Incentivising selective fishing under a policy to ban discards; lessons from European and global fisheries

The reduction of discards in European fisheries has been identified as a specific objective of the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. To reduce the uncertainty in catch data and the socially unacceptable waste of resources that results from the disposal of catch at sea, a policy to ban discards has been proposed. Discard bans are currently implemented in Alaska, British Columbia, New Zealand, the Faroe Islands, Norway and Iceland. Experience from these countries highlights that a policy of mandatory landings can result in a reduction in discards, but relies upon a high level of surveillance or economic incentives to encourage fishers to land more of their catch. Discard bans will also not result in long term benefits to stocks unless total removals are reduced, through the avoidance of undersized, non-commercial or over quota catch. Experience shows that additional management measures are required to incentivise such a move towards more selective fishing. Success has resulted from the use of area closures and bycatch limits, with potential applications in EU fisheries. However, selective fishing will not be a panacea for the current state of European fisheries; discard bans and accompanying measures must be embedded in a wider management system that constrains fishing mortality to reasonable levels before sustainable exploitation can occur.     

To land or not to land: How do stakeholders perceive the zero discard policy in European small-scale fisheries?

The landing obligation recently adopted by the European Union's (EU) Common Fisheries Policy aims to eradicate discards in EU fisheries. The objective of this paper is to investigate the potential social and economic impacts of the discard ban in European small-scale fisheries (SSF) and the critical factors for its successful implementation. An exhaustive systematic literature review and a stakeholder consultation were carried out in order to (i) collect detailed information about current knowledge on discards in EU SSF and gauge stakeholder perceptions about potential impacts of the discard ban in European SSF, (ii) examine the capacity of the SSF industry to implement the discard ban, and (iii) explore the limits and feasibility of implementing such a measure.The results of this study show that little attention has been given by the scientific community to discards in EU SSF. Indeed, the systematic literature review shows that this problem is relatively unexplored in the EU. In addition, the effectiveness of a discard ban in industrial fisheries is still unclear, mainly because discard data are not systematically collected by fisheries authorities. Stakeholders mostly perceive that the new landing obligation was developed with industrial fisheries in mind and that compliance with the landing obligation in EU SSF will be difficult to achieve without high economic costs, such as those related to the handling and storage of unwanted fish on board.     

Estimating global discards and their potential reduction for the Galician fishing fleet (NW Spain)

This study presents the first comprehensive estimation of discard amounts in the Galician fishing fleet, in order to provide an integral view of this increasing environmental problem at a regional scale. Subsequently, a series of improvement actions relating to discard minimization are suggested with the goal of enhancing the performance of the Galician fishing fleet through discard minimization. Discard estimates were constructed individually for the different Galician fisheries by aggregating primary data obtained from a total of 89 fishing vessels and secondary data for those fleets that were not directly sampled. Results showed that roughly 60,250 t of marine organisms were discarded by the Galician fleet in 2008, representing 16.9% of the total capture. Moreover, an important percentage of these discards were linked mainly to trawling vessels and to a lesser extent, to certain long lining fisheries. Therefore, improved management measures in target stocks should take into account the fact that alternative fishing gears other than trawl nets may reduce the amount of discards for certain species. This estimation may improve the assessment of stocks and help to quantify the damage that discards may have on wild ecosystems.     

Designing ITQ programs for commercial recreational fishing

This paper discusses the potential for implementing individual transferable quota (ITQ) schemes in commercial recreational fisheries, focusing particularly on charter and headboat fisheries. After a brief discussion of ITQs in commercial fisheries, the paper discusses the manner in which rents get dissipated in commercial recreational fisheries. Fishing mortality in recreational fisheries is determined as a joint outcome of angler behavior and trip supply. In the recreational sector under open access conditions, there are likely to be too many vessels providing too many trips at prices that are too low. Vessel input configurations are likely to be distorted in a manner that generates excessive fishing mortality. Designing ITQs for recreational fisheries requires consideration of issues not prominent in the design of commercial fisheries. Among the most important is the manner in which angler preferences and types affect overall mortality from both landings and discards. While catch and release fisheries and pure food fish recreational fisheries are relatively easy to manage with recreational ITQs, fisheries with both angler types present difficult monitoring problems that add complexities to ITQ design. Various ways to design programs that account for both landings and discard mortalities and that generate incentives for anglers and vessel owners to reduce discard mortality are discussed.     

