The thorny discard question, debate and debacle - a must be read.

Discards won't go away - but what are 'discards' - a term that any journalist or reporter covering the fishing industry needs to be more than familiar with if they are to pass comment, judgement or assess the actions of the industry.

If the the nature and use of the term discards was straightforward then much of the recent interest in and around the industry would not have caused such angst within the fishing community at alrge. Hugh's FishFight for instance, would be seen as a right and proper case and good cause for taking action at the highest level - EU CFP reform even. Unfortunately, discards apply to any and all fish that do not meet the requirements of a fishing operation - through quota restrictions, MLS (minimum landing size) requirements or market demand and therein lies the rub. This Seafish article begins the debate and provides links to the most recent articles covering the natuire of discards and should be compulsory reading for those not closely acquainted with what falls out of the cod end and on to the deck.
Discard dilemma photos:

Prawn trawling in the mud of the Smalls.

Scad by the ton when white fish trawling - if there were no discards would you keep these aboard - given that you could fill the fish room in a few days or even less?

Beam trawling - juvenile and under MLS fish, not that many but enough to fill many boxes in an otherwise small fishroom.