The new Common Fisheries Policy may exempt some species from the landing obligation if a high survival rate can be demonstrated among discards. This study focuses on the survival capacity of Nephrops norvegicus discarded from trawlers of the Bay of Biscay (France). Three sea trials were conducted on board 3 commercial trawlers and 15 fishing operations were sampled. The vitality of Nephrops was classed into three categories (healthy, moribund or dead) before release at sea and samples of healthy and moribund individuals were kept in captivity on Nephrops grounds for three days. A Generalised Linear Model was used to examine the variability in the proportion of healthy Nephrops discarded, which was significantly influenced by tow duration, duration of air exposure and temperature, as well as individual length. By combining the results on vitality before release at sea with those on survival in captivity following re-immersion, resampled by bootstrapping, it was calculated that 51% [42–60%] of discarded Nephrops would survive after three days of re-immersion. We discuss the sources of variability in survival rate, as well as the implications of a potential exemption from the landing obligation for this species.