Discard Ban Research Articles

Distribution and habitat use by the Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) in anthropized environments

Human activities provide wildlife with highly abundant and predictable food subsidies, which can affect population dynamics and have wide-ranging ecological impacts. A key ecological question is how species adapt their foraging behaviour to capitalize on these new feeding opportunities. We investigate habitat use by Audouin's Gulls (Ichthyaetus audouinii) off the Western Mediterranean Sea, an opportunistic seabird that has recently expanded to diverse breeding colonies subjected to varying degrees of human influence. By combining GPS tracking, remote sensing, and GIS, we assessed the resource selection and habitat preferences of gulls from five colonies across their breeding latitudinal range, including interactions with industrial fisheries. Overall, the use of terrestrial habitats was slightly higher (57 % of total positions) compared to the marine environment (42 %), with individuals preferentially feeding on urban and related areas or fishing ports. However, habitat utilization varied among studied colonies, likely in response to contrasting food availability and accessibility of human related food resources on land (e.g., agriculture and livestock areas, landfills or rice fields). At sea, individuals largely distributed over highly productive and persistent marine areas with intense fishing pressure. Individuals also adapted their daily activity patterns to match food availability: gulls preferentially feed on the marine environment during the night, while the use of terrestrial habitats increases during daylight hours. Individuals' daily activity patterns also matched that for the two main fishing gears operating in the area: diurnal trawlers and nocturnal purse-seiners. Our findings offer perspectives on the reliance of opportunistic seabird species on anthropogenic food subsidies and inform on potential implications for the conservation and management of these under changes in fishing policies (EU discard ban). Broadly, we provide further insights on how this species can adapt to changing environments.

Approaching single-species exclusion in mixed demersal trawl fisheries

Under a discard ban, mixed fisheries must often reduce catches of low-quota species to allow the continuation of fishing activities. This has led to the development of a range of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) that aim to exploit morphological and behavioral differences among species to facilitate escape of unwanted catch from the fishing gear. However, the exclusion of unwanted species from the catch is often only possible with concomitant losses of other commercial catches. This is the case for the Nephrops (Nephrops norvegicus)-directed mixed demersal trawl fishery, where BRDs aiming at the reduction of catches of cod (Gadus morhua) often lead to considerable losses of other valuable species. In this study, we developed and tested a BRD aimed at exclusively reducing cod catches without affecting catches of Nephrops, flatfish and other roundfish. The design, a bottom escape window, exploits behavioral traits that set cod apart from other species. We collected absolute selectivity data using a paired gears approach and estimated the combined retention of the bottom escape window and a 90 mm diamond mesh codend. The results demonstrated a low total retention of cod (33%) in combination with high retentions of commercial catches of Nephrops (89%), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) (76%) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) (100%), for the populations encountered. This catch profile represents an important and novel achievement for Nephrops-directed mixed demersal fisheries. We compared the performance of this new BRD to one of the most used legal gears in this fishery (the SELTRA 270), demonstrated the new catch profile it can offer to the fishers, and discussed its management implications.

Evaluating the dependence of opportunistic Yellow‐legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) on marine habitat and fishing discards

Several bird species benefit from anthropogenic food subsidies, such as landfills and fishing discards, that are being reduced owing to introduced legislation. For instance, since 2019, Europe has passed legislation to reduce dramatically the amount of fisheries discards through the Landing Obligation (LO), which states that all fish species under Total Allowable Catch (TAC) should not be discarded at sea. This European discard ban is expected to impact some gulls, as several gull populations have been observed to be heavily reliant on this resource. In this work, GPS tracking data from adult Yellow‐legged Gulls Larus michahellis and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data (i.e. detailed data of the spatial distribution of fishing vessels) are used to determine the utilization of the marine habitat and the level of interaction of gulls with fishing activity offshore and discards in the south‐eastern part of the Bay of Biscay. We found that these gulls had a low use of the marine habitat (ca. 15%) compared with terrestrial habitats, in contrast to the ca. 40% of the diet of this population which comprises marine prey. Furthermore, we detected that most of the gull tracking positions at sea did not interact with the fishing vessels (an overlap of 21.5% between gulls and VMS data). Conversely, other gull populations of the Iberian Peninsula were found to depend much more strongly on fishing activity. Therefore, the Yellow‐legged Gull population of the SE Bay of Biscay did not obtain most of its fish prey from interactions with offshore fishing activity but most possibly by taking fish remains in harbours and by feeding themselves. Consequently, we expect a minimal effect of the European policies oriented to ban fishing discards offshore on this population, which would be more affected by policies directed towards the reduction of food availability in landfills or fish landing management in harbours.

