ABARES Fishery Status Reports map data: Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (SBTF): fishing intensity and maximum area fished, annual map data for 2010 to 2024

This dataset presents maps of fishing intensity and maximum area fished of ocean waters within the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (SBTF). 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 December to 30 November for this fishery. For example, for this fishery, the 2021-22 year runs from 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2022. The data are polygon vector format, stored in an ESRI file geodatabase, prepared using ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap version 10.8. There are two sectors in this fishery: purse-seining in the waters off eastern South Australia and longlining off the southern end of the east coast of Australia. These sectors are referred to, respectively, as purse-seine and longline. Fishing intensity in this fishery is defined differently in the two sectors of the fishery. Fishing intensity in the purse-seine sector is defined as the total fishing effort, measured as the number of operations, divided by the total area fished in square kilometres. Fishing intensity in the longline sector is defined as the total catch, measured in kilograms, divided by the total area fished in square kilometres. In both cases, effort and catch are measured over the period of the fishing season. 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. 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).