Discards and survival of marine benthic invertebrates from the trawl metier for the european hake

Abstract

The issue of the fishery discards is of great interest in fishery management from the new policy of the European Union 2013 ((EU) No 1380/2013) which proposes a gradual reduction of discards. In the framework of the European project >Science, Technology, and Society Initiative to minimize Unwanted Catches in European Fisheri es> MINOUW (H2020-SFS-2014-2) a seasonal study between the years 2011-2012 was conducted in order to assess the discard composition and the invertebrate survival coming from the trawl metier for hake in the Catalan Coast (Palamós Port). Some of the main species discarded were Alcyonium palmatum and undersize Merluccius merluccius. Sessile invertebrates as Alcyonium palmatum showed high rates of survival, while species of echinoderms as Astropenten irregularis or crustaceans as Pagurus excavatus displayed lower rates