Correlation between seabirds and fisheries varies by species at fine-scale pattern

Abstract Understanding how fisheries influence seabird distribution is critical in the development of sustainable fisheries management. Species distribution models were applied to analyse the influence of the fishing footprint, discards, and oceanographic factors on seabird attendance patterns to trawlers in the Gulf of Cádiz. More than 30 species of seabirds were attracted to trawlers, although only seven were registered with relatively high frequency and abundance. For these species, fishery footprint was a good predictor for the distribution of four out of seven (yellow-legged gull, lesser black-backed gull, northern gannet, and Cory's shearwater). Yellow-legged and lesser black-backed gull flocked in large numbers to trawlers, mostly in shallow areas where they were also attracted by purse seines. Northern gannets and Cory's shearwaters appeared with relatively high frequency and their distributions correlated with trawler effort and abundance of potential prey discards. Balearic shearwaters were attracted in low numbers and concentrated in shallow areas, where potential prey discards were also more abundant. For these three species, discards as surrogate of natural prey distribution were good predictors of trawler attendance. Our research revealed that, at a local scale, the degree of interaction of seabirds on fishing discards varies by species. Therefore, fine-scale studies are essential in identifying interactions between seabirds and fisheries, and thus assessing conservation issues such as bycatch or the consequences of discard bans.

Discard survival of coastal elasmobranchs in a small-scale fishery using acoustic telemetry and recapture data

Discard reduction is a cornerstone of the European Common Fisheries Policy. The discard ban policy, which aims to reduce fisheries discards, is particularly challenging for small-scale fisheries. Demonstrating high survival rates of discarded individuals may provide flexibility to the application of the discard ban through the so-called survival exemption. Here we used acoustic telemetry and mark-recapture data to estimate discard survival of coastal elasmobranch species at multiple temporal scales. We focused on four species targeted by the small-scale fishery in Galicia (NW Spain), one of the most important fishing regions in Europe: Scyliorhinus canicula, Raja undulata, Rajaclavata and Rajabrachyura. The overall survival rate was 90% on the short term and 85.7% on the long term, but it varied among species. Survival rates of R. clavata and S. canicula on the short term were 70% and 100%, respectively, and 66.7% and 92.9% on the long term, respectively. All the individuals of R. brachyura and R. undulata survived on the long term. Our results are critical to support the application of survival exemption in small scale fisheries.

Brexit, common fisheries policy and discard ban: A financial analysis of the Spanish fleet in the Grand Sole

In the last decades, the Spanish Grand Sole fleet has shown a negative evolution both in the number of vessels and in the turnover of its activity. This trend is mainly due to the institutional framework that determines the governance of the Spanish fleet in Community waters. The distribution of quotas, determined by the Relative Stability System, combined with successive European fishing policies, have caused a reduction in the capacity of the fishing fleet. In addition, more recently, these factors have been compounded by the progressive implementation a of the discard ban, which has been extended to all European species and fishing areas since 2019, and Brexit, which has led to the transfer of 25% of the average value of shared stocks quotas to the United Kingdom from 2021 to 2026. The objective of this article is to analyze whether the Spanish shipowning companies whose vessels operate in Gran Sol, will continue to be profitable or will have to cease their activity. For this purpose, an analysis has been carried out using the Real Options Approach and incorporating an abandonment option. The results show that the value of the abandonment option (49.3%) is high.

Towards the integration of ecophysiology with fisheries stock assessment for conservation policy and evaluating the status of the Mediterranean Sea.

