Identifying Persistent Hot Spot Areas of Undersized Fish and Crustaceans in Southern European Waters: Implication for Fishery Management Under the Discard Ban Regulation

The recent establishment of the “landing obligation” under reformed EU Common Fishery Policy has twofold objective reducing excessive practice discarding unwanted catch at sea and encouraging more selective sustainable fisheries. Within this context, awareness spatial distribution potential catches is important for devising management measures aimed to decrease discards. This study analyzed Hot Spot density areas demersal fish crustaceans below Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) in four different southern European seas: continental Portuguese coast, Catalan Sea, South Sicily, Liguria northern Tyrrhenian Seas using both bottom trawl survey data information on commercial Critical were identified as zones where highest densities individuals MCRS consistently recorded throughout a series years. Results clearly showed patchy undersized each investigated area, highlighting overlap between high patches discards fishing effort. present findings provide relevant knowledge supporting application spatial-based actions, such designation Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs), order minimize by-catch specimens improve sustainability