GIFS Activity 2.3 Fishing activity past and present
Contents
Introduction
Coastal or inshore waters play a major role for vital processes in the life cycle of fishing resources: many hatcheries, nurseries, and spawning areas of fish and invertebrate species are located in coastal zones and estuaries. In this sense, the European Commission has repeatedly expressed its concerns for the protection of the coastal or inshore fisheries within the 12 miles zone, at regular intervals. The coastal zones of all fishing nations have played a role as stable and continuous provider of food, resources and employment. In times of war and crisis, the coastal waters were the main source of fishing resources. As an example, the small strip of coastal waters has provided > 20% of all landings over the last century in the Belgian sea fisheries, and even 50% of all pelagic species and >60% of all molluscs and crustaceans. On average >1000kg/ha was provided from the coastal waters, whereas the southern North Sea (the second most important fishing area for Belgian fleet) has provided 100kg/ha on average. The role and importance of coastal or inshore waters (+/- 12 nm) in the livelihoods and socio-cultural development of our coastal communities is simply undeniable.
The Green Paper of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform proposes differentiated management regimes based on the 12 nm limit: one for large-scale fleets (LSF) where capacity adjustment and economic efficiency are at the core, and another for small-scale and coastal fleets (SSF) in coastal communities with a focus on social objectives. There’s a need to document the importance of inshore/small-scale/coastal fisheries in a quantitative manner (“to measure is to know”) in order to be able to define those social objectives: not only now (what are the characteristics of inshore fisheries today in terms of employment, food resource, economic value compared to overall fisheries) but also in the past (what is the potential for the future?). Historical fisheries datasets are of key importance for studies on long-term changes in fisheries activities, fish stocks, fisheries communities,… Recovering the historical context of fisheries is necessary e.g. to document the cultural heritage of our coastal societies and to tackle the issue of ‘shifting baselines’ in a marine ecology context for fishing. A historical perspective can shed light on fisheries-related socio-cultural, economical and ecological changes over time e.g. how did scale enlargement and intensification throughout the 20th century affect fisheries? It can provide the reference(s) for setting baselines and goals for sustainable management.
What do we understand by ‘Inshore fisheries’ Within the GIFS project ‘inshore fisheries’ is defined as fisheries within the territorial waters (< 12 nautical miles). Using this general definition for the eligible area we want to see how local/regional/national definitions can fit this general definition best. E.g. “fisheries with vessels under 10 meter”, “fisheries within ICES rectangles x, y and z”, …Given the complexity and diversity in the way fisheries are managed locally, it may very well be that this 'best fit' can be defined by exclusion i.e. by not taking into account a number of fleet segments which typically - or most of the time - fish outside the 12nm. The best fit can also be defined by target species, i.e. fisheries that focus on species which are characterized by a coastal distribution or typically caught within 12nm.
Objectives
There have been ongoing initiatives to catalogue, quality control, permanently store and/or redistribute historical data of formal and centralized reports on sea fisheries in the eligible area [1][2][3]. The main aim of this activity is to draw further on and broaden existing initiatives to provide a longer term perspective on the current and historical importance of inshore fisheries to coastal communities in the eligible area of the southern North Sea and Channel in terms of volume of landings, economic value and direct employment and their relative importance in the sector as a whole (including offshore fisheries).
Through an inventory of data sources and subsequent digitization, quality control, standardization and integration of historical data (depending on data availability and quality) this activity wants to:
- Construct a common view of inshore fisheries and use a historical reference to underline its historical importance and/or future potential as a source of local and fresh food, employment, economic resource.
- Map the importance of local diversity and trends in inshore fisheries within the region.
What specific questions do we want to answer in this activity?
- How did direct employment in inshore fisheries change over time?
- How did economic value, volume and composition of landings of inshore fisheries change over time? Which species were most landed by inshore fisheries? How are species of inshore fisheries valued?
- How do the trends and issues above relate to those in the fisheries sector as a whole?
- What are the differences/resemblances with different partner regions?
- What information sources are available to document the historical relevance of inshore fisheries in the study area from the parameters described above? (metadata-inventory)
Method & Materials
Of particular use for this activity are datasets collected in a consistent way over a number of decades. However, historical time series are relatively scarce, especially for earlier periods. Moreover, if data exist, other problems often arise in terms of access, availability, data policy restrictions, inappropriate formats or insufficient reliability or quality. Different institutes have been contacted with a stock take on data-availability for inshore fisheries landings, value of landings and employment. This stock take contains questions concerning available datasets/publications, how far do these data go back in time, are these data in digital or paper format.