Recent European Union (EU) regulations have been introduced to discourage the capture of undersized specimens with the aim of reducing the bycatch mortality imposed by commercial fisheries. We argue that we still lack accurate data regarding basic information required to properly implement these regulations for most Mediterranean ecosystems, including the true mortality imposed by fisheries, escape rates from fishing gears and the capability of specimens to survive following discard. We suggest that additional reliance on physiological biomarkers could assist in all aspects of the data collection required to support implementation of the EU discard ban (aka landing obligation), particularly in determining which species should receive special dispensation from this policy. Ideally, this new approach, here termed the ‘Fisheries Environmental and Physiological Stress Analysis’ (FEPSA), would become an important step for any fish stock assessment within the ecosystem approach to fisheries management and the recognition of Good Environmental Status, as established by the EU in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC). In particular, the main goal of FEPSA would be applying the study of physiological stressors to exploited stocks to estimate the so-called collateral fishing mortality, which includes the mortality experienced by fish that escape after interacting with fishing gears or that are discarded, with some degree of injury or physiological stress. The approach outlined here, which is described for bottom trawls but adaptable to any other type of fishing gear, is not a trivial undertaking but is a requirement for collecting the data required by recent EU fisheries policies. While we agree that the threats to marine biodiversity posed by fishing and associated discard practices require strong policy interventions, we emphasize that the research programs needed to support such initiatives, including the landing obligation, should be given equal priority. This is particularly true for Mediterranean fisheries, which are at a complex intersection of jurisdictional boundaries, numerous additional ecosystem threats including widespread pollution, thermal variation and hypoxia, and are historically understudied as compared to fisheries and species in more northern climates.

A multispecies TAC approach to achieving long-term sustainability in multispecies mixed fisheries

Abstract The management of mixed fisheries is complicated by the biological and technical interactions among fish species. We tested a multispecies total allowable catch approach to managing mixed fisheries while accounting for the interactions and changes within fish community. A multispecies size–spectrum model was developed to simulate the dynamic of fish community in North Yellow Sea, China. Three scenarios were evaluated: (1) business-as-usual (BAU); (2) Single-species TAC (SSTAC); and (3) Multispecies TAC (MSTAC, assigning an aggregated total TAC to a selected group of species). Our results showed that BAU reduced biomass of target species to a substantially low level, SSTAC led to loss of fishing opportunity by involving “choke species” with discard ban, while MSTAC had a potential for maintaining long-term yields and community structure. We demonstrated the ecological effects of varying levels of MSTACs on the target and non-target species. Species’ responses to MSTAC were stronger when the species had similar feeding and habitat traits to the target species, implying intense competition. Particularly, a 20% decrease in MSTAC could cause an average 17% decline in the biomass of other species through biological interactions in the long-term. MSTAC could be a promising approach to achieving long-term sustainability in data deficient fisheries.

Survival and Physiological Recovery after Capture by Hookline: The Case Study of the Blackspot Seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo)

Evaluating the survival of discarded species is gaining momentum after the new European Common Fisheries Policy (Article 15 of the European Regulation No. 1380/2013). This regulation introduced a discard ban, with an exemption for those species with demonstrated high survival rates after their capture and release. Candidate species should be evaluated for each fishing gear and geographical area. In this study, we assessed not only survival, but also physiological recovery rates of blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) below commercial size captured with a hookline called “voracera” in the Strait of Gibraltar (SW Atlantic waters of Europe). Experiments onboard a commercial fishing vessel were paralleled with studies in controlled ground-based facilities, where the capture process was mimicked, and physiological recovery markers were described. Our results confirmed that hookline capture induced acute stress responses in the target species, such as changes in plasma cortisol, lactate, glucose, and osmolality. However, 90.6% of the blackspot seabreams below commercial size captured with this fishing gear managed to survive, and evidenced physiological recovery responses 5 h after capture, with complete homeostatic recovery occurring within the first 24 h. Based on this study, the European Commission approved an exemption from the discard (EU Commission Delegated Regulation 6794/2018). Thus, the robust methodology described herein can be an important tool to mitigate the problem of discards in Europe.

Dynamic Integrated Model for Assessing Fisheries: Discard Bans as an Implicit Value-Added Tax

Integrated economic models have become popular for assessing climate change. In this paper we show how these methods can be used to assess the impact of a discard ban in a fishery. We state that a discard ban can be understood as a confiscatory tax equivalent to a value-added tax. Under this framework, we show that a discard ban improves the sustainability of the fishery in the short run and increases economic welfare in the long run. In particular, we show that consumption, capital and wages show an initial decrease just after the implementation of the discard ban then recover after some periods to reach their steady-sate values, which are 16–20% higher than the initial values, depending on the valuation of the landed discards. The discard ban also improves biological variables, increasing landings by 14% and reducing discards by 29% on the initial figures. These patterns highlight the two channels through which discard bans affect a fishery: the tax channel, which shows that the confiscation of landed discards reduces the incentive to invest in the fishery; and the productivity channel, which increases the abundance of the stock. Thus, during the first few years after the implementation of a discard ban, the negative effect from the tax channel dominates the positive effect from the productivity channel, because the stock needs time to recover. Once stock abundance improves, the productivity channel dominates the tax channel and the economic variables rise above their initial levels. Our results also show that a landed discards valorisation policy is optimal from the social welfare point of view provided that incentives to increase discards are not created.

