Statistical Terms Glossary

Any activity, other than scientific research conducted by a scientific research vessel, that involves the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish; or any attempt to do so; or any activity that can reasonably be expected to result in the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish and any operations at sea in support of it (Modified from US Department of Commerce, 1996).; Searching for, attracting, locating, catching, taking or harvesting of living marine resources or any activity which can reasonably be expected to result in attracting, locating, catching, taking or harvesting of living marine resources.

Mobile floating objects of any kind and size, operating in freshwater, brackish and marine areas, and used for catching, harvesting, searching, transporting, landing, preserving and/or processing fish, shellfish and other aquatic animals, residues and plants.; Any vessel used or intended for use for the purposes of the commercial exploitation of living marine resources, including mother ships and any other vessels directly engaged in such fishing operations.; Any vessel, boat, ship, or other craft that is used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type that is normally used for the exploitation of living aquatic resources or in support of such activity. This definition may include any vessel aiding or assisting one or more vessels at sea in the performance of any activity relating to fishing, including, but not limited to, preparation, supply, storage, refrigeration, transportation, or processing (e.g. mother ships).; It refers to all fishing, carrier and factory vessels involved in fishing activities, except container vessels.; It means any vessel of any size used for, equipped for use for, or intended for use for the purposes of fishing or fishing-related activities, including support vessels, fish-processing vessels, vessels engaged in transshipment and carrier vessels equipped for the transportation of fishery products, except container vessels.

The quantity of fish that can be taken by a fishing unit, for example an individual, community, vessel or fleet, assuming that there is no limitation on the yield from the stock. (FAO, 1997).; Usually expressed in terms of some measure of vessel size, such as gross tonnage, hold capacity, horsepower. Reflects potential fishing effort rather than nominal fishing effort.; The maximum amount of fish that could be taken in a fishery or by a single fishing unit (e.g. a fisher, community, vessel or fleet) over a period of time (e.g. season, year), given the biomass and age structure of the fish stock and the present state of the technology, in the absence of any regulated catch limitations and if the means available are fully used.

An important concept related to capacity is capacity utilization (CU), or the amount of productive capital and inputs being utilized to produce a given output, relative to the level of output that could be produced if the capital stock, other fixed inputs, and variable inputs were fully utilized. Alternatively, capacity utilization is a measure of the actual utilization of the capital stock, other fixed inputs, and variable inputs relative to some desired or maximum potential utilization. Most often, CU is defined and measured as the ratio of observed or actual output (YO) to capacity output (YC). If the technological notion of capacity output is assumed, CU is always less than or equal to one in value. If the technologically-based CU is less than one, excess productive capacity exits; that is, either production could be increased with no change in actual fixed and variable input usage, or fixed and variable input levels could be reduced with no change in the production level. If CU equals one, productive capital, other fixed inputs and variable inputs are fully utilized. If the economic concept of capacity is considered, CU is not restricted to being less than or equal to one in value; in this case, CU can be greater than one in value. That is, actual output can be larger than desired economic output. If the economic concept of CU is less than one in value, excess capacity exists, or the input base is said to be under-utilized. If CU is greater than one in value, there is an inadequate utilization of capital, other fixed inputs, and variable inputs, or the input base is said to be overutilized. If CU equals one, capacity is fully utilized and all production inputs have reached their full equilibrium levels.

Average maximum potential catch 1 295 t Corresponding effort 3 571 fishing days (250 HP shrimp boat)Corresponding cpue 362 kg/fishing day.

The total amount of fishing activity on the fishing grounds over a given period of time, often expressed for a specific gear type e.g. number of hours trawled per day, number of hooks set per day or number of hauls of a beach seine per day. Fishing effort would frequently be measured as the product of (a) the total time spent fishing, and (b) the amount of fishing gear of a specific type used on the fishing grounds over a given unit of time. When two or more kinds of gear are used, they must be adjusted to some standard type in order to derive and estimate of total fishing effort.

In order to ensure that there is no increase in the overall levels of existing fishing effort, it is necessary to establish a new fishing effort management regime in ICES areas V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X and CECAF divisions 34.1.1, 34.1.2 and 34.2.0. This regime shall limit fishing effort on the basis of the fishing effort deployed in these fish-eries during the period 1998 to 2002.

The aggregation of units of any discrete type of fishing activity utilising a specific resource. Hence, for example, a fleet may be all the purse seine vessels in a specific sardine fishery, or all the fishers setting nets from the shore in a tropical multispecies fishery.

Refers to any physical device or part thereof or combination of items that may be placed on or in the water or on the seabed with the intended purpose of capturing or controlling for subsequent capture or harvesting marine organisms, in accordance with MARPOL Annex V.

Includes both recreational, subsistence and commercial fishing, and the harvesting, processing, and marketing sectors.

Effective fishing effort per unit area. It is proportional to fishing mortality.

A technical term which refers to the proportion of the fish available being removed by fishing in a small unit of time; e.g. a fishing mortality rate of 0.2 implies that approximately 20% of the average population will be removed in a year due to fishing. Fishing mortality can be translated into a yearly exploitation rate (see above) expressed as a percentage, using a mathematical formula.

Relative instantaneous rate of the mortality of the number of individuals that die due to fishing.

Any single action carried out during a fishing trip, whether or not a catch was made; this includes, inter alia, towing a trawl net, setting a line and hauling pots and traps.

Distribution of fishing mortality among age groups.

The product of the area of influence of the gear during a unit operation and the efficiency of the gear during that operation. Because absolute fishing power is difficult to measure, the concept of relative fishing power is frequently used. Relative fishing power as defined by Beverton and Holt (1957; pp. 172-173) is the “ratio of the catch per unit fishing time of a vessel to that of another taken as standard and fishing on the same density of fish on the same type ground.”

The amount of fishing effort for a certain species of fish or shellfish.

A fixed proportion of the total allowable catch allocated to each fishing nation. This national quota allocation is further sub-divided into quotas for specific areas, seasons, fisheries or organisations, e.g. producers’ organisations.

Any operation in support of, or in preparation for, fishing, including the processing, transshipment or transport of fish that have not been previously landed and offloaded at a port, as well as the provision of personnel, fuel, gear and other supplies at sea.