State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 - Library

Highlights of special FAO studies
123
Source:
MAIN FINDINGS
The global estimate
The global summed discard rate is 8 percent (quantity of discards as a percentage of
the total catch).
Applying the 8 percent global aggregate discard rate estimated in the study to a
ten-year (1992–2002) average of the global nominal catch reported in FAO Fishstat, 80
the total extrapolated discards is calculated to be 7.3 million tonnes. Some caution
is required in extrapolating to the total global catch, as some major fish producer
countries 81 are underrepresented in the discard database.
Discards by area
The highest quantities of discards are in FAO Areas 27 (Northeast Atlantic) and 61
(Northwest Pacific), which jointly account for 40 percent of the discards. Areas with low
discards include Southeast and East Asia, small island nations in the South Pacific and
Caribbean, and countries with a “no discards” policy.
Discards by type of fishery
Trawl fisheries for shrimp and demersal finfish account for over 50 percent of the total
estimated discards while representing approximately 22 percent of total landings in the
discard database. Tropical shrimp trawl fisheries have the highest discard rate and alone
account for over 27 percent of the total estimated discards. Penaeid shrimp fisheries
in Indonesia, South America and the United States jointly account for approximately
1 million tonnes of discards. Coldwater shrimp trawl fisheries have considerably lower
discard rates. However, the rates can vary from over 80 percent for some Nephrops
trawl fisheries to less than 6 percent for many Pandalus fisheries.
Demersal finfish trawls account for 36 percent of the estimated global discards. In
particular, trawlers targeting flatfish and deep-water species may discard more than
50 percent and 39 percent of their catches, respectively.
Most purse seine, handline, jig, trap and pot fisheries have low discard rates. If the
carcasses of finned sharks are considered as discards, then the summed discard rate in
tuna longline fisheries is 29 percent.
80
Fishstat Plus (v. 2.30) of 24.07.2003. The nominal (or retained) catch excludes marine animals and plants.
81
These include New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation. The EU member
countries and India have only partially been covered. A number of smaller fish-producing countries are not included.