The use of a spatial model of economic efficiency to predict the most likely outcomes under different fishing strategy scenarios

The current European Union has been progressively implementing since January 2014 a discard ban which includes the obligation to land unwanted catch for certain regulated species and sizes. Although a full enforcement of the landing obligation has a direct impact on discard reduction through more responsible and selective fishing, fishers argue that it will prompt both a decrease in incomes and an increase in working time onboard. Thus, the measure is in a hold in south-western waters due to the difficulties to implement the ban in mixed fisheries This paper analyzes some possible scenarios which fishers could face under the landing obligation. It is shown the construction of a spatial bio-economic model to infer average costs, incomes and gross profits by fishing ground. We illustrate its use using a coastal trawling fleet based in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula as case study. Results show how fishing ground selection will remain the key factor affecting gross profits, well above the selection of closer fishing grounds, the improvement of fuel efficiency, or extending the length of the fishing trip. Increasing the number of crew members to overcome the expected excess of work time onboard would also be a cost-benefit balanced measure. According to our scenario simulations, to maintain business-as-usual (status quo situation) is the most probable fishing strategy without any regulation change. Fishing strategies are tight and maximized to current economic outcomes. Fishers will be reluctant to change their own fishing unless they are forced to for economic and/or regulatory reasons.

Identifying Persistent Hot Spot Areas of Undersized Fish and Crustaceans in Southern European Waters: Implication for Fishery Management Under the Discard Ban Regulation

The recent establishment of the “landing obligation” under the reformed EU Common Fishery Policy has the twofold objective of reducing the excessive practice of discarding unwanted catch at sea and encouraging more selective and sustainable fisheries. Within this context, the awareness of the spatial distribution of potential unwanted catches is important for devising management measures aimed to decrease discards. This study analyzed the distribution of Hot Spot density areas of demersal fish and crustaceans below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) in four different southern European seas: continental Portuguese coast, Catalan Sea, South of Sicily, Liguria and northern Tyrrhenian Seas using both bottom trawl survey data and information on the spatial distribution of commercial fisheries. Critical areas for discarding were identified as zones where the highest densities of individuals below MCRS were consistently recorded throughout a series of years. Results clearly showed a patchy distribution of undersized individuals in each investigated area, highlighting the overlap between high density patches of both discards and fishing effort. The present findings provide a relevant knowledge for supporting the application of spatial-based management actions, such as the designation of Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs), in order to minimize the by-catch of undersized specimens and improve the sustainability of demersal fisheries.

The unintended impact of the European discard ban

Abstract The European Union (EU) discard ban, called the landing obligation (LO), was initiated in 2015 to reduce unwanted catches by EU fisheries. To ease the transition to a system where total allowable catches (TACs) refer to catches rather than landings only, the majority of EU TACs was increased to account for the part of the catch that was previously discarded and would now be landed. The analysis shows an average annual upward adjustment of 36% in TACs since 2015, but these percentages were considerably higher in 2019 and 2020 (reaching 43 and 50%, respectively), when the LO was fully applicable to all fisheries, and particularly for TACs of demersal species (reaching 51 and 60%). These results demonstrate the significant impact that the discard ban has had on the quantities of EU fishing opportunities. Since discarding has not declined in EU fisheries at any significant level, the magnitude of these increases may likely have resulted in a substantial widespread increase in fishing mortality being exerted on European stocks, and thus likely lead to an implosion of the EU TAC system, the Common Fisheries Policy central instrument to manage fisheries in the EU.

