subject to an intense bottom trawling fishery targeting predominantly rockfish, flatfish, Pacific cod and Lingcod, with landings ranging between 100- 115...

Polluted sediments retained in water reservoirs are potential sources of deleterious materials downstream, especially during floods or flushing flows (FFs). Their interaction with these events is important for determining potential risks and evaluating management actions. In the Ebro River, the Flix Reservoir accumulated a deposit of more than 3 ×...

Bottom trawling in the deep sea is one of the main drivers of sediment resuspension, eroding the seafloor and altering the content and composition of sedimentary organic matter (OM). The physical and biogeochemical impacts of bottom trawling were studied on the continental slope of the Gulf of Castellammare, Sicily (southwestern Mediterranean), thr...

Resumen: La morfología del litoral del delta del Ebro pone de manifiesto la presencia de depósitos relictos de prodelta asociados a las diferentes desembocaduras del río que han sido identificadas en la llanura deltaica durante el último milenio. En este trabajo, utilizando datos batimétricos existentes reprocesados y otros nuevos adquiridos con so...

During the ABIDES (Assessment of Bottom-trawling Impacts in DEep-sea Sediments) Project, 20 ROV dives were conducted along the Catalan margin (NW Mediterranean) targeting heavily exploited continental slope fishing grounds, with the aim of exploring the impact of bottom trawling activities on the sedimentary environment and deep-sea benthic communi...

In the Mediterranean Sea, many of the locations where cold-water coral communities have been reported and documented tend to be associated to submarine canyon environments. This contribution provides a summary of the Mediterranean canyons where, up to date, cold-water corals develop, describing the most common species, their water depth distributio...

Bottom trawling in the deep sea is one of the main drivers of sediment resuspension, eroding the deep seafloor and altering the content and composition of sedimentary organic matter (OM). The physical and biogeochemical impacts of bottom trawling on the seafloor were studied in the continental slope of the Gulf of Castellammare, Sicily (Southwester...

The temporal evolution of water column turbidity was studied on a submarine canyon on the Barcelona continental margin. From April to June 2014, an instrumented mooring array equipped with an autonomous hydrographic profiler with a CTD and a turbidimeter was deployed in the Foix canyon axis at 870 m depth. The instruments were programmed to collect...

An extensive dataset of vibrocores and high-resolution seismic data were analysed to characterise offshore sand ridges on the Gulf of Valencia and the Murcia continental shelves, in the western Mediterranean Sea, with the aim of improving knowledge about the formation and evolution of these bedforms. Sediment coring revealed a layer of coarse sand...

In a global context of climate change affecting the marine environment, it is important to consider the effect of extreme events in driving ecological change and to gain a better understanding of conditions to be expected under future scenarios. In this study we focus on monthly oceanographic data collected off Barcelona city during the period 2002...

Autonomous hydrographic profilers have been recently used to conduct continuous measurements of water column properties over large depth ranges at high temporal and vertical resolution. In the frame of the FORMED and the ABIDES Projects, the Aqualog profiling carrier, equipped with a CTD and a turbidimeter, was successfully tested in two submarine...

Knowledge about sponges inhabiting cold-water coral reefs in the Atlanto-Mediterranean region has steadily increased in the past years, yet our knowledge about their diversity is still scarce. In the present work, we describe the sponge diversity associated with Madrepora oculata Linnaeus, 1758. Several fragments of this coral from the Blanes Canyo...

A detailed study of 15 sediment cores from Blanes Canyon and its immediate surroundings (NW Mediterranean Sea) was conducted to compare historic sedimentation rates and evaluate the possible impact of bottom-trawling intensification on the sedimentary regimes over the past 50 years. The canyon axis and flanks, as well as the adjacent open slope, we...

A comprehensive study of 15 sediment cores from the Blanes Canyon area was conducted to understand natural sedimentary processes and alterations caused by bottom trawling. Canyon axis and flanks, as well as adjacent open slope areas were sampled at depths ranging from 300 m to 2200 m. Grain size, dry bulk density and 210Pb concentration profiles we...

Bottom trawling is a major driver of sedimentary dynamics in the deep sea, resuspending surface sediments and eroding the seafloor. Although the impacts of trawling on deep-sea sediment properties and the resulting impairment of the ecosystem functioning have been previously documented, its repercussions on the bioavailability of organic matter sti...

Industrial bottom trawl fishery is among the human activities with most impact on deep-sea ecosystems, due to its widespread geographical distribution and to its strong effects on renewable natural resources. One of the main goals of the EU Euforfleet-2 Project ISLAND (ExplorIng SiciLian CAnyoN Dynamics) was to explore the role of bottom trawling i...

Large sediment waves have been observed over the Gulf of Roses (GoR) continental slope (NW Mediterranean), developed between ~200 and ~400 m water depth. Geometric parameters computed from the acquired swath bathymetry revealed mean wave lengths of ~2000 m, and maximum wave heights of ~60 m. Single-channel reflection seismic profiles provided infor...

