Discard self-sampling of Dutch bottom-trawl fisheries in 2017-2018

In the European Union the collection and management of fisheries data is regulated through the Data Collection Framework (DCF) of the European Commission (EC). Within this context, Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) coordinates a discards monitoring programme in collaboration with the Dutch demersal fishing industry. A ‘reference fleet’ of vessels of which the owners are willing to participate in a self-sampling programme, was recruited in 2009 and has been extended and updated regularly. Annually approximately 160 trips need to be sampled by the reference fleet. Fishermen within the reference fleet are requested to collect discard samples of two separate hauls according to a definite annual sampling plan. In 2017 these trips were in collaboration with the participating vessels evenly divided over the reference fleet. In order to avoid any potential bias in trip selection and to work conform the statistical sound principles as defined in the DCF recast, from 2018 onwards the trips are randomly divided over the reference fleet and any refusals are recorded. After the discard samples are brought to shore, WMR collects and analyses these samples. This report summarizes data that has been collected within this self-sampling monitoring programme in 2017-2018. In 2017-2018 the reference fleet consisted of 19-20 vessels. In total, 159 and 167 were sampled in 2017 and 2018 respectively. All sampled trips were assigned to their respective metiers post sampling, based on gear type, mesh size and species composition of the catch. Seven different metiers were assigned: beamtrawlers with 70-99 (Eurocutters (i.e. engine power ≤300 hp) and large vessels (i.e. engine power > 300 hp)), 100-119, and ≥120 mm meshes, and otter trawlers with 70-99 mm meshes (targeting Nephrops or Demersal fish) and 100-119 mm meshes. Observed discard patterns are quite similar between all metiers; dab and undersized plaice are the most frequently discarded fish species. The majority of the benthic, non-fish, discards consisted of echinoderms and crustaceans. In order to monitor annual discard percentages, it is essential that the sampled trips follow the distribution of the fleet; a mismatch between sampling and the distribution of the fleet could indicate a possible bias in the discard estimate. The results shows that sampling effort of the most-intensely sampled metiers (i.e. TBB_DEF_70-99) indeed follows the fleet through space and time. However, for the less frequently sampled metiers this not always appears to be the case An important element in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the obligation to land all catches, i.e. a discard ban. Under this landing obligation all discards of quota regulated species have to be landed. For the demersal fisheries the landing obligation has been phased in over a number years. It is clear that as discarding will continue under various forms of exemptions (high survivability, de minimis, prohibited species), a discards monitoring programme remains necessary under the landing obligation. Furthermore, monitoring of BMS needs to be captured in the sampling programme

Report of the Regional Co-ordination Meeting for the North Sea and Eastern Arctic (RCM NS&EA) 2015

The RCM NS&EA met 31st August - 4th September 2015 at den Haag, Netherlands with 27 participants form 11 member states and autonomous regions attending, including representatives of ICES and the Commission. National correspondents from Spain, UK, Denmark, Lithuania, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands were present. The meeting was co-chaired by Katja Ringdahl (Sweden) and Alastair Pout (Scotland). The RCM N&SEA considered the recommendations from the 11th Liasion meeting and summaries were presented of the work of expert groups and end users for the 2014-15 period to the plenary session of the meeting. The expert groups included WGCATCH, PGDATA, WKISCON2, WKRDB 2014-01, RDB–SC, STECF and the Zagreb meeting on transversal variables. ICES, as a main end user, provided feedback. A summary was presented of the progress in the regional coordination project (fishPi). This project involves over 40 participants from 12 members states from NS&EA, NA and Baltic regions, two external statistical experts, and ICES. The project has a wide scope of regional cooperation issues including sampling designs, data formats, code lists, PETS, stomach sampling, small scale and recreational sampling, and data quality software production. It has a budget of €400,000, and a one year time line and with a planned completion date of April 2016. A project with identical aims is running in paralleled in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions The majority of the ToRs of the RCM NS&EA were addressed by three subgroups: one concerned with data analysis, one with the landing obligation, and one with issues particularly related to role and work of national correspondents

