Regional métier definition: A comparative investigation of statistical methods using a workflow applied to the international otter trawl fisheries in the North Sea

The European Common Fisheries Policy recognizes the importance of accounting for heterogeneity in fishing practices, and metier-based sampling is now at the core of the EU Data Collection Framework. The implementation of such an approach would require Member States to agree on the standard regional metier definitions and on practical rules to categorize logbook records into metiers. Several alternative approaches have been used in the past to categorize landings profiles, but no consensus has yet emerged. A generic open-source workflow is developed to test and compare a selection of methods, including principal components analysis (PCA), hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC), K-means, and Clustering LARge Applications (CLARA), and to provide simple allocation rules. This workflow is applied to a unique regional dataset consisting of bottom-trawl logbooks of five North Sea countries. No method proved to be infallible, but combining PCA with either CLARA or HAC performed best. For 2008, a hierarchical classification with 14 species assemblages is proposed. Discriminant analysis proved more robust than simple ordination methods for allocating a new logbook record into an existing metier. The whole approach is directly operational and could contribute to defining more objective and consistent metiers across European fisheries

DISPLACE: a dynamic, individual-based model for spatial fishing planning and effort displacement: Integrating underlying fish population models

We previously developed a spatially explicit, individual-based model (IBM) evaluating the bio-economic efficiency of fishing vessel movements between regions according to the catching and targeting of different species based on the most recent high resolution spatial fishery data. The main purpose was to test the effects of alternative fishing effort allocation scenarios related to fuel consumption, energy efficiency (value per litre of fuel), sustainable fish stock harvesting, and profitability of the fisheries. The assumption here was constant underlying resource availability. Now, an advanced version couples the vessel model to selected size-based population models and considers the underlying resource dynamics in the distribution and density patterns of the targeted stocks for the cases of Danish and German vessels harvesting the North Sea and Baltic fish stocks. The stochastic fishing process includes direct and local depletion by stock that is specific to the vessel catching power, which is proportional to the encountered size-based population on the visited ground and is based on stock assessment and research survey data. The impact of the potential fishing effort displacement by vessels on the fish stocks, with resulting fishing mortality, and the vessels’ economic consequences are evaluated on high spatial and seasonal disaggregation levels by simulating different individual choices of vessel speed, fishing grounds and ports. All tested scenarios led to increased overall energy efficiency, except for the fishing closures that increased fuel consumption and costs for most of the vessels due to increased travel distance. On an individual scale, the simulations led to gains and losses due to either the technical interactions between vessels exploiting the same stocks or to the alteration of individual fishing patterns. We demonstrate that integrating the spatial activity of vessels and local fish stock abundance dynamics allow for interactions and more realistic predictions of fishermen behaviour, revenues and stock abundance

VMStools: Open-source software for the processing, analysis and visualization of fisheries logbook and VMS data

VMStools is a package of open-source software, build using the freeware environment R, specifically developed for the processing, analysis and visualisation of landings (logbooks) and vessel location data (VMS) from commercial fisheries. Analyses start with standardized data formats for logbook (EFLALO) and VMS (TACSAT), enabling users to conduct a variety of analyses using generic algorithms. Embedded functionality handles erroneous data point detection and removal, métier identification through the use of clustering techniques, linking logbook and VMS data together in order to distinguish fishing from other activities, provide high-resolution maps of both fishing effort and -landings, interpolate vessel tracks, calculate indicators of fishing impact as listed under the Data Collection Framework at different spatio-temporal scales. Finally data can be transformed into other existing formats, for example to populate regional databases like FishFrame. This paper describes workflow examples of these features while online material allows a head start to perform these analyses. This software incorporates state-of-the art VMS and logbook analysing methods standardizing the process towards obtaining pan-European, or even worldwide indicators of fishing distribution and impact as required for spatial planning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------