Bycatch and discards

What are the ecosystem-wide impacts of implementing the landing obligation in European fisheries, and how do these effects vary under different management scenarios and levels of compliance?

The landing obligation under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy represents a significant change in fisheries management with potentially far-reaching ecosystem consequences. Using EwE to address this question will allow you to explore some of the complex, system-wide effects of this major policy change. You could set up different scenarios varying in compliance levels, management responses, and external factors like climate change.
The analyses may provide insights for refining the implementation of the landing obligation, designing complementary management measures, and understanding the broader ecosystem consequences of this shift in fisheries policy. It could also help inform similar policies being considered in other regions.

Potential policy questions

1. Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): Can all species be managed so as to obtain MSY?
2. Trophic cascades: How does the reduction in discards affect scavenging species and their predators throughout the food web?
3. Fishing behavior changes: How do changes in fishing tactics (e.g., improved selectivity, altered spatial patterns) to avoid unwanted catch impact different ecosystem components?
4. Bycatch species dynamics: What are the population-level effects on previously discarded species now retained and landed?
5. Target species impacts: How does the landing obligation affect the biomass and size structure of commercially targeted species?
6. Quota utilization: How does full retention of catch against quotas affect fishing patterns and overall fishing mortality across species?
7. Benthos and habitat effects: Are there indirect effects on benthic communities and habitats due to changes in fishing practices or reduced organic matter input from discards?
8. Compliance scenarios: How do different levels of compliance with the landing obligation influence ecosystem outcomes?
9. Economic drivers: How do economic incentives or disincentives related to landing previously discarded catch influence fishing behavior and resultant ecosystem impacts?
10. Gear selectivity improvements: What are the ecosystem-level consequences of implementing more selective fishing gears to comply with the landing obligation?
11. Spatial management interaction: How does the landing obligation interact with existing spatial management measures like Marine Protected Areas?
12. Multi-species management: How does the landing obligation affect the dynamics of mixed fisheries and the ability to optimize catches across multiple species?
13. Time scales of change: What are the short-term versus long-term ecosystem responses to the implementation of the landing obligation?
14. Indicator species: Which species or functional groups are most sensitive to the changes brought about by the landing obligation and could serve as indicators for monitoring?
15. Management strategy evaluation: What combination of additional management measures (e.g., gear regulations, spatial/temporal closures) could optimize ecological and socio-economic outcomes under the landing obligation?