Environmental Implications of Discarding Fish in Northern Spanish Coastal Bottom Otter Trawl Fisheries

Overfishing contributes to the depletion of fish stocks. Among fishing practices, discarding fish is a waste of valuable resources and results in lost income that is associated with its effects on future stock growth. This practice depends on several factors, although trawl fisheries account for the highest quantity of discards. In this work, the effects of a specific section of the Galician (Northwestern Spain) bottom trawl fishery were evaluated by using the ecological footprint, focusing on the contribution of the rate of discards. We selected fishing grounds and carbon footprints as the categories for the analysis. The results showed that 11.6 global hectares (gha) per metric ton of catch were required for an average fishing trip, ranging between 2.2 and 27.1 gha per metric ton. Discards represented 55% of this value, while the carbon footprint only represented 11%. Therefore, measures are needed to reduce the significant effects of discards, especially in these fisheries. The findings indicate that the discard ban promoted by the Common Fisheries Policy could reduce the ecological footprint of these fisheries by 3.4 gha per metric ton of catch landed on average.

Discard practices in the gulf of Cadiz multispecies trawl fishery. Implications for the EU ‘landing obligation’

Discarding has been a common practice in multispecies trawl fisheries since the first trawlers were used. To date there have been no studies reporting an integrated analysis of discarding in the gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain, GoC) to evaluate and support the latest fisheries policies, specifically the Landing Obligation (European Union Regulation 1380/2013). In this study we provide estimates of discard ratios, species composition, reasons for discarding, along with the identification of high-density discard areas (hotspots) over the last decade in the GoC area. The analysis was based on data collected by the Spanish onboard sampling program, involving commercial trawling vessels from 2006 to 2016. In particular, data on catches and discards were analyzed by applying Multivariate Regression Trees (MRTs) to assess the species dominance within the discarded and retained portions of the total catch. Temporal and spatial variability in discard ratios were also explored together with the identification of high-density discard areas (hotspots) modelled using Hierarchical Bayesian Spatial Models (H-BSM). A discard ratio relative to the total catch (i.e. both commercial and by-catch) of 34% in weight was estimated, corresponding to an average at about 3500 t discarded annually by the GoC trawl fleet. Non-commercial by-catch species accounted for more than half of the discarded biomass in weight (59.4%). Finally, our study focuses on research efforts towards relevant and efficient management solutions under the discard ban policy. Recommendations aiming to contribute to the establishment of alternative management strategies for this fishery are further discussed.

Stable isotopes reveal year-round sexual trophic segregation in four yellow-legged gull colonies

Sexual segregation in trophic ecology is widespread among sexually dimorphic marine vertebrates. The degree of such segregation can change throughout the annual cycle, however, year-round data on seabird inter-sexual differences are scarce. Here, we investigated sexual trophic segregation in yellow-legged gulls Larus michahellis evaluating two hypothetical drivers of such segregation: the different nutritional requirements hypothesis and the sexual size dimorphism hypothesis. We used stable isotope analyses of blood and feathers to estimate year-round gull trophic ecology in four colonies along the western Iberian coast. δ15N and δ13C values were consistently higher in males than in females throughout the year and in all four study colonies, suggesting consistent sexual differences in trophic level prey as well as in foraging habitats. Significantly wider isotopic niches of females in the innermost primary and eight secondary feathers suggest that they are more generalists than males during most of the annual cycle. In accordance, isotopic mixing models estimated a higher proportion of marine invertebrates in female diet, while males consumed a higher proportion of fish, which could indicate that males foraged more in association with fisheries, having major implications in view of the newly implemented discard ban policy. Overall, our results revealed a clear pattern of sexual trophic segregation in yellow-legged gulls that was maintained throughout the year in four colonies along the western Iberian coast, arguing against the different nutritional requirements hypothesis and suggesting that sexual size dimorphism plays an important role in driving sexual segregation in trophic niches.

Gannets are not attracted to fishing vessels in Iceland—potential influence of a discard ban and food availability

Abstract Fisheries produce large amounts of waste, providing food subsidies for scavengers. Discards influence seabird movement, demography and community structure, but little is known about seabird–fishery interactions where discarding is banned. Here, we investigate how northern gannets Morus bassanus respond to fishing vessels in Iceland, where discarding commercial species is illegal, but birds may still access bait, offal, or catch. We GPS-tracked 82 foraging trips for 36 breeding gannets from two colonies (Skrúður and Hellisey) and obtained time-matched vessel locations. We classified bird behaviour using Hidden Markov Models and then tested the effect of vessel distance on behavioural state-switching using multi-state Markov models. Fishing vessels were present during 94% of foraging trips. However, the likelihood of gannets switching from travelling to foraging was unaffected by vessel proximity, regardless of gear type or activity. When encountering vessels, gannets rarely foraged but instead were more likely to continue travelling. When controlling for population size, gannet foraging trips at both colonies were shorter than expected, suggesting favourable conditions. The lack of behavioural responses to vessels among Icelandic gannets is likely driven by the discard ban and availability of pelagic fishes. Our findings have implications for understanding bycatch risk and the consequences of discard reforms.

