ENVIRONMENTInteractions between fisheries and the marine environment and ecosystems
Marine spatial planning |
Monitoring discards in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries
Discards – the part of the catch that is not retained on board, which may include target species or any other (commercial or non-commercial) species that are returned to the sea, dead or alive – usually result in a reduction of harvesting opportunities and may have negative consequences on fish stocks, ecosystems and the marine environment. In the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, studies on discards have mostly only covered a small portion of the region’s fishing activities, and discard rates are often poorly estimated or totally unknown.
To address these knowledge gaps, the GFCM launched the ‘Monitoring discards in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries’ programme. The programme operates in countries where data collection on discards did not exist, needed to be expanded, or needed standardization. Enabling the collection of comparable data allows for regional analyses and contributes to the formulation of more comprehensive scientific advice on the status of the stocks and fishing activities.
IMPLEMENTATION AREA: SCOPE: | DURATION: 2018 - ongoing |
FOCUS COUNTRIES: Albania · Algeria · Egypt · Lebanon · Montenegro · Morocco · Tunisia · Türkiye· Ukraine | |
OBJECTIVES
- Ensure minimum common standards for the collection of discards data and allow for repeatability and comparisons among fisheries across the region, thus offering a harmonized basis of knowledge, information and evidence for decision-making
- Provide a framework for the development and implementation of an efficient, standardized data collection and monitoring system for discards through on-board observations, questionnaires at landing sites and self-sampling activities.
- Identify and describe the discard behaviour of the main fleet segments, per GFCM subregion, country and geographical subarea [GSA]
- Estimate the quantity and quality of the species discarded (e.g. priority, commercial and non-commercial species)
- Identify characteristics of current fishing practices that lead to discarding (e.g. fishing area, seasonality, vessel carrying capacity, market factors)
- Incorporate discard estimates in stock assessments
MAIN OUTPUTS
|
Read:
Monitoring discards in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries: methodology for data collection
|