According to Oceana, discarded fish constitutes 8% of the total weight of the world’s captures, or more than 7.3 million tonnes of fish that are thrown away at sea.
One out of every six kilos of fish captured in Europe never reaches the market because it is thrown away at sea; and some fisheries throw up to five out of every six kilos of fish overboard. Many of these fisheries are the ones that have seen the biggest increases during the debates to determine this year’s fishing quotas.
‘Discard’ is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as “the portion of the catch that is thrown away at sea for one reason or another.” This practice is carried out worldwide and is most acute in trawling fisheries for demersal species.
There are various reasons that lead a vessel to discard a percentage of its catch, but for the most part it is due to the commercial or management strategies currently in place.
