Application of a data-based method to Japanese bycatch data

For the sake of refining encounter bycatch thresholds of VME indicator taxa in the NW Pacific, a new potential quantitative evaluation method (“data-based method”) was applied to the Japanese bycatch data and we evaluated its fitness. Recalculated bycatch values were largely overestimated among taxa and fishing gears. Differences in data distribution between fishery and survey data may be the major problem behind the lower model performance. In conclusion, we would not recommend refining current encounter bycatch thresholds in the NW Pacific using the current data-based method, and we believe that further considerations/developments may be required for this task.