Foreword : Discards regulation vs Mediterranean fisheries sustainability

Abstract

Research on the sustainability of marine commercial fishing has been an important topic of marine science for over a century. One of the well-known emerging results of this research is that incorrect fishing patterns and fleet overcapacity result in a non-optimal exploitation of marine resources and negative impacts on ecosystems. In addition to excessive fishing pressure on target stocks, these practices also produce unnecessary mortality of unwanted catches that are discarded, often dead, at sea. [...]