UK bycatch monitoring programme report for 2020

Sampling during 2020 was severely impacted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to a series of national lockdowns that placed significant restrictions on movement and social mixing to contain the spread of the virus. These measures meant that for significant parts of the year no at-sea data collection was undertaken. Typical sampling levels were achieved in early 2020 prior to the first national lockdown, but at a much-reduced level in the periods between lockdowns during the rest of the year. In total 92 sea days (approximately 25% of normal levels) were monitored by at-sea observers for protected species bycatch in several net, pelagic trawl, longline and ring net fisheries during 2020. 95 specimens of species of conservation interest were recorded as bycaught, including one common dolphin, twenty seabirds (cormorant, northern fulmar and northern gannet) and over 70 elasmobranchs including porbeagle and deep-water sharks, and undulate rays. A time-series of monitoring data were used, along with fishing effort data from 2020, to produce bycatch mortality estimates for harbour porpoise, common dolphin and seals using a multi-annual ratio-based approach. The point estimate for harbour porpoise bycatch in 2020, assuming full compliance by the relevant over 12m netting fleet with the ADD requirements of Regulation 2019/1241 was 703 animals (95% CL range 416-1338), and the point estimate, assuming no ADD use, was 901 animals (95% CL range 492-1648). The point estimate for common dolphin bycatch in 2020 was 222 (95% CL range 123-546). The point estimate for seal bycatch in 2020 was 356 (95% CL range 269-671). The 2020 estimates are lower than estimates from preceding years. This reduction is driven largely by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to reduced netting effort, rather than by significant changes in underlying bycatch rates in 2020. The presented mortality estimates include several assumptions and important caveats that are described and discussed in the report and annexes. Official UK fishing effort statistics show that two broad gear groups, pots and demersal trawl/seine make up the majority of total UK fishing effort in terms of days at sea, but both gears, and pots in particular, exhibited significantly reduced effort in 2020 compared to previous years. Dredges, lines and nets make up about a quarter of UK effort, and a small percentage is accounted for by a mix of hand gathering, pelagic trawls, purse seines/ring nets and miscellaneous gears. All of these gears, except pelagic trawls, showed a marked reduction in effort in 2020.