The institutions listed below, are key organisations in relation time-series on fisheries:
Belgium
- Sea Fisheries Service (DVZ)
- Institute for Agricultural and Sea Fisheries Research (ILVO)
- State archives
- Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience
The Netherlands
- Central Statistics Office (CBS)
- http://www.wageningenur.nl/nl/Expertises-Dienstverlening/Onderzoeksinstituten/imares.htm
- WUR
- Agricultural Economics Institute (LEI)
- Library of Middelburg
United Kingdom
- Marine Management Organisation (MMO)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
- Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCA’s)
France
- IFREMER + Bibliothèque La Pérouse
- Bureau des statistiques des pêches et de l’aquaculture (BSPA)
- Fisheries observatories Brittany
Also structured databases that allowed advanced querying on the basis of specific search terms (e.g. ‘fisheries statistics’) were screened for datasources on fisheries in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and UK (this is on-going work):
- Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS): http://www.vliz.be/imis/imis.php?module=ref
- Antilope Catalogus: http://anet.ua.ac.be/services.phtml?service=opacantilope
- Archive institutionnelle de l’Ifremer (Archimer): http://archimer.ifremer.fr
- Wageningen Library: http://library.wur.nl/desktop/direct/
- UK national statistics: http://www.statistics.gov.uk
Results
For each of the identified data sources (paper format and/or digital for recent years) from the stock take, a detailed overview table with information on available parameters/variables for inshore fisheries (landings, value of landings or employment), unit of measurement, temporal coverage/resolution, spatial coverage/resolution, taxonomic and other resolutions, physical location of datasource, availability is available.
Table 1 and 2 give an overview of the datasources for the historical data in fig. 1 and 2 and provide all definitions of inshore fisheries used within these sources.
| Region | Period | Identified datasources | Definitions for inshore fisheries used within available datasources |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1929-2007 | HiFidata | All fisheries within the "Coastal waters" |
| NL | 1933-1967 | Series "Jaarcijfers visserij[4]" | Coastal fisheries encompasses fisheries in the Wadden sea, Lauwerzee and Dollart, Zuidhollandse stromen en zeegaten, zeeuwse stromen |
| NL | 1987-2011 | CBS data (link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4 | No distinction made between inshore and offshore fisheries, but it is possible to look at landings & value of landings of the four key inhore fisheries: mussels, cockles, oysters and shrimps (see also: http://www.vliz.be/imis/imis.php?module=ref&refid=218841 for description of inshore fisheries in the Netherlands) |
| UK | 1907 - 1954 | Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables | "Inshore landings include catches by second and third class vessels, and by first-class vessels, other than steam trawlers, which make voyages of not exceeding 72 hours duration” --> Based on the statistics here we will have an "inshore fisheries minimum: 2nd + 3rd class vessels" (underestimation because 1st class vessels < 72 hour trips are not taken into account) and "Inshore fisheries maximum: 2nd + 3rd class vessels + 1st class motor vessels" (overestimation because 1 class vessels > 72 hour trips are also taken into account) |
| UK | 1955 - 1959 | Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables | "Inshore landings include catches by vessels under 40ft registered length, and by vessels, which make voyages of not exceeding 72 hours duration” |
| UK | 1960 - 1964 | Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables | "Inshore" - all landings by vessels under 40 feet in length are so described” |
| UK | 2000 -now | MMO data | Will have to be based on ICES Rectangles |
| FR | 1895 - 1914 | Statistique des pêches maritimes | Defined as “pêche cotière, pêche à pied, pêche dans les étangs” (but not further specified) |
| FR | 1915-1923 | Statistique des pêches maritimes | Defined as "pêche côtière et pêche dans les étangs salés et dans la partie salée des canaux, fleuves ou rivières" (but not further specified) |
| FR | 1998-now | Bilan Annuel (OFIMER, France Agrimer) | Petite pêche : absence du port = 24 heures. Pêche cotière: 24 heures < absence du port = 96 heures |
| FR | 2000-now | Système d’Informations halieutiques Ifremer | Coastal fishing : 75% of time operating in coastal waters mainly < 12 m vessels. High-sea fishing: 75% of time operating out of coastal waters. |
| Region | Period | Identified datasources | Definitions for inshore fisheries used within available datasources |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1954 – 1970 | Series “Jaarverslag over de evolutie van de vissersvloot” | Fisheries with vessel type I (< 80 Horsepower H.P) and II (80 – 120 HP)” |
| B | 1971 – 1994 | Series “Jaarverslag over de evolutie van de vissersvloot” | Fisheries with vessel type I (< 35 Gross Tonnage G.T.) |
| B | 1997 – 2012 | Database of shipping (part fisheries) from the federal public service mobility and transport | Fisheries with vessels < 221 Kilowatt KW, 70 G.T. and fishing within area I: within 25 miles from the Belgian Coast |
| NL | 1933 - 1967 | Series “Jaarcijfers visserij” | Coastal fisheries encompasses fisheries in the Wadden sea, Lauwerzee and Dollart, Zuidhollandse stromen en zeegaten, zeeuwse stromen |
| NL | 1998 - 2010 | Visserij in cijfers (link 1 p. 24; link 2 p. 22) | No distinction made between inshore and offshore fisheries, but it is possible to look at employment of the key inhore fisheries: mussel culture, cockle fisheries, oyster fisheries (typically bound to < 12 nm limits) (see also: http://www.vliz.be/imis/imis.php?module=ref&refid=218841) |
| UK | 2000 - now | MMO data | Will have to be based on ICES Rectangles |
| FR | 1895 – 1911 | Statistique des pêches maritimes | Defined as “pêche cotière, pêche à pied, pêche dans les étangs” (but not further specified) |
| FR | 1990 - now | Bilan Annuel (France Agrimer), Institut national de la statistique et des etudes économique (INSEE) | Petite pêche : absence du port = 24 heures. Pêche cotière: 24 heures < absence du port = 96 heures |
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