NEAFC request - Use and quality of VMS data and records of catch and effort for providing information on deepwater fisheries

ICES advises that:

The quality of the data is not yet sufficient to provide information on the spatial and temporal extent of current deepwater fisheries in the NE Atlantic.

NEAFC could further improve the usefulness of the VMS and catch report data by:

a) including in catch reports the fishing gear used if available;

b) increasing the frequency of reporting of VMS positions;

c) improving completeness of catch reports (covering all species in the catch) and the frequency of their transmission (ideally once a day and reported on haul by haul basis) and;

d) requiring reporting of vessel speed and heading with each VMS position report;

e) providing assistance in interpreting the data sets, preferably in the form of participation in ICES working groups of an expert from NEAFC with detailed knowledge of the database and NEAFC’s reporting protocols.