The challenges of the landing obligation in EU fisheries

A feasibility study was conducted on the impacts of the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules requiring catches in regulated fisheries to be landed and counted against quotas of each Member State - the landing obligation (LO), and that catch of species subject to the LO below a minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) be restricted to purposes other than direct human consumption. The aim was to estimate the level of discarded fish likely to be covered by the new rules, the impact of the rules on EU fisheries and the regulatory challenges and responses to them. Data from EU's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) database were analysed to estimate the volume of unwanted catches produced by EU fisheries. Views were sought from policy officials and fisheries scientists through a questionnaire on the implications of the LO and the control of fisheries across Member States, and the potential adjustments that might be needed. Findings show that 11% (44,000 t) of the total catches of EU countries from which data were available are of fish under MCRS. The species with the highest volume of undersized discards associated with the lowest quota, which would potentially restrict the fishing opportunities for other quota species (i.e. choke species), are plaice and haddock with 18,000 and 14,000 t of undersized fish respectively, followed by whiting and cod with 5000 and 6000 t of undersized fish respectively. Discards data shows that the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France and Belgium will be most affected by landings for non-human markets. Findings also show that existing infrastructure at landing ports in all Member States is limited because there are currently limited facilities in place to handle animal by-products produced by the catching sector. Policy officials maintained that while they could support the fishing industry through funding programmes, it is the responsibility of fishers to ensure they have the right infrastructure to handle unwanted catches. The expectation is that the LO combined with the restriction to non-human consumption purposes will encourage fishers to internalise the costs of catching unwanted fish and motivate them to avoid unwanted catch. This will be realised if sufficient flexibility is given to fishers to find their own solutions to reducing unwanted catches. It is concluded that gear technology measures exist to enable the regulated fisheries to increase gear selectivity.     

Discard management: A spatial multi-criteria approach

Discard management needs to draw on scientific research and advice, usually supported by specific statistical modeling analysis. A wide range of statistical analysis methods were applied to fishery data in an attempt to distinguish factors that influence the species discard composition. While such approaches are important, they are still incomplete for disaggregating the economic and spatial-temporal factors for analyzing of this process and obtain a whole view of this issue. Our study aims to fill this gap by identifying, describing, and quantifying factors that influence discards of trawl fisheries using a multivariate approach based on five complementary aspects: “economic”, “vessel characteristics”, “spatial”, “temporal” and “environmental”. In addition, a spatial multi-criteria approach were used to investigate discard hot-spot areas using ecological criteria such as vulnerability and resilience of the discarded species. Using these ecological criteria will concentrate conservation efforts on the most relevant sites minimizing discards of a variety of potentially vulnerable species. This approach was applied to a case study of a multi-species demersal bottom trawl fisheries in north Spain, Cantabrian Sea (ICES area VIIIc). Results showed how spatial and economic factors highly affect species discard composition, identifying specific spatial-temporal discard hot-spots to be preferentially avoided by fishers. Mitigation measures for future fisheries management strategies should be implemented at multiple stages of the discarding process, both in the selection of the fishing grounds and the economic valorization of the discarded species.     

