Pelagic Discards

Commercial catch and by-catch data are collected as part of the pelagic at-sea observer programme. This data set is comprised of length frequency information from the catch (landings and discards) as well as any observations of bycatch of marine mammals, birds or reptiles. Data is collected on a seasonal basis for pelagic species, concurrent with how the fisheries are conducted. Fisheries occur in the North East Atlantic and cover a large area, including ICES Sub areas 2,4,6 and 7. This data collection programme started in 2007. The data is collected under the Data Collection Framework (REGULATION (EU) 2017/1004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 May 2017 and COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2016/1251 of 12 July 2016) under the guidance of ICES WGCATCH (statistically sound sampling).