Abstract

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.

Highlights

  • Under the Landing Obligation (LO) fishers will need to reduce or land fish that were previously discarded

  • In this chapter we look at how fishers themselves may be able to change the way they operate in order to reduce discards, based on a series of recent studies performed in several European fisheries in the frame of the EU research project DiscardLess

  • The original idea we stated in the title was “The best way to reduce discards is by not catching them!” The work presented in this chapter shows some of the ways that this could be achieved

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Summary

Chapter 13

Plet-Hansen, Zachary Radford, Marianne Robert, Marie-Joelle Rochet, Lucía Rueda, Clara Ulrich, and Youen Vermard

13.1 Introduction
13.2 What Can Fishers Themselves Do to Reduce Their Discards?
13.2.1 Gear Based Changes Used in the “Challenge Trials”
13.2.2 Tactical and Strategic Changes Used in the Challenge Trials
13.2.3 Conclusion
13.3.1 Decision Support Tools Using Survey Data
13.3.2 Decision Support Tools Using Observer Data
13.3.2.1 Where Are Discards Clustered Together?
13.3.2.3 Detailed Haul-by-Haul Mapping Using Electronic Monitoring Data
Findings
13.5 Conclusions

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