Description
Summary:NOTE THIS IS AN ARCHIVED VERSION OF THE GLOBAL FISHERIES LANDING DATA. The current version of the data is available from http://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?uuid=5c4590d3-a45a-4d37-bf8b-ecd145cb356d and should be used for all future analyses from 16/01/2019. For any questions about version changes to this dataset, please contact the Point of Contact nominated in this record. Global fisheries landings supplied by a number of agencies (FAO/UN, CCAMLR, NAFO, ICES etc) are mapped to 30-min spatial cells based on the range/gradient of the reported taxon, the spatial access of the reporting country's fleets, and the original reporting area. This data is associated with types of fishing gears. Estimates of illegal, unreported and unallocated landings are included as are estimates of the weight of fisheries products discarded at sea. Mapping the source of fisheries capture allows investigation of the impacts of fishing and the vulnerability of fishing (with its associate food security implications) to climate change impacts. Annual data on fisheries landings (referred to here as 'reported' landings) was sourced from public sources (FAO/UN (and their regional agencies), CCAMLR, ICES and NAFO), which were coded and mapped to 30-spatial cells. Some adjustment was made when the identity or locations provided were not possible. There was an attempt to provide the fullest taxonomic breakdown of what were sometimes highly aggregated reporting groups using records of countries providing better breakdowns in the same fished waters. Then, using information on the range and distribution of commercial species, the known and allowable fishing access patterns of country fleets, and the collection of 30-min spatial cells in the original data provided, each record was mapped to the most likely collection of 30-min spatial cells and prorated by the fished taxon's abundance or other spatial information such as the spatial fishing records of fleets (such as for tuna). Based on known fishing gear associations with the capture of species by country and year, the data were prorated to the type of fishing gear likely used. Precision varies as some data such as that provided by ICES for waters of the northeast Atlantic is reported by relatively small statistical reporting areas and is intensely reviewed as source. Some data from FAO (UN) is provided in very large reporting areas covering large areas of the Pacific therefore the spatial precision is dependent on the accuracy of accepted ranges of the fishing taxa and what is known about the spatial access of the reporting country's fleets to the inshore areas which lie within the 'exclusive economic zone' claims of coastal nations. From the mapped global 'reported' landings it was possible to estimate the associated catch rates of 'IUU" - or the missing illegal, unreported and unregulated landings using published rates [1]. Similarly the catch rate of discarded fauna (not usually the same animals as commercially sought) were also estimated from published rates [2]. Finally there is an estimate of landings by 'small scale fisheries' (SSF) using data using reported rates [3]. Estimates of what SSF was already included in the reported harmonised landings were based on each countries corruption index. SSF already reported in the 'reported landings' were adjusted accordingly. 1. Agnew DJ, Pearce J, Pramod G, Peatman T, Watson R, Beddington JR, et al. Estimating the worldwide extent of illegal fishing. PLoS One. 2009;4(2):e4570. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004570.1. 2. Kelleher K. Discards in the world’s marine fisheries. An update. Rome: FAO, 2005 3. Chuenpagdee R, Liguori L, Palomares MLD, Pauly D. Bottom up, global estimates of small-scale marine fisheries catches. Vancouver, Canada: University of British Columbia, 2006