The Best Way to Reduce Discards Is by Not Catching Them!

Under the Landing Obligation (LO) fishers will need to reduce or land fish that were previously discarded. In this chapter we look at how they might be able to do that by summarising a number of studies conducted in various European regions. We start by describing a series of “challenge” trials where fishers tried to reduce their discards by whatever (legal) means they thought best. In some cases, they were able to reduce unwanted catches, in others they were less successful. We also interviewed fishers not involved in the trials to ask them what they thought they could do. We explore their approaches which generally fell into three categories: more selective gear; tactical and strategic changes; and management changes. Scientific data (surveys, landings, and observers data) can also be valuable to help fishers to decide where and when to fish to best avoid unwanted catches and maximise opportunities to catch their quotas. We provide some examples of this type of approach, and also how these can be adapted for use as interactive online apps that fishers can use in planning or whilst at sea

Keyword(s)

Challenge trials, Decision support tools, Discard avoidance, Fine scale mapping, Fish distribution, Fishers, Fishing strategies, Hot-spot maps

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Reid David G, Calderwood Julia, Afonso Pedro, Bourdaud Pierre, Fauconnet Laurence, Gonzalez-Irusta José Manuel, Mortensen Lars O, Ordines Francesc, Lehuta Sigrid, Pawlowski Lionel, Plet-Hansen Kristian S, Radford Zachary, Robert Marianne, Rochet Marie-Joelle, Rueda Lucia, Ulrich Clara, Vermard Youen (2019). The Best Way to Reduce Discards Is by Not Catching Them!. In The European Landing Obligation, S. S. Uhlmann et al. (eds.), 2018. ISBN 978-3-030-03307-1 ISBN 978-3-030-03308-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03308-8.Chap.13, pp.257-278. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03308-8_13, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00473/58428/

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