Data reporting Compliance workshop: Collection and reporting of Fisheries data to IOTC Mauritius, March 2014

IOTC Resolutions Data REPORTING standards  10/02 Resolution Mandatory statistical requirements for IOTC Members and Cooperating Non- Contracting Parties (CPC’s). Data COLLECTION standards  13/03 On the recording of catch and effort data by fishing vessels in the IOTC Area of Competence  11/04 Regional Observer Scheme

IOTC Resolutions – Recap 1.IOTC Resolution 10/02 Mandatory statistical requirements for IOTC Members and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPC’s). Includes requirements on the data collection and reporting standards of: (a.) Nominal catch data, including -Retained catches (IOTC Form 1RC) -Discards (IOTC Form 1DI) (b.) Catch-and-effort data (IOTC Form 3CE1), including: -Surface fisheries -Longline fisheries -Coastal fisheries (c.) Size frequency data (IOTC Form 4SF)

Nominal catch IOTC Resolution 10/02: Estimates of the total annual catch by species and gear for all species under the IOTC mandate. Summary Records estimates of total annual catches plus discards, by species, fishery (gear) and area. Highly aggregated catches by gear (fishery) and geographic area (East/West IO). Data should be reported for all species under the IOTC mandate, in addition to pelagic sharks and by-catch. Data collection methods Nominal catches are usually derived from a combination of: 1.Catch reports, logbooks, regional observers, or landing statistics from port authorities for the industrial fleet; 2.Sample-based estimation of small-scale traditional or artisanal fleets. In theory, data reporting should include total enumeration of catches (or raised sampled catches) – but highly dependent on the availability and quality of data, particularly for the artisanal fisheries.

Nominal catch (IOTC form 1RC)

Reporting standards: -One data entry line required for catches for each fishery (gear) and area Form 1RC – Main data fields to capture FISHERY – gear type AREA – East or West Indian Ocean TYPE OF DATA – Final or preliminary DATA SOURCES – e.g., unloaded catches reported by customs DATA PROCESSING – details of whether the nominal catches are sample-based, have been raised, or refer to total enumeration of catches TARGET SPECIES – main species targeted by fishery (gear type) COVERAGE – proportion of catch sampled, or total enumeration

Catch-and-effort IOTC Resolution 10/02: Catch-and-effort data Data requirements a) For surface fisheries: Catch weight by species and fishing effort shall be provided by 1° grid area and month strata. Purse seine fishery data shall be stratified by fishing mode (e.g. free swimming schools or schools in association with floating objects). b) Longline fisheries: Catch by species, in numbers or weight, and effort expressed as the number of hooks deployed shall be provided by 5° grid area and month strata. c) For coastal fisheries: Available catch by species, fishing gear and fishing effort shall be submitted frequently and may be provided using an alternative geographical area if it better represents the fishery concerned.  Documents describing the extrapolation procedures (including raising factors corresponding to the logbook coverage) shall also be submitted routinely.

Catch and effort Data collection methods Data is collected for vessels from information provided in log-books submitted to port authorities, or from sampling at landing sites which are then raised to the total number of active vessels. Data can be either be submitted to IOTC Secretariat extrapolated to the total monthly catches for each gear, or as un-raised data (provided that information on raising factors are submitted on a routine basis). Main data fields to report: For each vessel sampled, and fishing activity: 1.vessel name/identification 2.month of fishing activity 3.location of fishing activity (e.g., 5° or 1° grid area) 4.Effort (and unit of effort) 5.Catch by species (in numbers and/or weight)

Catch and effort (form 3CE1)

Units of effort A number of ways of measuring effort – but also different levels of precision: 1.No. of vessels; 2.No. of unloadings; 3.No. of fishing trips; 4.No. of days at sea (includes searching, breakdown, time travelling to and from fishing area); 5.No. of fishing days – no. days on which fishing took place; 6.No. of sets; 7.Quantity of gear used (gear specific units), e.g., Longline: No. of hooks set per day Handline: No. of lines used per day Pole-and-line: No. of poles used per day Gillnet: number and size of panels used in each set Trawling: No. of lines, or hours trawled per day Increase in precision in effort

