EMODnet Human Activities, Fisheries, Fishing Intensity
Short description
The datasets on fishing intensity in the EU waters by sea basin are created every year by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). In the 2020 Cogea started to collect and harmonize them according to the EMOdnet Human Activities dataset schema. The EMODnet dataset is updated yearly and as soon as new data from ICES are released, and is available for viewing and download on the EMODnet web portal (Human Activities, https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/human-activities). Where and when available, the fisheries overview data concern: i) the spatial distribution of average annual fishing effort (mW fishing hours) by ecoregion (Azores, Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, Celtic Seas, Faroes, Greater North Sea, Icelandic Waters, Norwegian Sea and Oceanic Northeast Atlantic) and by gear type (Beam trawls, Bottom otter trawls, Bottom seines, Dredges, Pelagic trawls and seines, Static gears). Fishing effort data are only shown for vessels >12 m having vessel monitoring systems (VMS); ii) the average annual subsurface (top) and surface (bottom) mobile bottom contacting fishing gear (i.e. bottom otter trawls, bottom seines, dredges, beam trawls) disturbance by ecoregion in the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, Celtic Seas, Faroes, Greater North Sea, Icelandic Waters, Norwegian Sea and Oceanic Northeast Atlantic, expressed as average swept-area ratios (SAR). Due to data confidentiality issues, VMS/logbook data are anonymized and aggregated in a 0.05×0.05 degree grid prior to submission to ICES, using the C-squares geocode system (polygons). The last data loaded into the database, from the ICES 2022 Fishing Overview, report the 2018-2021 averages. Compared with the previous one this new version has a new dataset schema and also historical data have been included in the database.
Point of contact
Cogea srl
lfalco@cogea.it
Resource constraints
Re-use of content for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the sources (EMODnet - Human Activities, STECF, and the FAO) are acknowledged. EMODnet - Human Activities accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the re-use of content accessible on its website. For further information on ICES's data policy, please visit https://www.ices.dk/marine-data/guidelines-and-policy/Pages/default.aspx.
Spatial extent
['-10.58', '34.59', '34.56', '70.09']
Type
dataset
Metadata information
Identifier
Keywords
Agricultural and aquaculture facilities ; GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 ;

Fisheries ; GEMET - Concepts, version 2.4 ;

Metadata GDI-Vl-conform ;

Resource provider(s)
Cogea srl
lfalco@cogea.it

ICES
info@ices.dk

Lineage
The yearly Ecoregions ICES's data (shapefiles) on fishing intensity are formatted, imported into a single geodatabase, organised in two different tables (Effort: Average MW fishing hours by gear type, SAR: Average surface and subsurface swept area ratio) and a single C-Squares feature class (polygons). The tables are related to the feature class via relationship classes (C-square field). Date fields have also been added. All information is pre-validated by ICES.