The sustainability issues of deep-sea fisheries are increasingly becoming recognized by EU Member States and by regional-level organizations, identifying bottom trawling as the main human activity causing physical loss of -and damage to- the seafloor. Recently, there has been a shift towards gears with less impact on the surface sediments, aiming t...

Evolution of water column turbidity induced by fishing activities was studied on a trawled submarine canyon on the Barcelona continental margin. From April to June 2014, an instrumented mooring array equipped with a hydrographic profiler with a CTD and a turbidimeter was deployed in the Foix canyon axis at 870 m depth, at a deeper location than the...

In the framework of the ABIDES (Assessment of Bottom-trawling Impacts in DEep-sea Sediments) Project, a focused ROV cruise targeting heavily impacted fishing grounds of the Catalan margin (NW Mediterranean) was conducted in September 2017. Trawling fleets on this region have been specialized on a monospecific fishery targeting the blue and red deep...

Commercial bottom trawling causes some of the largest impacts on the sea floor, and it has been identified as one of the major drivers of sediment resuspension on continental slope regions, particularly in areas surrounding submarine canyons. To assess whether there have been significant trawling-induced alterations in the sediment dynamics within...

This Article contains an error in Figure 3, where the sedimentation rate from Besòs-3 '0.078 cm/y' is incorrectly given as '0.39 cm/y'. The correct Figure 3 appears below as Figure 1. (Figure Presented).

Sea-atmosphere interactions play an important role in oceanographic processes at various spatial and temporal scales. In the world oceans, several regions are key spots of intense air-sea interactions which considerably affect the heat and water budgets. An example of this is the formation of dense waters by cooling, evaporation or freezing over co...

Recently acquired swath bathymetry and seismic datasets on the Gulf of Roses continental slope revealed the presence of large sediment waves that have developed between ~200 and ~400 m water depth. Geometric parameters were computed from the multibeam dataset and the obtained results showed mean sediment wave lengths of ~2000 m and maximum heights...

Unlike the major anthropogenic changes that terrestrial and coastal habitats underwent during the last centuries such as deforestation, river engineering, agricultural practices or urbanism, those occurring underwater are veiled from our eyes and have continued nearly unnoticed. Only recent advances in remote sensing and deep marine sampling techno...

Unlike the major anthropogenic changes that terrestrial and coastal habitats underwent during the last centuries such as deforestation, river engineering, agricultural practices or urbanism, those occurring underwater are veiled from our eyes and have continued nearly unnoticed. Only recent advances in remote sensing and deep marine sampling techno...

Submarine canyons are deep incisions observed along most of the world’s continental margins. Their topographic relief is as dramatic as that of any canyon or river valley on land but is hidden beneath the surface of the ocean. Our knowledge of canyons has therefore come primarily from remote sensing and sampling, and has involved contributions from...

An array of 76 high-resolution temperature sensors at 0.5 m intervals between 5 and 42.5 m off the bottom was moored near the Barcelona harbor buoy in 81 m water depth, between October 2013 and April 2014. The mooring was located just seaward of an extensive sediment wave area developed in the Llobregat River prodelta, with 1 m high crests parallel...

Bottom trawling leads to recurrent sediment resuspension events over fishing grounds. Recent studies have shown how bottom trawling can drive seascape reshaping at large spatial scales and enhance sediment transport in submarine canyons, which subsequently impacts deep-sea ecosystems. Present knowledge on the transfer and accumulation of sediment f...

Many studies highlight that fish trawling activities cause seafloor erosion, but the assessment of the remobilization of surface sediments and its relocation is still not well documented. These impacts were examined along the flanks and axes of three headless submarine canyons incised on the Barcelona continental margin, where trawling fleets have...

Canyon head regions are key areas for understanding the shelf-to-canyon sedimentary dynamics and assessing the predominant hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes shaping their morphology. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry surveys conducted on the shelf, upper slope and along the main thalwegs of the Alías-Almanzora submarine canyon system were u...

Submarine canyons are major geomorphic features of continental margins around the world. Several recent multidisciplinary projects focused on the study of canyons have considerably increased our understanding of their ecological role, the goods, and services they provide to human populations, and the impacts that human activities have on their over...

Recently acquired swath bathymetry, high-resolution seismic profiles and bottom sediment samples have revealed the presence of large-scale fine-grained sediment waves over the Gulf of Valencia continental slope. Like many other deep-water sediment waves, these features were previously attributed to gravitational slope failure related to creep-like...

A sand ridge field with crests oriented NE–SW (52°) located between 55 and 85 m water depth on the Valencia continental shelf (Spain) was mapped with multibeam swath bathymetry and characterized with high-resolution seismic reflection profiling and sediment sampling. Boundary layer hydrodynamic and suspended sediment concentration measurements cond...

