UK Cetacean Bycatch Observation Scheme – Assessment of Bycatch of Protected Species in UK Fisheries

Descriptions

The Contractor will: undertake monitoring for 318 days on a range of fishing vessel types, the proportional composition of which will initially follow existing targets already established but which will be modified as appropriate in consultation with Defra and the PSG if and as changing policy objectives suggest refocusing observational effort in a different way. Sampling will continue to follow targets previously agreed to address requirements of Council Regulations 812/2004, 2019/1241 and Council Directive 92/43/EEC, but as UK has now left the EU, policy objectives are likely to change, so monitoring targets will be flexible such as monitoring can be refocused as deemed necessary over the life of the contract and beyond. Data collection will be added to customized statistical models developed to explore trends in bycatch rates for key species and in key fisheries, to look for geographical or other relevant patterns and to generate total bycatch estimates for common dolphins, harbour porpoises and grey seals in the annual reports for 2021 and 2022 and if data are sufficient for other protected species. Analysis uses General Additive Model (AGM) and ten of more fishery associated co-variates. Annual reports will be published by combining the results of observations during the year, combined as appropriate with data from previous years, with derived data on fishing effort from the iFish database and using GAM’s, which is the same approach which has been used annually since 2006.