Assessing the significance of the economic impact of Marine Conservation Zones in the Irish Sea upon the fisheries sector and regional economy in Northern Ireland

This paper highlights the tension between advocacy for ‘Blue growth’ in maritime policy and efforts to safeguard future economic growth via the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In 2015, policy-makers withdrew three of four proposed Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in the Irish Sea from consideration for designation, due to concerns that they could significantly impact on the fisheries sector in Northern Ireland because they overlap with prawn fishing grounds in the Irish Sea. Although research has quantified the potential impact upon fishing vessels, none has quantified the impact upon the fisheries sector nor assessed the significance of this impact. Arguably, MCZ designations (or lack thereof) based on the ‘significance’ of an impact require robust underpinning evidence. This paper reports the findings of an Economic Impact Assessment, which has quantified the impact of a decline in landings upon the Northern Ireland fisheries sector and regional economy (data which is currently absent from the evidence base for the MCZ designation process in England). It finds that this will incur job losses in three fishing ports in Northern Ireland, but is unlikely to have a significant impact upon Northern Ireland's fisheries sector and regional economy in terms of jobs and Gross Value Added (GVA). In the worst case, the resulting economic impact is a decrease of £1.05–1.12 m/year GVA in Northern Ireland, which is 1.1% of the contribution of fishing and fish processing to the regional economy. Economic significance assessments, using this methodology, may be useful in supporting the evidence base underpinning MCZ designation and other aspects of marine planning.     

Estimating the economic impacts of bycatch in U.S. commercial fisheries

Bycatch presents a challenge to optimizing yield in commercial fisheries, where bycatch can total more than 1 million mt per year in the United States. Yet the economic impacts of bycatch have rarely been evaluated in the scientific literature. These economic impacts largely occur from the loss of landings through (1) early closure of fisheries when catch limits of bycatch species are reached; and (2) discards of marketable catch due to regulatory requirements in the fishery. This paper illustrates the economic impacts of early closures due to bycatch in U.S. fisheries by describing past case studies, as well as evaluating the economic impacts of discarding fish in U.S. commercial fisheries. Premature closures in the fisheries reviewed resulted in potential losses ranging from $34.4 million to $453.0 million annually. Nationally, bycatch estimates in the form of regulatory discards are annually reducing the potential yield of fisheries by $427.0 million in ex-vessel revenues, and as much as $4.2 billion in seafood-related sales, $1.5 billion in income, and 64,000 jobs. Our review also shows that some of the most promising work to reduce bycatch over the last decade has been the development of gears or gear modifications, termed “conservation engineering.”     

Estimation of fisheries removals and primary economic impact of the small-scale and industrial marine fisheries in Colombia

Colombia has coasts on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but its marine fisheries are limited by the relatively small size of commercially important stocks. However, diverse fishery resources have traditionally been exploited by coastal communities, and industrial fisheries have grown in recent years with the intensification of tuna fishing in both oceans. The management of Colombia's fisheries has been hampered by frequent administrative changes, which has notably led to the disappearance of a part of the official landings data. We estimated total fisheries removals (reported plus discards and unreported catches) in the Colombian Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the period 1950–2006. We used secondary sources of information to estimate missing data, and we estimated subsistence fishing and the unreported by-catches of the shrimp and tuna fisheries. We used available information on seafood prices to estimate the relative economic impact (gross revenues) of the small-scale and industrial sectors for the period 2000–2006. Our results suggest that for the period 1950–2006, the Colombian marine fisheries catches may have been almost twice the landings reported by FAO on behalf of the country (2.8 times higher in the Atlantic; 1.3 times higher in the Pacific). Although the total gross revenues of industrial fisheries were higher than those of the small-scale sector, the latter commanded higher gross revenues in the Atlantic in 2006.     

