Relevance of European small-scale fisheries trapped by data limitations

Abstract Landings by species and their associated fishing effort are crucial for stock assessment and estimating fishing mortality. While large scale fisheries (LSF) have historically received more attention, interest in standardized data from small scale fisheries (SSF) has increased significantly over the last decade. This study characterizes SSF and ongoing fishing activity data collection across 17 European countries, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, using 2019 as a reference year. The analysis reveals that 88% of commercial active fishing vessels are smaller than 15 m in total length and that such SSF (as considered in this study) accounts for over 83% of the total days at sea and 12% of the landed weight. However, fishing activity data collection for SSF is less comprehensive compared to LSF. Vessels larger than 10 m typically report their fishing activities in logbooks and sales notes, whereas for <10 m vessels, only 40% provide additional data sources to sales notes, namely with declarative forms. This results in significant data gaps and inaccuracies, especially regarding fishing effort, gears used, or fishing locations. This is especially true for vessels smaller than 10 m, likely as a product of having comparatively less ongoing requirements put in place, whereas vessels between 10 and 15 m also present fewer data reporting obligations (e.g. large part of this fleet is not covered by geo-localization data especially for the [10–12) m vessels) compared to vessels above 15 m (LSF). In the end, SSF fisheries have not only less data available than LSF, but their provided information is also consequently subject to more inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Therefore, a concerted effort will be needed to improve SSF data quality through coordinated, harmonized, and comparable data collection efforts across countries. Recommendations include enhancing data reporting requirements for smaller vessels, implementing supplementary technological solutions, and conducting cross-checks of census information with sampling data. Additionally, the development and use of geolocation devices and apps are recommended to enhance the accuracy and completeness of SSF fishing activity data collection.

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Publication Details

Journal
ICES Journal of Marine Science
Published
2025-08-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaf130
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Marine and fisheries research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.21

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Relevance of European small-scale fisheries trapped by data limitations

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Relevance of European small-scale fisheries trapped by data limitations

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article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract Landings by species and their associated fishing effort are crucial for stock assessment and estimating fishing mortality. While large scale fisheries (LSF) have historically received more attention, interest in standardized data from small scale fisheries (SSF) has increased significantly over the last decade. This study characterizes SSF and ongoing fishing activity data collection across 17 European countries, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, using 2019 as a reference year. The analysis reveals that 88% of commercial active fishing vessels are smaller than 15 m in total length and that such SSF (as considered in this study) accounts for over 83% of the total days at sea and 12% of the landed weight. However, fishing activity data collection for SSF is less comprehensive compared to LSF. Vessels larger than 10 m typically report their fishing activities in logbooks and sales notes, whereas for <10 m vessels, only 40% provide additional data sources to sales notes, namely with declarative forms. This results in significant data gaps and inaccuracies, especially regarding fishing effort, gears used, or fishing locations. This is especially true for vessels smaller than 10 m, likely as a product of having comparatively less ongoing requirements put in place, whereas vessels between 10 and 15 m also present fewer data reporting obligations (e.g. large part of this fleet is not covered by geo-localization data especially for the [10–12) m vessels) compared to vessels above 15 m (LSF). In the end, SSF fisheries have not only less data available than LSF, but their provided information is also consequently subject to more inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Therefore, a concerted effort will be needed to improve SSF data quality through coordinated, harmonized, and comparable data collection efforts across countries. Recommendations include enhancing data reporting requirements for smaller vessels, implementing supplementary technological solutions, and conducting cross-checks of census information with sampling data. Additionally, the development and use of geolocation devices and apps are recommended to enhance the accuracy and completeness of SSF fishing activity data collection.

ICES Journal of Marine ScienceVol. 82(8)
Universidade dos Açores (PT), Marine Scotland (GB), Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (GB), Ifremer (FR), Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (NO), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI), Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment “BIOR” (LV), Euskadiko Parke Teknologikoa (ES), Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TZ), Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (PT), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR), National Marine Fisheries Research Institute (PL), Instituut voor Landbouw en Visserijonderzoek (BE), National Fisheries Institute (US), Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment (CY), Marine Institute (IE), Wageningen University & Research (NL), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
European Commission
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Marine and fisheries research
2.21
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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