Fish Groups

Under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) the index developed by AFN, known as the Portuguese Piscicultural Biotic Integrity Index (F-IBIP), was adopted for the evaluation of biological quality based on the biological element Fish Fauna. The application of this index follows the concept of ecological deviation from so-called reference conditions. These reference conditions are defined for groups of water bodies of similar characteristics. Thus, for the application of this index it is necessary to identify for each sampling station to which fish grouping belongs. Succinctly, 6 fish groupings were defined biologically through statistical sorting techniques. The name of the groupings is as follows:Group 1 — Salmon farms of the Northern Region; Group 2 — Salmonculture-ciprine transition of the Northern Region;Group 3 — Mid-Dimensional Cypriniculture of the Northern Region; Group 4 — Small-Dimensional Cypriniculture of the Northern Interior and South Regions; Group 5 — Mid-Dimensional Cypriniculture of the Southern Region; Group 6 — Cypriniculture of the Northern Litoral Region. The spatial data set represents the fish groupings for mainland Portugal, which support the implementation of F-IBIP allowing the identification of the fish group to which it belongs in an expeditious way for a set of sampling stations. The development of cartographic information on the fish groupings defined by AFN was carried out by the ISA and the APA, following the work carried out by INAG.