Preliminary estimates of French deepwater fishery discards in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

French deepwater fish exploitation (500 m) began off the West coast of the British Isles in 1973. It further developed in the 1980s, and intensified in the 1990s. In 1997, the French fleet comprised 49 boats, and since 1995 has landed yearly about 19,500 t of deepwater fish species, of which, the grenadier Coryphaenoides rupestris (Macrouridae) has been the most abundant. Discard data were sampled on-board by observers on French high sea trawlers from 1995 to 1997. Eight species were identified as totally landed, 43 non-commercial species as totally discarded and only one, the grenadier, as both landed and discarded. The mean discarding rate by haul was 48.5% in weight, whereas the mean grenadier discarding rate was 21.2%; these rates increased with depth. Discard species composition and discard quantities varied with depth, and depended on the specific composition of the fish communities, species abundance and their length-frequency distribution. The latter, established for grenadier and Alepocephalus bairdii (Aiepocephalidae), assumes a bathymetric ontogenic migration. Annual discards of the fishery accounted for about 17,500 t in 1996 and 1997, but the results are quite uncertain. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.