Analysis and characterization of discards in the Gulf of Cádiz (SW Spain). Results of the ECOFISH project

  1. C. Rodríguez-García 1
  2. F. Macías Sánchez 1
  3. R. Cabrera Castro 2
  1. 1 Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales. Universidad de Cádiz. Avda. de la Universidad, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR).
  2. 2 2 Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR). Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR). Avda. de la Universidad, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
Actas:
VII International Symposium on Marine Sciences

Editorial: Linckia

ISBN: 978-84-120734-7-8

Año de publicación: 2020

Páginas: 51-52

Tipo: Aportación congreso

Resumen

The new Common Fisheries Policy introduces the obligation to land all catches, including discarded species. Individuals that are thrown overboard, alive or not, due to, among other reasons, not being target species or not meeting legal sizes, are considered discards (Kelleher, 2008). The objective of this work was to characterize the species discarded in the fisheries of the Gulf of Cadiz, as well as, to make proposals for a better management of them. Sampling was carried out within the framework of the ECOFISH project, and shipments were made in the purse-seine and trawl modalities with the fleet of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) maintaining its way of fishing, from May to December 2019, except for the closed periods for both modalities, December in the case of purseseine and from mid-September to the end of October for the trawl modality in the Gulf of Cádiz. To this end, 11 kg of discards were processed and identified at random for each set made, at depths ranging from 20 to 270 m. In the purse seine fishery, the main species discarded were bogue (Boops boops), atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) and annular seabream (Diplodus annularis), while in the trawl fishery, both fish were discarded: anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), scaldfish (Arnoglossus spp.) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) as well as invertebrates: arrow shrimp (Plesionika heterocarpus), harbour crab (Liocarcinus depurator), white shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) and sand sea star (Astropecten irregularis). The low prices of some of these species and the low value of others are some of the causes of discards in this fishery. For a better management and reduction of discards, in addition to knowing the reasons why discards occur, the involvement of the different actors involved in the fishery is also necessary to ensure the successful incorporation of discard management measures under the new CFP.