副渔获物对渔业资源的影响及其减少方法的探讨

由于渔具不同的选择性和多鱼种鱼类共栖 ,人们在对目标种类进行捕捞时 ,不可避免地产生副渔获物及其抛弃。由于渔业资源的下降和人们对海洋环境保护意识的加强 ,副渔获物及其抛弃问题日益成为人们关注的焦点。本文对世界范围内的渔业活动所产生的副渔获物进行分析 ,根据副渔获物的种类、被抛弃情况和原因以及对渔业资源的影响 ,提出了减少副渔获物和抛弃的方法。     

Why do fishermen discard? Distribution and quantification of the causes of discards in the Southern Bay of Biscay passive gear fisheries

In the context of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the need for decreasing discards has been highlighted in discussions on the implementation of a discard ban. While most of the research has focused on the quantification of discards by species and métier, identification and quantification of the causes of discards have received little attention. This study presents the results of on-board surveys conducted in the Southern Bay of Biscay fleets of netters and longliners. A large variability of discards was observed. It is also shown that in these passive gear fisheries the main reasons for discarding put forward by fishermen are, firstly, market-related and, secondly, quality-related; discards related to the application of regulations are minor. The results therefore illustrate that decisions to discard can also occur in highly selective fisheries because of economic constraint and the results also show that a part is discarded alive.     

The EU landing obligation and European small-scale fisheries: What are the odds for success?

A landing obligation was formally implemented in the European Union (EU) for the first time, as part of the recent reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Given the reasonable success of the landing obligation in some countries such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway, this policy is seen as a viable approach to tackle the long-recognized discarding problem in EU waters. However, there has been some debate on whether there is sufficient evidence to support the feasibility of such a measure in the EU-CFP. The EU landing obligation will implicitly include all small-scale fisheries (SSF) provided the species captured are subject to catch limits or minimum sizes (in the case of the Mediterranean). SSF were included irrespective of the fact that the discarding problem in the EU has been historically associated with medium- to large-scale fleets (in particular largely mixed species trawl fisheries). Additionally, past experiences with a discard ban policy are still limited to specific countries and/or specific fisheries. This paper examined the appropriateness and feasibility of the recently implemented EU landing obligation in SSF. The effects in the long-term are unpredictable, but available evidence suggests that in the short to medium-term a landing obligation is likely to bring more negative social, economic and ecological impacts than benefits.     

Fishing in the past: Historical data on sea fisheries landings in Belgium

In Belgium, centralized reporting on landings of sea fisheries at the species level started in 1929. This paper summarizes the process and the results of integrating time-series, based on fragmented and disperse data sources for the period 1929–1999. The resulting database contains data by species (41), by port of landing in Belgium (4) and in ‘foreign ports,’ and by fishing area of origin (31). After quality control, total reported landings over the period 1929–2008 amounted to 3,320,518 tonnes, of which 90% was landed in the Belgian ports. After a maximum of 75,370 tonnes in 1947, annual landings declined steadily to only 26% of this peak by 2008. Currently, landings are below those achieved in 1929. The most important species in terms of landings (1929–1999) were cod (17% of all landings) and herring (16%). In terms of economic value, sole (31%) and cod (15%) were the most valuable. Close to 73% of all landings originated from 5 of the 31 fishing areas. Twenty percent of all landings (1929–1999) originated from the ‘coastal waters’, while these waters contributed nearly 60% of all landed pelagic species and 55% of all landed ‘molluscs and crustaceans’. Compared to the currently available ICES data, this local database offers advantages in temporal coverage (data from 1929 onwards), temporal scale (monthly values), and at the taxonomic level. It also provides more detailed information at the spatial scale of the southern and central North Sea, and it is the only source of historical information on landings originating from the coastal waters. Given the importance of the shallow and productive ‘Flemish banks’ as a local source of food in historical and recent times, this data is valuable for further research on the productivity of the coastal ecosystem and the local impact of fisheries. The database broadens the historical view on fisheries, underlines the decline in landings since reporting started, and serves as a basis for further (fisheries) research and policy-making in Belgium.     

Discard mitigation - what we can learn from waste minimization practices in other natural resources?

