Report of the Working Group on Methods for Estimating Discard Survival (WGMEDS)

The first meeting of the Working Group on Methods for Estimating Discard Survival (WGMEDS), held in Olhão, Portugal, on 27 November – 1 December 2017, was at-tended by 20 members from 12 countries.Participants addressed the following:• The new Terms of Reference (ToR) for the working group were described, dis-cussed and agreed. These include: a review and update of the guidance on ‘Methods to Estimate Discard Survival’ based on further developments to as-sess discard survival (ToR a); a meta-analysis of discard survival data to inves-tigate variables influencing survival, with a view to increase survival through modified fishing practices (ToR b); a review of ongoing monitoring require-ments and methods that generate data to inform on discard survival (ToR c); and lastly, promoting the application of discard survival estimates in fisheries management, principally through proactive engagement with other EGs and sharing new knowledge (ToR d). Progress was made on ToR a, b and d.• For ToR a, each participant presented methods and results from recent and ongoing projects. Observations and discussions based on these presentations informed on further developments of the guidelines on how to conduct dis-card survival studies. There was also a dedicated group working on exploring the assumptions and implications of inferring survival probabilities from semi-quantified health scores derived from discarded individuals.• For ToR b, a meta-analysis was progressed which continued the work of the group (WKMEDS) to evaluate all published evidence on discard survival of various European (flat)fish species and Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus).• For ToR d, text was drafted that concisely explains the work of the group (in-cluding outputs from WKMEDS) so that other EGs can quickly determine the progress on discard survival assessments, new evidence of discard survival es-timates and its relevance to their work. A work plan was devised to collate and summarise the available evidence on discard survival and its associated uncer-tainties, to be progressed at the next meeting. Further, to learn more about the ICES standpoint on considering discard survival rates in stock assessments, links were laid at the ICES WGCHAIRS meeting in Copenhagen in January 2018 to begin liaising with some stock assessment working group chairs.• Additionally, final edits were made to the i) ICES Cooperative Research Report were and ii) the manuscript for the critical review paper produced by the Workshop on Methods for Estimating Discard Survival (WKMEDS).