Suchergebnisse

The European Union Common Fisheries Policy has established a discard ban, which states that fish below a reference size cannot be sold directly for human consumption. In a fishing effort-regulated fishery, the discard ban can result in extra handling, storing and landing costs. In an output-regulated fishery, this policy might also limit the effort levels as all the catches count against the quota. In both cases, this regulation can reduce the economic performance of the companies, even in single-species fisheries. A possible solution is to increase the mesh size, thus retaining fewer small individuals. To study this option, a bioeconomic simulation of a change in the gear selectivity from 100- to 120-mm minimum mesh size (MMS) was performed. The results show that the private perspective (profits) does not change. Furthermore, due to the lower retention of 120 mm MMS, the efficiency of a fishing day was reduced by 5% and 2.5%, from the point of view of capital and labour productivity, respectively. In contrast, gross revenues increased by 1.5% and crew compensation by 2%. Given a societal benefit of this change in the mesh size, this gain could be re-distributed to provide an incentive for selectivity improvements. ; La Política Pesquera Común de la Unión Europa ha introducido la prohibición de descartar, estableciendo que todo pescado por debajo de una talla de referencia no puede ser vendido para consumo humano directo. En una pesquería regulada a través de limitaciones del esfuerzo de pesca, la prohibición de descartar puede generar sobrecostes de manipulación, almacenamiento y desembarque adicionales. En una pesquería regulada a través de límites en las capturas, esta política podría incluso limitar los niveles de esfuerzo ya que todas las capturas deben ser deducidas de la cuota. En ambos casos, esta regulación puede reducir el resultado económico de las empresas, incluso en el caso de una pesquería mono-específica. Una posible solución sería aumentar el tamaño mínimo de la malla, y así reducir la retención de los individuos más pequeños. Con el fin de estudiar esta opción, se ha realizado una simulación bioeconómica de un cambio en el tamaño mínimo de la malla de 100 a 120-mm. Los resultados muestran cómo la perspectiva económica privada (beneficios) no varía. Más aun, debido a la menor retención de la malla de 120 mm, la eficiencia de un día de pesca se ve reducida en un 5% y en un 2.5%, desde el punto de vista de la productividad del capital y del trabajo, respectivamente. Por el contrario, los beneficios brutos aumentan un 1.5% y la remuneración al trabajo en un 2%. Debido a la existencia de un beneficio social, la ganancia podría ser redistribuida para así ofrecer un incentivo a esta mejora de la selectividad.

The release of unwanted catches (UWC) from purse seines, while the catch is still in the water, is known as "slipping". Once thought to be a benign process, compared to discarding UWC overboard from the fishing vessel, it is now recognised that "slipping" can lead to significant mortality in the released fish if done inappropriately. In this chapter, we examine purse seining and slipping operations, and discuss what drives slipping and potential mitigation measures to reduce slipping mortality. We use three examples of purse seine fisheries for small pelagic species in the North-east Atlantic; from Norway, Portugal and Spain. The ideal solution (identifying and avoiding UWC before the net is set) requires the development of tools to enable fishers to better characterise target schools in terms of key selection criteria, e.g., with respect to species, individual size and catch biomass. Such tools are being developed, based primarily on hydro-acoustic technology. However, some UWC in purse seine catches are inevitable, and operational improvements in slipping practices have been shown to significantly reduce stress and mortality in the released UWC. We conclude with a discussion on the challenges currently facing the implementation of the European Union (EU) Landing Obligation with regards to minimising slipping related mortality. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The potential for exemption from the European Union (EU) Common Fisheries Policy's (CFP) landing obligation (discard ban), where high discard survival can be demonstrated, has identified the need for scientific guidelines to conduct discard survival assessments. Robust estimates of discard survival can be used to justify exemptions from the landing obligation and inform on levels of post-release fishing mortality, which can then be accounted for in stock assessments. The Working Group on Methods for Estimating Discard Survival (WGMEDS) set out to review and update ICES guidance on Methods to Estimate Discard Survival and complete meta-analyses of discard survival evidence to investigate variables influencing survival, with a view to influencing survival through modified fishing practices. We also explored the demand for ongoing monitoring requirements to inform on discard survival and took a proactive approach to sharing discard survival estimates with those working in stock assessment so that new evidence could be applied more widely. In the past three years, the considerable investment in research in to discard survival, specifically from EU countries, has continued. The main outputs from WGMEDS include enhancements to the ICES guidance on how to quantify discard survival. This has supported the work of group members to estimate discard survival in a variety species-fishery combinations, including Nephrops, mackerel, plaice, common sole, eels, rays, much of which has been put forward as evidence to support exemptions from the EU discard ban. A critical review framework developed by WGMEDS has been used by the EU Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) to assess the quality of discard survival evidence for proposed exemptions. There has been a high impact of work produced by the members of the group – specifically in multiple new EU regulated exemptions from the landing obligation. This has permitted fishers to continue discarding defined species and so assisting the implementation of the EU discard ban. Future work is expected to focus on applying discard survival estimates in stock assessments. This would include developing guidance to assist assessment expert groups to determine whether available survival studies can be applied. It would require reviewing and assessing the quality and confidence in available discard survival estimates and exploring the potential to combine the results of survival studies so the effect of different variables could be accounted for in estimating an overall best survival estimate. Ultimately, we would aim to include estimates of discard survival in catch scenarios in the ICES advice sheets.