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Data

Share of fish catch that is discarded by type of gear used

About this data

Source
Pérez Roda et al. (2019) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
June 1, 2021
Date range
2014–2014
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Pérez Roda et al. – A third assessment of global marine fisheries discards

Discards are animals thrown back (alive or dead) into the sea after being caught during fishing activities.

This is one subset of "bycatch": animals that are not the target species but are caught during fishing activities. Some bycatch is still used as human food, or animal feed. The proportion that is not used, and is instead, thrown back into the sea is called "discards".

Retrieved on
June 1, 2021
Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/3/CA2905EN/ca2905en.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Pérez Roda, M.A. (ed.), Gilman, E., Huntington, T., Kennelly, S.J., Suuronen, P., Chaloupka, M. and Medley, P. (2019). A third assessment of global marine fisheries discards. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 633. Rome, FAO. 78 pp.

Discards are animals thrown back (alive or dead) into the sea after being caught during fishing activities.

This is one subset of "bycatch": animals that are not the target species but are caught during fishing activities. Some bycatch is still used as human food, or animal feed. The proportion that is not used, and is instead, thrown back into the sea is called "discards".

Retrieved on
June 1, 2021
Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/3/CA2905EN/ca2905en.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Pérez Roda, M.A. (ed.), Gilman, E., Huntington, T., Kennelly, S.J., Suuronen, P., Chaloupka, M. and Medley, P. (2019). A third assessment of global marine fisheries discards. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 633. Rome, FAO. 78 pp.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Share of fish catch that is discarded by type of gear used”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Pérez Roda et al.. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/fish-discard-rates-gear.html [online resource] (archived on May 12, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Pérez Roda et al. (2019) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Pérez Roda et al. (2019) – processed by Our World in Data. “Share of fish catch that is discarded by type of gear used” [dataset]. Pérez Roda et al., “A third assessment of global marine fisheries discards” [original data]. Retrieved May 12, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/fish-discard-rates-gear.html (archived on May 12, 2026).

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