. 2022 Mar 15;70(1):79–96. doi: 10.1007/s00267-022-01607-w

Table 7.

Experts opinions on Biological criteria

Criteria	Industry	Academia
Reduction in overfishing	Fishing association (1): “Maintaining fishing mortality at or below maximum sustainable yield is important for the long-term prosperity of the stocks and the fishing business”. Industry advisory (1): “Reducing overfishing is high in everyone’s agenda since the fisheries rely on the presence of fish in the future and sustainability is paramount when looking into the future”. Owner/Skipper (1): “Lets think 25 years down the line for us and another for our next generation to make this a viable job with a viable future”. Producer (2): “overfishing leads to the breakdown of stocks, instability of supply, loss of market and thus loss of investment. That loss of investment exposes fisheries to short term profit drivers which act to hinder attempts at stock recovery”.	Academic (1): “Reduction of all three should be a high priority given the observable pressure on the fish stocks concerned”. Scientific advisory (2): “Without reducing overfishing, bycatch and discard the fishery cannot be sustainable”. Scientific advisory (4): “Measures to limit and reduce discard, bycatch, and overfishing lead to more sustainable fisheries and all three are playing a role in reducing MSY”.
Reduction in discards and bycatch	Industry advisory (1): “The reduction of the discard is a priority because discarding fish does not benefit anyone, neither the fishermen wasting good fish and time spent at sea nor the stock that is affected. The reduction of bycatch depends on its definition. If we are talking about protected species then of course priority needs to be high, but in the definition of bycatch often other commercial, non-target species are included and in this case, assuming the quota is available for them, they could constitute an important component of the catch”. Fishing association (1): “Discarding is a symptom of unwanted catch or bycatch. The important issues are to avoid species or fish size you don’t want”. Producer (1):“Reductions in discards and unwanted by-catches in the demersal mixed fishery is important to us by has become something of a “holy grail”. We would judge that the elimination of discards and unwanted bycatch is impossible. There is no need to reduce by-catch if there is a quota allocation for it and a mixed demersal fishery comprises many bycatches”. Producer (2): “Reducing bycatch, overfishing and discards are all important for preserving biodiversity”. Skipper (2): “Discard is not a waste and is an important part of feeding the marine eco-systems”.	Scientific advisory (1): “Bycatch and discards are increasing and effective compliance and monitoring will reduce discarding more than biological management inputs”. Academic (2): “Discards are both unprofitable and distort the data on mortality and overfishing harms the long term sustainability of fisheries”.

Criteria

Industry

Academia

Reduction in overfishing

Fishing association (1): “Maintaining fishing mortality at or below maximum sustainable yield is important for the long-term prosperity of the stocks and the fishing business”.

Industry advisory (1): “Reducing overfishing is high in everyone’s agenda since the fisheries rely on the presence of fish in the future and sustainability is paramount when looking into the future”.

Owner/Skipper (1): “Lets think 25 years down the line for us and another for our next generation to make this a viable job with a viable future”.

Producer (2): “overfishing leads to the breakdown of stocks, instability of supply, loss of market and thus loss of investment. That loss of investment exposes fisheries to short term profit drivers which act to hinder attempts at stock recovery”.

Academic (1): “Reduction of all three should be a high priority given the observable pressure on the fish stocks concerned”.

Scientific advisory (2): “Without reducing overfishing, bycatch and discard the fishery cannot be sustainable”.

Scientific advisory (4): “Measures to limit and reduce discard, bycatch, and overfishing lead to more sustainable fisheries and all three are playing a role in reducing MSY”.

Reduction in discards and bycatch

Industry advisory (1): “The reduction of the discard is a priority because discarding fish does not benefit anyone, neither the fishermen wasting good fish and time spent at sea nor the stock that is affected. The reduction of bycatch depends on its definition. If we are talking about protected species then of course priority needs to be high, but in the definition of bycatch often other commercial, non-target species are included and in this case, assuming the quota is available for them, they could constitute an important component of the catch”.

Fishing association (1): “Discarding is a symptom of unwanted catch or bycatch. The important issues are to avoid species or fish size you don’t want”.

Producer (1):“Reductions in discards and unwanted by-catches in the demersal mixed fishery is important to us by has become something of a “holy grail”. We would judge that the elimination of discards and unwanted bycatch is impossible. There is no need to reduce by-catch if there is a quota allocation for it and a mixed demersal fishery comprises many bycatches”.

Producer (2): “Reducing bycatch, overfishing and discards are all important for preserving biodiversity”.

Skipper (2): “Discard is not a waste and is an important part of feeding the marine eco-systems”.

Scientific advisory (1): “Bycatch and discards are increasing and effective compliance and monitoring will reduce discarding more than biological management inputs”.

Academic (2): “Discards are both unprofitable and distort the data on mortality and overfishing harms the long term sustainability of fisheries”.