Description: Here we provide four ArcGIS map packages with georeferenced files on the spatial distribution of demersal and pelagic fishes in the wider Weddell Sea (Antarctica), which were created in the context of the development of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea. Antarctic toothfish: The map of Dissostichus mawsoni occurrence probability is based on catch per unit effort (CPUE) data from the database of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) (data request: 03-08-2016) and on bathymetric data from the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO). We fitted a four-parameter Weibull model to the simulated CPUE data per depth interval by means of the R package 'fitdistrplus'. The highest D. mawsoni occurrence probability was shown at depths between 1500 and 2000 m and only approximately 20 % of the Antarctic toothfish population occurred deeper than 2000 m. Antarctic silverfish: The map of interpolated abundances of Pleuragramma antarctica was based on pelagic trawl survey data, which were collected during "Polarstern" cruises ANT-I/2, ANT-III/3 and in the context of the Lazarev Sea Krill Survey (LAKRIS) ("Polarstern" cruises ANT-XXI/4, ANT-XXIII/6, ANT-XXIV/2). The first mentioned data were provided by V. Siegel (retired; formerly Thünen Institute), the LAKRIS data by H. Flores (AWI). Those data were complemented by benthic trawl survey data, which were collected during seven "Polarstern" cruises between 1996 and 2011 (ANT-XIII/3, ANT-XV/3, ANT-XVII/3, ANT-XIX/5, ANT-XXI/2, ANT-XXIII/8, ANT-XXVII/3) and were provided by R. Knust (AWI) as well as by data on counts of fish species from trawl and dredge samples by Drescher et. (2012), Ekau et al. (2012a, b), Hureau et al. (2012), Kock et al. (2012) and Wöhrmann et al. (2012). An inverse distance weighted interpolation was performed for a 10 nautical mile radius around each record. Areas with highest numbers of P. antarctica (〉 36 individuals/1000 m²) occurred offshore Riiser -Larsen Ice Shelf and on the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf offshore Filchner Ice Shelf. Demersal fish: The map of predicted habitat suitability for demersal fish is based on data, which were collected during seven "Polarstern" cruises between 1996 and 2011 (ANT-XIII/3, ANT-XV/3, ANT-XVII/3, ANT-XIX/5, ANT-XXI/2, ANT-XXIII/8, ANT-XXVII/3) and were provided by R. Knust (AWI). The habitat suitability model was developed by the use of the modelling package "biomod2". Most suitable habitat conditions for demersal fish in the wider Weddell Sea occurred on the continental shelf between approx. 5° and 30°W, on the shelf west and east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as well as around the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. Nesting sites of demersal fish: The map on observation of nesting sites of demersal fish is based on data, which were collected during "Polarstern" cruises ANT-XXVII/3, ANT-XXIX/9 and ANT-XXXI/2 and were obtained by T. Lundälv (retired; formerly University of Gothenburg), D. Gerdes (retired; formerly AWI) and E. Riginella (University of Padova), respectively. Those data were complemented by a literature research. Most nesting sites were observed west of 25°W, north of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. More information is given in the working paper WG-EMM-16/03 submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management CCAMLR (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-emm-16). Revised versions of the spatial analysis are described in working paper WG-SAM-17/30 and WS-SM-18/13 submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Statistics, Assessments and Modelling and the CCAMLR Workshop on Spatial Management, respectively (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-sam-17; https://www.ccamlr.org/en/ws-sm-18).

Description: Here we provide four ArcGIS map packages with georeferenced files on the spatial distribution of Antarctic petrels, Adélie penguins (breeders and non-breeders) and Emperor penguins in the wider Weddell Sea (Antarctica), which were created in the context of the development of a marine protected area in the Weddell Sea. Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica): We approximated potential foraging habitats of T. antarctica according to existing literature by ice coverage from AMSR-E sea ice maps, bathymetric data from the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO), and seawater temperature data from the Finite Element Sea Ice - Ocean Model (FESOM) provided by R. Timmermann (AWI). Subsequently, we combined our Antarctic petrel model with the kernel utilization distribution model from Descamps et al. (2016). The authors kindly provided us with shape files showing the kernel utilization summer and winter distribution of Antarctic petrel breeding at Svarthamaren. Breeding locations and estimated number of breeding pairs were taken from van Franeker et al. (1999). Favourable habitat conditions for Antarctic petrels were predicted for the Lazarev Sea and along the eastern coast of the Weddell Sea, particularly for the area off the Fimbul Ice Shelf and along the coast between approx. 15°E to 10°W within a water depth range from approx. 500 m to 2500 m. Breeding Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae): The map of potential foraging habitats of breeding P. adeliae is based on British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Inventory data from Phil Trathan (ID 754) and Mike Dunn and P. Trathan (ID 764, 773, 779), a dataset from BAS (P. Trathan) and Instituto Antártico Argentino (Mercedes Santos) (ID 753) and a dataset from the US AMLR Program from Jefferson Hinke and Wayne Trivelpiece (NOAA) (ID 910), which are stored in the Birdlife International's Seabird Tracking Database (data request: 20-10-2015). Suitable foraging habitats for breeding Adélies from colonies from which no tracking data were not available were approximated by a 50 km buffer and a 50-100 km ring buffer around each colony according to the recommendations of a CCAMLR MPA planning workshop. Breeding locations and estimated abundance of breeding pairs were taken from Lynch and LaRue (2014). The tracking data were processed with a state-space model described by Johnson et al. (2008) and were implemented in the R package crawl (Johnson 2011). Jefferson Hinke (NOAA) kindly provided us with support running the R script. Highly suitable foraging habitats occurred about 50 km away from the colonies on King Georg Island, the colony in Hope Bay (Graham Land) and the colonies on the South Orkney Islands. Non-breeding Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae): The map of potential foraging habitats of non-breeding P. adeliae is based on British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Inventory data from Phil Trathan (ID 754) and Mike Dunn and P. Trathan (ID 773, 779), a dataset from BAS (P. Trathan) and Instituto Antártico Argentino (Mercedes Santos) (ID 753) and a dataset from the US AMLR Program from Jefferson Hinke and Wayne Trivelpiece (NOAA) (ID 910), which are stored in the Birdlife International's Seabird Tracking Database (data request: 20-10-2015). The tracking data were processed with a state-space model described by Johnson et al. (2008) and were implemented in the R package crawl (Johnson 2011). Jefferson Hinke (NOAA) kindly provided us with support running the R script. Highest habitat utilisation was concentrated in relative small areas (e.g., close to King Georg Island). However, the non-breeding Adélies seemed to roam through large parts of the Weddell Sea. Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri): The probability map of A. forsteri occurrence was developed as a function of distance to colony and colony size from Fretwell et al. (2012, 2014) as well as from sea ice concentration from AMSR-E sea ice maps. Our model of emperor penguin foraging distribution during breeding season showed that the probability of occurrence is highest at the Halley and Dawson colony near Brunt Ice Shelf and at the Atka colony near Ekstrøm Ice Shelf. More information on the spatial analysis is given in working paper WG-EMM-16/03 and WG-SAM-17/30 (for T. antarctica) submitted to the CCAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (EMM) and the CCAMLR Working Group on Statistics, Assessments and Modelling (SAM), respectively (available at https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-emm-16 and https://www.ccamlr.org/en/wg-sam-17).