Scavenger communities and fisheries waste: North Sea discards support 3 million seabirds, 2 million fewer than in 1990

AbstractEvery year fisheries discard >10 million tonnes of fish. This provides a bounty for scavengers, yet the ecological impact of discarding is understudied. Seabirds are the best‐studied discard scavengers and fisheries have shaped their movement ecology, demography and community structure. However, we know little about the number of scavenging seabirds that discards support, how this varies over time or might change as stocks and policy change. Here, we use a Bayesian bioenergetics model to estimate the number of scavenging birds potentially supported by discards in the North Sea (one of the highest discard‐producing regions) in 1990, around the peak of production, and again after discard declines in 2010. We estimate that North Sea discards declined by 48% from 509,840 tonnes in 1990 to 267,549 tonnes in 2010. This waste had the potential to support 5.66 (95% credible intervals: 3.33–9.74) million seabirds in the 1990s, declining by 39% to 3.45 (1.98–5.78) million birds by 2010. Our study reveals the potential for fishery discards to support very large scavenging seabird communities but also shows how this has declined over recent decades. Discard bans, like the European Union's Landing Obligation, may reduce inflated scavenger communities, but come against a backdrop of gradual declines potentially buffering deleterious impacts. More work is required to reduce uncertainty and to generate global estimates, but our study highlights the magnitude of scavenger communities potentially supported by discards and thus the importance of understanding the wider ecological consequences of dumping fisheries waste.

Are we ready to implement a discard ban in the gulf of Cádiz? Stakeholders' perceptions

The European Union Regulation No 1380/2013 revising the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) aims at addressing the by-catch and discarding problem in commercial fisheries by implementing the “Landing Obligation” of the regulated species by 2019. At present, the gulf of Cádiz (GoC) landing ports are not ready to comply with this regulation; a number of key issues identified need addressing. Within this framework, the present study focuses on the challenges of finding relevant and efficient management solutions, considering opinions from all relevant stakeholders involved in the trawl fishery. The approach taken in this study involves participatory meetings, questionnaire surveys and interviews with stakeholders, including fishers, local fishery managers, government administrators, national inspectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and scientists. Furthermore, we visited the main fish auctions in the GoC and talked personally to animal sub-products companies regarding their interest in new opportunities based on resources discarded by the trawl fishery. To achieve the goal of improving the management of this specific fishery and to bring it in line with the requirements of the CFP, we conclude that an effective participation of the fishing industry at all stages is of vital importance. Indeed, we advocate that fisheries research efforts should be directed towards management strategies proposed by all relevant actors within the fishery.

A multi-stock harvest control rule based on “pretty good yield” ranges to support mixed-fisheries management

Abstract Advice for commercially exploited fish stocks is usually given on a stock-by-stock basis. In light of the ecosystem-based fisheries management, the need to move towards a holistic approach has been largely acknowledged. In addition, the discard bans in some countries requires consistent catch advice among stocks to mitigate choke species limiting fisheries activity. In this context, in 2015, the European Commission proposed the use of fishing mortality ranges around fishing mortality targets to give flexibility to the catch advice system and improve the use of fishing opportunities in mixed-fisheries. We present a multi-stock harvest control rule (HCR) that uses single stock assessment results and fishing mortality ranges to generate a consistent catch advice among stocks. We tested the performance of the HCR in two different case studies. An artificial case study with three stocks exploited simultaneously by a single fleet and the demersal mixed-fishery operating in Bay of Biscay and Celtic Sea. The HCR produced consistent catch advice among stocks when there was only a single fleet exploiting them. Even more, the HCR removed the impact of the discard ban. However, in a multi-fleet framework the performance of the HCR varied depending on the characteristics of the fleets.