Size frequency data IOTC Resolution 10/02: Size frequency data Data requirements Size frequency data shall be provided for all gears and for all species covered by the IOTC mandate according to the guidelines set out by the IOTC Scientific Committee. Sampling coverage shall be set to at least one fish measured by ton caught, by species and type of fishery, with samples being representative of all the periods and areas fished. Alternatively, size data for longline fleets may be provided as part of the Regional Observer Scheme where such fleets have at least 5% observer coverage of all fishing operations. Length data by species, including the total number of fish measured, shall be submitted by a 5° grid area by month, by gear and fishing mode (e.g. free swimming schools or associated schools).

Size frequency data Data collection Length and weight data may be collected for all fish caught (total enumeration), but are usually taken for a sample of the total catch. Data usually collected by enumerators at landing sites using a random sample during the unloading of the fish, based on either a fixed number (e.g., the first 20 fish unloaded) or as proportion of the total catch unloaded. Samples can also be taken onboard by observers or crew members. Length and weight data may also be recorded and reported to IOTC Secretariat for all sampled fish sampled or sample sub-set.

Size frequency data (IOTC form 4SF)

Size frequency data (IOTC Form 4SF) One form submitted to IOTC Secretariat for each species and fishery (gear). Records the individual body lengths (and weight) of sampled fish, aggregated by 5° square grid area and month. Data can be submitted as unraised data, or raised (e.g., by time-area to catches in each 5° grid reported by the catch-and-effort). Main data fields to report: For each vessel sampled: 1.vessel name/identification 2.month of fishing activity 3.location of fishing activity (Area and 5 Grid) 4.species identification 5.lengths, measurement unit (e.g., cm), measurement type (fork-length) of fish sampled from the total catch 6.weights (for all fish sampled for length, or for a partial sub-set of samples)

Discussion points

Data Collection Resolutions In order to meet the reporting requirements of Resolution 10/02, details of the data collection and minimum coverage are set out in: Resolution 13/03 On the recording of catch and effort data by fishing vessels in the IOTC Area of Competence Resolution 14/01 Regional Observer Programme

Data collection: log-books Resolution 13/03 On the recording of catch and effort data by fishing vessels in the IOTC Area of Competence All vessels shall keep a bound paper or electronic logbook to record data that includes, as a minimum requirement, the information and data in the logbook set forth in Annex I, II and III. Data collection Logbooks record the date, location and details of fishing activities of all vessel landings. Information is collected through a mixture of interviews with skippers, and fishing trips entered in vessel-log books submitted to port authorities. Total enumeration is required for all vessels operating in a fishery. One form is completed per vessel, recording all fishing activity for a given reference period (e.g., monthly).

Data collection: log-books Record once per trip Vessel details: (e.g., vessel name, identification, flag, vessel type/size, gears used) Gear configuration: (e.g., purse seine: length of net, longline: average branch and float line, gillnet: mesh size of net) Record once per set/shot/operation Operation Date of set Start (and end) position (longitude/latitude) Time of gear setting, or start fishing time Effort: (varies according to gear – e.g., longline: no. of hooks used in set, gillnet: total length of net set, pole-and-line: number of poles used during the day). Catch Catch (units vary according to gear): round weight (kg) and/or number by species per set/shot/fishing event for each species

Log-book examples

11/04 Regional observer scheme Data requirements Sampling coverage: at least 5 % of the number of operations/sets for each gear type by the fleet of each CPC while fishing in the IOTC area of competence of 24 meters overall length and over, and under 24 meters if they fish outside their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) shall be covered by this observer scheme.

11/04 Regional observer scheme Data requirements Observers shall: a) Record and report fishing activities, verify positions of the vessel; b) Observe and estimate catches as far as possible with a view to identifying catch composition and monitoring discards, by-catches and size frequency; c) Record the gear type, mesh size and attachments employed by the master; d) Collect information to enable the cross-checking of entries made to the logbooks (species composition and quantities, live and processed weight and location, where available); and e) Carry out such scientific work (for example, collecting samples), as requested by the IOTC Scientific Committee.