Shedding light on trawl fishing activity in the Mediterranean Sea with remote sensing data

Abstract This study uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) vessel detections and Automatic Identification System (AIS) to predict trawl fishing intensity and distribution of fishing activity in areas where public AIS data are not available. By processing SAR data, considering spatial and temporal autocorrelation, and building a General Additive Model, a statistical relationship between SAR vessel detections and AIS fishing activity was established. The study provides spatially explicit estimates of trawler fishing activity, compared with official fleet records published by the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean, revealing the distribution and intensity of trawl fishing activity not previously publicly tracked. Fishing grounds in the Strait of Sicily along the coast of Tunisia and North of Egypt showed an intensity of trawl fishing activity similar to the Adriatic Sea. This area is historically known to be subject to the highest trawling pressure in the Mediterranean, and also as one of the most heavily trawled regions in the world. The study shows that the integration of remote sensing data, such as SAR, offers a promising avenue to overcome data gaps and improve fisheries management in the Mediterranean where only a portion of the fishing fleet is publicly tracked.