Potential of communication devices for estimating the fishing effort of purse seine fleets

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Ahead of Print.
Fishing impacts the marine environment significantly, and quantifying this impact requires precise fishing effort data. This study explores the challenges associated with accurately estimating fishing effort by purse seiners and proposes a solution using records collected from real-time communication devices on fishing fleets. The estimation of fishing effort based on high-frequency GPS data can be verified with the onboard visual records. Additionally, by linking vessels within a fleet, the method utilizes information from carriers (vessels that transport fish) to enhance the estimation. Through the use of generalized additive models, this study effectively estimates the fishing effort of Japanese purse seiners, demonstrating their accuracy. Furthermore, by incorporating carrier information, models based on matched records prove to have superior predictive performance compared to those based on fishing vessel or carrier records alone. These findings lay the foundation for the potential of this approach to provide precise and cost-effective information for sustainable fishery management. The affordability of GPS devices and the common requirement of communication devices across various fleets further support the feasibility of implementing this approach.