Discard self-sampling of the Dutch bottom-trawl fisheries in 2019

In the European Union the collection and management of fisheries data is regulated through the Data Collection Framework (DCF) of the European Commission (EC). Within this context, Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) coordinates a discards monitoring programme in collaboration with the Dutch demersal fishing industry. A ‘reference fleet’ of vessels of which the owners are willing to participate in a selfsampling programme, was recruited in 2009 and has been extended and updated regularly. Annually approximately 160 trips need to be sampled by the reference fleet. Fishermen within the reference fleet are requested to collect discard samples of two hauls according to a definite annual sampling plan. In order to avoid any potential bias in trip selection and to work conform the statistical sound principles as defined in the DCF recast, from 2018 onwards the trips are randomly divided over the reference fleet and any refusals are recorded. After the discard samples are brought to shore, WMR collects and analyses these samples. This report summarizes data that has been collected within this self-sampling monitoring programme in 2019. In 2019 the reference fleet consisted of 21 vessels. In total, 158 trips were sampled in 2019. All sampled trips were assigned to their respective metiers post sampling, based on gear type, mesh size and species composition of the catch. Eight different metiers were assigned: beam trawlers with 80 (engine power > 300 hp and engine power ≤ 300 hp), 100-119 and ≥120 mm mesh size, and otter trawlers with 70-99 mm mesh size (targeting Nephrops, mixed crustaceans and demersal species, or demersal fish) and 100- 119 mm mesh size. Observed discard patterns are quite similar between all metiers; dab and undersized plaice are the most frequently discarded fish species. The majority of the benthic, non-fish, discards consisted of echinoderms and crustaceans. In order to monitor annual discard percentages, it is essential that the sampled trips follow the distribution of the fleet both in space and time; a mismatch between sampling and the distribution of the fleet could indicate a possible bias in the discard estimate. The results shows that sampling effort of the most intensely sampled metiers (i.e. TBB_DEF_70-99) indeed follows the fleet through space and time. However, for the less frequently sampled metiers this does not always appear to be the case. An important element in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the obligation to land all catches, i.e. a discard ban. Under this landing obligation all discards of quota regulated species have to be landed. For the demersal fisheries the landing obligation has been phased in over a number years. It is clear that as discarding will continue under various forms of exemptions (high survivability, de minimis, prohibited species), a discards monitoring programme remains necessary under the landing obligation. From 2016 onwards, monitoring of the catch fraction Below Minimum Size (BMS) has been included in the sampling protocol of the discards monitoring programme. So far, BMS has observed and registered sporadically in the self-sampling trips. An important element in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the obligation to land all catches, i.e. a discard ban. Under this landing obligation all discards of quota regulated species have to be landed. For the demersal fisheries the landing obligation has been phased in over a number years. It is clear that as discarding will continue under various forms of exemptions (high survivability, de minimis, prohibited species), a discards monitoring programme remains necessary under the landing obligation. From 2016 onwards, monitoring of the catch fraction Below Minimum Size (BMS) has been included in the sampling protocol of the discards monitoring programme. So far, BMS has observed and registered sporadically in the self-sampling trips

Discard self-sampling of Dutch bottom-trawl fisheries in 2017-2018

In the European Union the collection and management of fisheries data is regulated through the Data Collection Framework (DCF) of the European Commission (EC). Within this context, Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) coordinates a discards monitoring programme in collaboration with the Dutch demersal fishing industry. A ‘reference fleet’ of vessels of which the owners are willing to participate in a self-sampling programme, was recruited in 2009 and has been extended and updated regularly. Annually approximately 160 trips need to be sampled by the reference fleet. Fishermen within the reference fleet are requested to collect discard samples of two separate hauls according to a definite annual sampling plan. In 2017 these trips were in collaboration with the participating vessels evenly divided over the reference fleet. In order to avoid any potential bias in trip selection and to work conform the statistical sound principles as defined in the DCF recast, from 2018 onwards the trips are randomly divided over the reference fleet and any refusals are recorded. After the discard samples are brought to shore, WMR collects and analyses these samples. This report summarizes data that has been collected within this self-sampling monitoring programme in 2017-2018. In 2017-2018 the reference fleet consisted of 19-20 vessels. In total, 159 and 167 were sampled in 2017 and 2018 respectively. All sampled trips were assigned to their respective metiers post sampling, based on gear type, mesh size and species composition of the catch. Seven different metiers were assigned: beamtrawlers with 70-99 (Eurocutters (i.e. engine power ≤300 hp) and large vessels (i.e. engine power > 300 hp)), 100-119, and ≥120 mm meshes, and otter trawlers with 70-99 mm meshes (targeting Nephrops or Demersal fish) and 100-119 mm meshes. Observed discard patterns are quite similar between all metiers; dab and undersized plaice are the most frequently discarded fish species. The majority of the benthic, non-fish, discards consisted of echinoderms and crustaceans. In order to monitor annual discard percentages, it is essential that the sampled trips follow the distribution of the fleet; a mismatch between sampling and the distribution of the fleet could indicate a possible bias in the discard estimate. The results shows that sampling effort of the most-intensely sampled metiers (i.e. TBB_DEF_70-99) indeed follows the fleet through space and time. However, for the less frequently sampled metiers this not always appears to be the case An important element in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the obligation to land all catches, i.e. a discard ban. Under this landing obligation all discards of quota regulated species have to be landed. For the demersal fisheries the landing obligation has been phased in over a number years. It is clear that as discarding will continue under various forms of exemptions (high survivability, de minimis, prohibited species), a discards monitoring programme remains necessary under the landing obligation. Furthermore, monitoring of BMS needs to be captured in the sampling programme