Solutions to the problem of discarding in fisheries have been debated for decades. Despite this attention, measures to ameliorate discarding have had limited success. Regulators, researchers, and industry continue to struggle with fisheries management and foregone yield in the face of the continued wastage of valuable resources due to discarding.Waste minimization and by-product utilization are powerful imperatives in other sectors that are also reliant on the harvest of natural resources. This paper considers the performance of these sectors in waste minimization and by-product utilization, with the aim of identifying practices and processes that may be applied to ameliorate discarding in fisheries.This paper describes the handling, utilization, and mitigation of discards and waste in the livestock farming, agriculture, mining, and waste management industries, and in particular, in forestry. In terms of biological impact, economic objectives, and management approaches the harvesting of trees has substantial similarities to industrialized fishing. However, the forestry sector has found ways to utilize almost 100% of the natural product harvest by establishing markets and new products. Analogous developments within the fishing industry could substantially improve sustainability through reduced levels of discarding and wastage. Based on the experiences of these sectors it is suggested that evaluations of potential Management Strategies are developed to specifically examine discard mitigation approaches on a broader scale than previously conducted.     

The economic importance of the Icelandic fisheries cluster—Understanding the role of fisheries in a small economy

Expansion and development of the fisheries sector was the driving force behind Iceland’s economic transformation during the 20th century. However, the role of fisheries in national and regional economies is neither well documented nor understood. National accounts do not fully reflect the significant part played by the fisheries as they do not take into consideration the various ways economic activity in the fisheries sector affects other branches of the economy. The fisheries sector, which includes fishing and fish processing, has been established as a base industry within the Icelandic economy. Using data collected during 2010 and 2011 and cluster analysis techniques, this paper seeks to establish the economic importance of the fishing industry in Iceland. As a base industry, this paper finds that a wide range of companies have gradually developed to service the sector and through these interlinkages, the fisheries sector and its related operations can be viewed as an industry cluster.     

How subsidies affect the economic viability of small-scale fisheries

This article presents the first bottom-up analysis of the proportion of global marine fisheries subsidies to small-scale fisheries (SSF). Using existing data, the reported national subsidy amounts are split into the fraction that goes to small- and large-scale fishing sectors. Results reveal a major imbalance in subsidy distribution, with SSF receiving only about 16% of the total global fisheries subsidy amount of $35 billion in 2009. To bring this into perspective, a person engaged in large-scale fishing received around 4 times the amount of subsidies received by their SSF counterparts. Furthermore, almost 90% of capacity-enhancing subsidies, which are known to exacerbate overfishing go to large-scale fisheries, thus increasing the unfair competitive advantage that large-scale fisheries already have. The developmental, economic and social consequences of this inequity are huge and impair the economic viability of the already vulnerable small-scale fishing sector. Conclusions indicate that taxpayers' money should be used to support sustainable fishing practices and in turn ocean conservation, and not to foster the degradation of marine ecosystems, often a result of capacity-enhancing subsidies. Reducing capacity-enhancing subsidies will have minimal negative effects on SSF communities since they receive very little of these subsidies to begin with. Instead, it will help correct the existing inequality, enhance SSF economic viability, and promote global fisheries sustainability.     

Small versus large-scale,multi-fleet fisheries: The case for economic,social and environmental access criteria in European fisheries

Overfishing is a major problem in global fisheries, plaguing 32% of stocks around the world and a massive 72% in the EU. Despite this, access to public fish resources in the EU and its member states are granted without any social or environmental conditions. Without these, the process of allocating quotas – essentially determining the future health of marine resources and the fishing industry – is blind to virtually all of the impacts of fisheries. Here, the United Kingdom's North Sea cod fishery is studied, comparing the social, environmental and economic impacts of trawlers and gillnets, the two major fishing gears targeting cod in this area. Comparisons are also made on a vessel-length basis to address recent debate concerning the benefits of small-scale fisheries. The results show that, for each tonne of cod landed in these fisheries, all trawlers have impacts that are more costly than the value of their landings. There are also vessel length-specific differences, with the largest trawlers the most destructive (−£1992/tonne and −£2.50/fish). Gillnets, on the other hand, generate positive value to society (+£865/tonne and +£2.16/fish). Despite these impacts, gillnets land only 1% as much cod as trawlers do. The results support the policy implementation of access criteria into the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, to ensure fishermen generate positive outcomes for society and to provide incentives that align fishermen's interests with conservation objectives.     

