ABARES Fishery Status Reports map data: Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector (SGAB): 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 Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector (SGAB). 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 May to 30 April for this fishery. For example, for this fishery, the 2022-23 season runs from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023. The data are polygon vector format, stored in an ESRI file geodatabase, prepared using ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap version 10.8. Fishing intensity is defined as the total fishing effort within a given fishing season, divided by the total area fished in square kilometres. The unit of effort in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector from 2010–15 was measured as the number of fishing operations. From 2017, fishing intensity was measured as the total number of hours trawled. Fishing intensity is presented as classified data in low, medium and high intensity classes. The data attributes include the class, the range of values in the class and the unit of measure. The classification used may vary from year to year, depending on a range of environmental and economic factors. Fishing intensity data are available for a limited number of seasons 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. 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).