Executive summary

Introduction

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) (www.iccat.int), an intergovernmental organization whose Secretariat headquarters is based in Madrid, Spain, contracted Dr Doug Beare to develop a modeling approach to estimate overall Atlantic long-line (LL), bait-boat (BB) and Purse Seine (PS) effort by time-area strata (EFFDIS). Using the ICCAT fisheries data currently available at the Secretariat, Dr Beare was required generate a database of historic and current fishing effort distribution that meets the stated needs of the ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS). The update of the EFFDIS dataset is believed to be critical, especially with regard to by-catch evaluations.

The Proposal

Dr Beare is required to develop a robust statistical modeling approach to estimating overall Atlantic fishing effort stratified by flag/fleet, gear, area (5ºx5º degree square grid), year and month (starting in 1950). The current EFFDIS estimations for longline (LL) gear (1950 to 2014) will be updated using the new modeling approach. Effort estimation procedures for baitboat (BB) and purse-seine (PS) gears will then also be developed with the appropriate units of effort. Tangible deliverables are scheduled to take the form of the outputs summarized below:

Deliverables

  • Detailed descriptions of the methodological approach for SCRS. This would be submitted to the ICCAT secretariat.
  • An intermediate report on the status of development of the work as related to LL estimations to be presented to the 2015 Sub Committee on Ecosystems.
  • Progress report on estimations for all fisheries to be presented at the Blue Shark stock assessment session.
  • Development of comprehensive User Guide and Reference Manuals describing algorithms and code developed.
  • Provide to the Secretariat fishing effort and distribution (EFFDIS) estimates (including LL, BB, and PS) for all the main fleets in electronic format (e.g. csv files) compatible with the current ICCAT-DB structures.
  • An SCRS paper presenting the final estimates with description of the methods to be submitted to the 2015 Species group meeting.
  • As part of a continuous process of feedback and comments from the SCRS the contractor will implement any changes requested for final approval.

Purpose

Progress and Activities

Timeline

Date (2015) Work Progress
May Contractor to visit ICCAT Dr Beare visited ICCAT HQ, Madrid, 24-29 May 2015 and existing methods were reviewed.
May Develop methods for a single longline (LL) fleet ‘Strawman’ methodology for Chinese Taipei LL developed.
8-12 Jun Present methodology for LL at SC ECO, Madrid. ‘Strawman’ methodology for Chinese Taipei LL developed and presented at SG ECO meeting by Dr Kell.
Jun Develop methods single baitboat (BB) fleet. In progress
Jun Develop methods for single purse-seine (PS) fleet. In progress
Jul Expand methods to produce a global estimate with variance. Global estimates produced for LL, PS and BB to follow shortly.
Jul Seek feedback on methodology from ICCAT Secretariat. Get method approved. Feedback has been sought and method approved.
27 – 31 Jul Attend Blue shark stock assessment session. Provide progress report Dr Beare attended Blue shark assessment meeting in Lisbon between 26 and 31 July. Feedback was largely positive.
Aug Build online spatial, relational, spatial database Beta version of database built and online, see http://134.213.29.249/effdis/#
Aug Document methodology, produce Manual and User Guides. In progress
Sept Write SCRS paper presenting the EFFDIS estimates with method descriptions. In progress
21 - 25 Sep Attend Species group meetings and present methods in Madrid. In progress
Oct Respond to feedback from SCRS and finalize all deliverables. In progress

Exploratory data analysis

Presentations

Postgresql and PostGIS server

Conclusions