1. MINIDISC, DiscardLess… Science in support of the LO
Clara Ulrich, Lars Olof Mortensen
11 March NSAC

2. MINIDISC – Minimising Discards in Danish Fisheries
EFF Project from January 2014 to April 2015 [now July 2015]
Launched to support and monitor the expected discard ban in Skagerrak in 2014… Then adapted to follow the political developments in 2014
Design and conditions finally agreed with DFPO and D. AgriFish A. in autumn 2014:
Free gear choice and removal of technical rules
Fully documentation of fisheries :
Sorting and weighting of discards for 6 species
Data reported haul by haul
Cameras and REM (AnchorLab BlackBox system)
A bit of additional quota for participation
A bit of money for netmakers
Supplemented with a questionnaire process

4. 14 vessels in the trial, 4 fisheries
Vessel Nr
Vessel name
Area
Gear
Start
Target
HM323
RALIMA
Skagerrak
D. Seine
17/9/14
Mix
S15
VERA MARIE
HG398
NITRIME
Skagerrak/
Kattegat
Nephrops trawl
20/11/14
Nephrops
S281
FRANK MAIKEN
14/11/14
S430
WELL-BANK
01/12/14
HM555
KINGFISHER
North Sea
Demersal trawl
16/10/14
L120
LINETTE
29/11/14
L757
AALTJE POSTMA
2015
RI344
MIKKEL-LOUISE
21/11/14
RI427
METTE HELENE
01/01/15
RI468
JULI-ANE
R254
KATRINE KIM
Baltic Sea
14/12/14
Cod
R200
COMETEN
08/01/15
R194
ANDREA
18/12/14

5. Results-based management and Full Documentation Concept in practice
Differences beetween gears must be large enough to be visible with current control/observers resources – over several trips and a longer period
The primary source of information is fishers own reporting of discards (100% coverage, limited additional costs for the skipper but covered by the uplift)
Camera for self documentation of reliability. Must be simple to check
Standard observers coverage + some discard self-sampling
AnchorLab 5

6. Results so far… Ttrial has run for some weeks, all processes in place
Ongoing analysis of data
Sometimes it is only changes in mesh size
…. But also signs of high creativity!

7. Results

8. What we do now… Quality check of all trips through video scanning
E-log report produced every 2 weeks for all skippers
Mid-term status : Follow-up and feedback meetings with skippers
Extension of the questionnaire to non-participating vessels
Analyses of the best gear modifications
Selectivity manual
Communication and dissemination of results
Expending into … DiscardLess…

9. DiscardLess - Strategies for the gradual elimination of discards in European fisheries
EU Horizon 2020 Program,
31 partners in 12 countries
Developing new science, but also collecting and sharing knowledge developed locally/nationally
Discards Mitigation Strategies (DMS) developed, compared and disseminated (DMS toolbox)
Kick-off April Bilbao

11. Heath et al. 2014

12. Dolder et al., 2014
Dolder et al. 2014

19. NSAC Involvement… Contacts :
Coby Needle, Scotland : Coordinator North Sea/West of Scotland CS
Mike Fitzpatrick, Ireland : ACs and industry stakeholder contact Me
Anybody in Bilbao on April 22nd?
Somebody in Stakeholders Follow-up Group
Sharing national knowledge at regional/project level, information flow
Annual case meetings :
Science progresses and questions / transversal themes checks
Annual monitoring of trends (biological, economic and social)
Collaborations in WP3 and WP4 ….

20. Thank you!!