Small-scale fisheries discards in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Discarding species, quantities, practices and drivers

Discarding is major issue globally in terms of conservation, fisheries management and economics. To date, studies on fisheries discards have been primarily focused on large-scale fisheries and little attention was given to small-scale fisheries (SSF) discards. The multi-species and multi-gear nature of SSF in the Mediterranean makes any scientific effort to study discards and management action to regulate discards challenging. The study attempted, for the first time in Levantine Sea, to quantify discards, identify discarded species, and comprehend the causes and drivers of SSF discarding in Cyprus through 208 fishing trips by observing the fishers' regular fishing operations using trammel nets, gillnets, monofilament nets and bottom set longline. Out of the total catch, 1408.385 kg were landed and 956.581 kg were discarded. The majority of discarded individuals were non-indigenous species (73.7 %). Results exhibited a discard rate of 9.92 individuals (4.6 Kg) and a mortality rate of 0.86 per sampled fishing trip, indicating that almost all individuals discarded were released dead. The proportional discards rate (%) out of the total catch was calculated at about 41 % and the average landings/discards ratio in terms of weight was 1.5:1. The five most common discarded species in terms of numbers belonged to osteichthyes and were Sargocentron rubrum followed by Lagocephalus sceleratus, Torquigener flavimaculosus, Scorpaena scrofa and Pterois miles representing 27.8 %, 25.2 %, 13.9 %, 4.7 % and 2.4 %, respectively, of all discarded species. ‘Poisonous fish’, ‘undersized fish’ and ‘low’ and ‘no commercial value’ fish were the main reasons for discarding. Other reasons included ‘prohibited’ to land species, ‘poor condition’ and ‘depredated’ fish. Elasmobranchs were the second most abundant class accounting for 4.3 % of the total discarded taxa, including threatened, endangered and critically endangered species. Net length, soak time, gear type, and seasonality are the main factors driving discards. The findings of the current work could support the development of national fishery-specific management action plans to mitigate discards and impact on marine ecosystems.