Research and management priorities for Atlantic marine recreational fisheries in Southern Europe

Marine Recreational Fishing (MRF) is an important activity in Europe, with 9 million fishers and generating annually € 6 billion in direct expenditures. However, there is a lack of data and understanding of MRF in Europe, particularly in Southern countries, which prevents a number of fish stocks from being effectively assessed and managed. In November 2016, a participatory workshop on MRF was held in Vigo (Spain) to identify challenges and opportunities for data collection, and to diagnose key research gaps and management issues for MRF in the Southern European Atlantic. Experts from a wide range of disciplines (researchers, policy makers, fisheries managers and commercial and recreational fishers) highlighted that the management of MRF is a challenge due to complex and dispersed legal frameworks, with multiple administrations involved, and overlapping uses of space with commercial fishing, aquaculture, navigation and tourism, among others. The lack of strong and representative fishing associations hampers research and management initiatives. Effective communication between recreational fishers, researchers and fisheries managers is also lacking. Despite the ecological, social and economic relevance of MRF, there is no systematic and comprehensive collection of information on fishing effort, recreational catches, expenses, social profile and access conditions of European recreational fishers. These data would be useful to avoid biases in the assessment of recreational fisheries due to the great diversity of ecosystems, species and typologies of users. Strategic recommendations and research priorities were also identified to address knowledge gaps and are discussed in the context of the management of MRF across Europe.     

A decade of exploitation and management of the Namibian hake stocks

The hake resource is the most important commercial fish species in the demersal sector of Namibia's fisheries, both in terms of annual catch and contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The fishery now spans four decades. In the 1960s and 1970s, hake were exploited heavily by mainly foreign fleets, total catches peaking at more than 800 000 tons in 1972. The first control measures, the use of a minimum mesh size of 110 mm and the allocation of quotas to each member country participating in the hake fishery, were implemented by the International Commission for the Southeast Atlantic Fisheries in 1975. In 1990, the Namibian Government took action to control fishing activities in Namibian waters, and the enactment of its Fisheries Policy (1991) and Sea Fisheries Act of 1992 provided for the control measures to be taken. The conservative management strategy adopted between 1990 and 1993 resulted in gradual increase in hake biomass, but thereafter the stock declined. The hake fishery is currently managed on the basis of a total allowable catch that takes into consideration the rate of increase or decrease in the size of the resource. Since 1990, the demersal trawl fishery has accounted for approximately 90% of the total hake catch. The resource is subjected to both directed fishing and bycatch, the latter taken in directed fisheries for species such as horse mackerel, monkfish and sole.     

Eco-labeling of seafood: Does it affect the harvesting patterns of Norwegian fishermen?

The aim of this paper is to compare the criteria for eco-labeling of wild-caught fish in the Norwegian eco-certified fisheries, and to study if these eco-labels affect the harvesting patterns of Norwegian fishermen. The eco-labels Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), KRAV and Friend of the Sea (FOS) as applied in 2009 were studied. In this study, the harvesting patterns are defined by using the following parameters: season, catch area, size of fishing vessel, gear type, bycatch, location of landing site and distance to the fishing ground. KRAV had more specific criteria than did MSC and FOS in specific fisheries regarding time of the fishing effort, catch area, size of fishing vessels, gear type (e.g. hook size, and the use of beam trawlers was not permitted) and distance to the fishing ground. The findings show that few of the eco-label requirements influenced these aspects in Norwegian fisheries.