The evolution of trace metal pollution on the Barcelona city continental shelf during the last few decades was studied by analyzing the historical records of trace metals in sediment cores and surface sediment samples taken at the same locations in 1987 and in 2008. Polluted surface samples taken in 1987 reached enrichment factors of up to 490 for...

We investigated the natural and anthropogenic drivers controlling the spatiotemporal distribution of the meiofauna in the submarine Blanes Canyon, and its adjacent western slope (NW Mediterranean margin of the Iberian Peninsula). We analyzed the relationships between the main sedimentary environmental variables (i.e. grain size, Chl-a, Chl-a:phaeop...

In this work we report short-term measurements of the thermohaline structure and velocity field inside a narrow submarine canyon by means of a yo-yo-like profiler. An Aqualog profiler was deployed inside the Besòs Canyon in the northwestern Mediterranean continental margin, providing a unique data set on the vertical evolution of water column chara...

Temporal evolution of the Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) was analysed using θ-S data from two deep stations seasonally sampled in the NE of Minorca and off Cape Palos since 2003 and 2007 respectively. Increasing trends in S and θ of the order of 10-3 year-1 and 5·10-3 ºC year-1 were shown, higher than values previously reported for the 1900...

The process of resuspension by bottom trawling leads to recurrent transfer of sediment from shallower to deeper areas, and occurs practically worldwide. Recent studies have shown the importance of trawling as a driver of sediment transfer in canyons. Our aim is to assess trawling impact on sediment dynamics in La Fonera submarine canyon (NW Mediter...

There are at least 817 submarine canyons in the Mediterranean, Marmara and Black seas. They constitute important features of continental margins from geological, biological and oceanographic perspectives. In terms of geo-morphology they are quite different from those occurring in the rest of the world: they are in general steeper, more closely spac...

Our understanding of bottom-currents and associated oceanographic processes (e.g., overflows, barotropic tidal currents) including intermittent processes (e.g., vertical eddies, deep sea storms, horizontal vortices, internal waves and tsunamis) is rapidly evolving. Many deep-water processes remain poorly understood due to limited direct observation...

There are at least 817 submarine canyons in the Mediterranean, Marmara and Black seas. They constitute important features of continental margins from geological, biological and oceanographic perspectives. In terms of geo-morphology they are quite different from those occurring in the rest of the world: they are in general steeper, more closely spac...

This synthesis, sketched during the course of the workshop discussions, was developed and consolidated in the months thereafter thanks to further inputs, assembled by Silvia Ceramicola, that were received from the meeting participants. The editor, Frederic Briand, reviewed and edited the entire Monograph, with special attention to this opening chap...

Several fields of large-scale sediment waves have been observed along the Gulf of Valencia continental margin (NW Mediterranean). The largest sediment waves develop on the continental slope, extending from 250 to 850 m water depth, with wavelengths ranging between 500 m and 1000 m and wave heights from ~2 m to ~50 m. On the lower part of the slope,...

Previous studies conducted in La Fonera (Palamós) submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean) found that trawling activities along the canyon flanks cause resuspension and transport of sediments toward the canyon axis. 210Pb chronology supported by 137Cs dating applied to a sediment core collected at 1750 m in 2002 suggested a doubling of the sediment accu...

An extensive dataset of vibrocores and high-resolution seismic data allowed characterizing a sand ridge field in the Valencia mid-outer shelf. Sediment coring revealed a layer of coarse sand to gravel with pebbles corresponding with the basal reflector which is identified in the seismic profile and interpreted as the Holocene ravinement surface. In...

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-anal...

Our understanding of the role of bottom currents and associated oceanographic processes (e.g, overflows, barotropic tidal currents) including intermittent processes (e.g, vertical eddies, deep sea storms, horizontal vortices, internal waves and tsunamis) is rapidly evolving. Many deep-water processes remain poorly understood due to limited direct o...

Bottom-trawling is one of the anthropogenic activities with a stronger and more widespread impact on the seafloor. Physical processes involved in sediment resuspension due to trawling and the resulting sediment-laden flows are not fully understood. The amount and fate of remobilized sediments are of the utmost relevance for establishing present-day...

Fishing gear and techniques, originally devised to collect limited amounts of fish and shellfish for the nourishment of small human communities, have evolved through the centuries, and particularly after the Second World War, towards a mass production industry in such a scale that it has placed many commercial stocks in a delicate or depleted statu...

A sand ridge field with crests oriented NE–SW (52°) located between 55 and 85 m water depth on the Valencia continental shelf (Spain) was mapped with multibeam swath bathymetry and characterized with seismic profiling and sediment sampling. Boundary-layer hydrodynamic measurements conducted over a sand ridge at 66 m depth show evidence of wave and...