2004 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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Bord Iascaigh Mhara � The Irish Sea Fisheries Board & Marine Informatics Ltd
Oliver Tully (BIM) & John Wallace (MI)
Monitoring of activity in coastal fisheries

Monitoring of fishing activity and the catch of fish taken at different locations in the sea is a fundamental source of information for fishery managers. In coastal fisheries, the problems of obtaining catch rate data are compounded. There are many vessels, each vessel is responsible for a relatively small amount of fishing activity, and the conditions on board these open vessels are not conducive to recording information. The large number of vessels involved is also, however, an advantage, in that there is potential for good spatial and temporal sampling if all vessels submit information.

In order to facilitate data collection on such vessels, Marine Informatics Ltd and BIM have produced an electronic logbook system that allows fishermen to quickly record and transmit information on fishing activity. The fisherman uses a touch screen on the logbook unit to input catch and fishing effort information, thereby avoiding the need for a keyboard. The satellite linked geographic positioning system in the unit records the position of the vessel: date and time are recorded automatically and the data are transmitted over the mobile phone network to a receiving computer ashore and uploaded to a database (Figure 1).


Figure 1. Relaying of fishing activity data from an electronic logbook on board a fishing vessel to a shore based receiving station

The data have many valuable properties:

  • there are many data and a high level of confidence, therefore, they accurately reflect fish abundance;

  • the data can be aggregated to different spatial levels to provide management advice to local interests or to State management agencies;

  • the precise position of all fishing gear is recorded and can be mapped in real time, thereby facilitating in-season management of fishing effort, helping to avoid conflicts between users and, potentially, to aid in the enforcement of regulations;

  • results of data analysis can be reported to management agencies and back to the vessels quickly through an automated reporting system.

This system will facilitate the development of a more interactive and transparent system of managing coastal fisheries.

Contact: Oliver Tully, BIM, New Docks, Galway City, Co. Galway; Tel: +353 91 564318; E-mail: [email protected]