Discard self-sampling of Dutch bottom-trawl and seine fisheries in 2014-2016

In the European Union the collection and management of fisheries data is regulated through the Data Collection Framework (DCF) of the European Commission (EC). Within this context, Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) coordinates a discards monitoring programme in collaboration with the Dutch demersal fishing industry. A ‘reference fleet’ of vessels of which the owners are willing to participate in a self-sampling programme, was recruited. Fishermen within the reference fleet are requested to collect discard samples according to a definite annual sampling plan. After the discard samples are brought to shore, WMR collects and analyses these samples. This report summarizes data that has been collected within this monitoring programme in 2014-2016.In 2014-2016 the reference fleet consisted of 20-22 vessels. In total, 160, 172 and 157 trips were sampled in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. All sampled trips were assigned to their respective metiers, based on gear type, mesh size and species composition of the catch. Within a trip, the crew retained a sample during two separate hauls, thus constructing two independent samples. Sampling was conducted on board vessels from eleven different metiers: beamtrawlers with 70-99 (Eurocutters (i.e. engine power ≤ 300 hp) and large vessels (i.e. engine power >300 hp)), 100-119, and ≥120 mm meshes, Scottish seiners with 70-99, 100-119 mm, and ≥120 mm meshes, and otter trawlers with 70-99 mm meshes, 100-119 and ≥120 mm meshes.Discard patterns are quite similar between all metiers; dab and undersized plaice are the most frequently discarded species. In addition, the flyshoot trips frequently discarded grey gurnard, whiting and horse mackerel. The majority of the benthos discards within the beamtrawl and otter trawl metiers consisted of echinoderms and crustaceans. In comparison, flyshooters discarded almost no benthos.An important element in the reform of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP) is the obligation to land all catches, i.e. a discard ban. Under this landing obligation all discards of quota regulated species have to be landed. For the demersal fisheries the landing obligation will be phased in over a number of years. The landing obligation will have a particular strong impact on the Dutch demersal fishing industry as this is a mixed fishery where catches can contain many different quota species

Full catch monitoring in the Dutch Norway lobster fishery (2018-2020) : Results of a science-industry partnership to improve information for Nephrops norvegicus stock assessments

The full catch monitoring in the Dutch Norway lobster fishery was part of a science-industry research collaboration project (Onderzoekssamenwerking 2.0) and aimed to improve data for the stock assessments of Norway lobster stocks. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has divided the discrete patches of mud Norway lobster inhabit into so-called Functional Units (FUs). The Dutch fishery for Norway lobster mainly takes place in FU5, FU33 and outside FUs (outFU). The ICES Working Group on the Assessment of Demersal Stocks in the North Sea and Skagerrak (WGNSSK) has expressed concerns about data limitations, including lack of representative discards data in FU33. This project was set up to address these issues. To improve data for Norway lobster stock assessments, the project comprised of three phases: 1. Development of a Fully Catch-Monitored system (FCM), 2. Implementation of the FCM scheme by a reference fleet and 3. Data analysis and reporting including data sharing with ICES WGNSSK. The FCM system comprised of so-called load cells, installed to measure the total catch of a haul. In addition, the reference fleet participates in a self-sampling scheme in which discard samples 80 kg are taken from two hauls during a fishing trip. A sample of approximately 5 kg of Norway lobster landings is taken from these same hauls for length measurements. The self-sampling scheme is validated with observer trips. The reference fleet (2018-2020) consisted of three vessels. In 2019 two observer trips were executed and one in 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, more observer trips were not possible. A total of 34 self-sampling trips have been carried out (12 in 2019 and 22 in 2020). The collected data provides valuable insight in catch composition, including in the length-frequency distribution, and fishing effort of the reference fleet in regard to the FUs. WGNSSK has raised some concerns about how representative participating vessels are for Dutch fishing effort on nephrops, as they are Dutch owned but foreign flagged. While skippers believe that in a 'regular year' (no COVID-19, no temporary Brexit quota) there are no differences, the question whether or not the current reference fleet is a good representation of the Dutch Norway lobster fishing fleet warrants further investigation. The full catch monitoring in the Dutch Norway lobster fishery will be continued in a follow-up programme in which outcomes of the current project will be taken into consideration. This includes expansion of the current reference fleet with three Dutch registered vessels. The research collaboration also provides an opportunity for improved exchanges with nephrops fishers on developments in the fishery and how these affect landings. This is of particular importance to current assessments as they rely heavily on landings data. The skippers pointed out that fishing effort on nephrops, and hence catch composition and landings in 2020 was influenced by COVID-19 and by the temporary Brexit quota allocations. This project was funded under a science-fisheries partnership grant (Partnerschappen Wetenschap en Visserij) under the Dutch Operational Programme of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund