ABARES Fishery Status Reports map data: Western Deepwater Trawl Fishery (WDWTF): fishing intensity and maximum area fished, annual map data for 2010 to 2023

This dataset presents maps of fishing intensity and maximum area fished of ocean waters within the Western Deepwater Trawl Fishery (WDWTF). The data were prepared as part of the annual ABARES Fishery Status Reports series, which provides an independent evaluation of the biological and economic status of fish stocks managed solely or jointly by the Australian Government. The data were produced by ABARES from data supplied by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). The data are presented annually, by fishing season which runs from 1 July to 30 June for this fishery. For example, for this fishery, the 2021-22 year runs from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. The data are polygon vector format, stored in an ESRI file geodatabase, prepared using ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap version 10.8. There are no fishing intensity data for this fishery because of the low number of fishing boats operating in this fishery. Maximum area fished is defined as the maximum area within which fishing occurred during a given fishing season as polygon cells of one degree of longitude by one degree of latitude (approximately 111 kilometres x 111 kilometres). A cell is included if any fishing activity occurred anywhere within that one degree by one degree cell. Note that cells included in this dataset may also partially cover land. There are a number of years where no fishing took place in this fishery. The data supplied by AFMA were filtered to remove activity by fewer than five boats within the area of analysis in order to conform with AFMA’s Information Disclosure Policy (https://www.afma.gov.au/about/fisheries-management-policies/information-disclosure-fisheries-management-paper).