External report on the review of monitoring PETS bycatch of mammals, birds, turtles and fish for ICES under the service of EC DG Environment

This review has been carried out as part of a special advice request to ICES from DGEnvironment with the aim to evaluate appropriate bycatch monitoring systems at Member State level and on regional coordination to comply with obligations under the Birds, Habitats and Marine Strategy Framework Directives. Three independent reviewers met online, reviewed relevant literature and summarized current practice on i) bycatch risk assessments of Protected, Endangered and Threatened Species (PETS), ii) bycatch monitoring programs and sampling protocols, iii) métiers and areas with reported PET species bycatch, iv) issues with sampling resolution for estimating total bycatch of PET species, and v) monitoring by Member States. Some conclusions and rec-ommendations on best practice design for PETS bycatch sampling programs are included at the end of the report.