The survival of discarded lesser-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) in the Western English Channel beam trawl fishery

A large number of lesser-spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) are caught and discarded in the Western English Channel beam trawl fishery. Using onboard survival aquaria, the survival rate of such fish discards was estimated to be very high (98%). The fish had been subjected to harsh conditions during the capture, towing and deck-sorting processes suggesting that the species is relatively resilient to such rigours.