Are you interested in additional tactical methods to avoid unwanted catches ?

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this report are those of the stakeholders that were interviewed and in no way represent the views of the research institutes, the national authorities or the European Commission.

Commonalities

No clear commonalities could be clearly identified under this heading. This may be because fishermen envisaged utilising the types of tactical response that they already deploy to help them address the impacts of the LO. It may also be because this was not an aspect emphasised in the interviews. However, it should be noted that even in the Irish interviews, where tactical approaches were emphasised, the responses were not particularly radical. The main aspect was the raising of information sharing with each other, and recognition that the information developed in Task 4.3 “the Scientists story” MIGHT be of help.

Under the „Management“ section of this report, many fishers expressed interest in some form or other of spatial management, for instance, spawning closures or temporary bycatch hotspots of fish they wish to avoid e.g.
The main problem for many fishers on individual level is that they never heard about the LO (the North Aegean Sea, France and Azores). When asked about their opinion towards the LO it first has to be explained. For instance, in France interviewers had to use the term “zero discards” to be understandable by fishers. They are also unaware of exemptions.

It would be useful if Discardless produced a good flyer explaining the LO regulation and all related issues. For example “choke species” which is another term that fishermen often do not understand. Other terms include Real Time Closure, exemptions, derogations etc. It is possible that a simple guide on the regulation could also be very positive for the LO implementation.

Little interest in maps of unwanted catch was expressed by most fishers in the Azores as they argue that they already know, and that the fish are mixed in all areas anyway making it impossible to identify hotspots of discards. Some feared that it would result in closing areas and thus limiting fishing grounds.

By clicking on the orange bullet you will get Fishermen interviews. Material is based on WP4.1 Delivrable

Citation :

Fiche Are you interested in additional tactical methods to avoid unwanted catches ?, Author(s) : Dave Reid


DiscardLess Atlas [on line]. 2017. Reid et al., 2017. DiscardLess Deliverable D4.1: Initial avoidance manuals by case study including tactical, strategic and gear based approaches agreed by scientists and fishers. http://www.discardless.eu/fishermen_story