Edited by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation the Red Lists provide a compilation of the endangered plant and animal species of Germany. The “Red List of Endangered Bottom-Dwelling Invertebrates in the North and Baltic Sea” is prepared since many years under the responsibility of AWI-scientists who developed extensive knowledge on the population development of marine organisms during many years of marine ecological research. On the one hand, Red Lists are a conservation tool. On the other hand, Red Lists provide a scientific valuable tool as it allows for tracking the stock development of endangered species over long time periods. This information is essential for the evaluation of the North Sea environmental status.