Commercial Fishing - VTR

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Title: Commercial Fishing - VTR

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Other_Citation_Details: Original data source: NOAA NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Description:

Abstract:

The Commercial Fishing - VTR (also referred to as Communities at Sea) maps link fishing communities to specific resource areas in the ocean. They are developed by linking Federal Vessel Trip Report (VTR) data to vessel permit data. VTRs include trip date, number of crew on board, species and quantities caught, and trip locations, while the permit data includes a vessel's "principal port" as well as other variables describing the vessel itself (e.g. length, horsepower, and age). By linking the two, fishing communities can be categorized based on port and fishing gear group combinations as a function of port of origin or major gear type used on the vessel. For example, fishermen from Newport News, VA and Montauk, NY who fish using dredge gear can be grouped and mapped as two separate communities.

This set of maps was created by using trip location point data as input to create density polygons representing visitation frequency ("fisherdays"). The VTR maps show total labor including crew time and the time spent in transit to and from fishing locations. They do not show other variables such as ex-vessel value or number of pounds landed. The results can be interpreted as maps of "community presence." All data were aggregated to the "community" level, none of the resultant maps represent a fishing area (i.e. "hot spot") of any individual fisherman or fishing vessel. Querying the map display at any single location will identify the various port communities that have recorded a significant level of fishing activity (for the selected gear grouping) at that location.

Draft maps were reviewed with diverse fishermen and fishing industry managers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, incuding at Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and New England Fishery Management Council meetings.

Please refer to the following articles by Dr. Kevin St. Martin et. al. for concepts and methodology:
Mapping Community Use of Fisheries Resources in the U.S. Northeast
Creating Space for Community in Marine Conservation and Management: Mapping "Communities-at-Sea" in Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean

Purpose:

The data were compiled by the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University, in support of the MARCO Portal activities, more specifically, for fishing themed data visualization.

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -78

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 45

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 33

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category

Theme_Keyword: oceans

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Place_Keyword: Atlantic Ocean, United States east coast

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Temporal_Keyword: 1996-2015

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

Compiled for the purposes of data visualization.

The following considerations and caveats should be noted:

• If these maps are considered during planning or permitting decision making processes it is critical to recognize that additional important fishing areas may not be represented as locations frequently shift due to several factors including market dynamics, regulatory changes and rotational fishing strategies. In addition, these maps only show fishing conducted by vessels holding federal fishing permits. The maps do show a portion of state licensed activity because many state licensed vessels engaged in ocean fishing also hold federal permits and therefore submit VTRs. State licensed fishing activity includes whelks (“conch”), striped bass, black sea bass and lobster.
• The maps may occasionally depict a limited amount of fishing effort in areas that are not fished. This is due to the creation of density polygons from VTR point data. One example is the limited amount of fishing that is depicted just inside of the boundary for fishery closure areas.
• Each single self-reported point could represent a fishing trip that occurs in different size geographies; it is expected that the combination of thousands of points mitigates some of the potential concerns associated with self reporting and with providing a single point for each trip.
• Confidentiality rules required by NOAA Fisheries and the industry (the rule of three) may result in smaller port/gear combinations being underrepresented
• These maps can be supplemented with maps based on Vessel Monitoring System data (available for select federally managed fisheries). Overlay comparison of these VTR based maps with VMS based maps reveals substantial agreement between the two and the VMS maps provide additional useful precision for some fisheries.
• A key benefit of the CAS methodology is allocating fishing effort to an individual port using the VTR and the permit. Economic factors, self-identification with ports, and specific fishery dynamics are all considerations that may affect how the port data are reported and change over time.
• Fisheries and fisheries data are complex and there are many options for mapping fishing activity, each with strengths and weaknesses. These maps are intended as a starting to point to help target and guide direct engagement and consultation with specific affected fishing communities during diverse ocean planning, permitting and management decision making processes.
• For some types of decision making (e.g. detailed construction plans for energy infrastructure) much finer scale information and consultation with the fishing industry will almost always be necessary.

Data_Set_Credit:

Original data provided by NOAA NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center; data processed by the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; Esri ArcGIS 10.2.0.3348

Data_Quality_Information:

Lineage:

Source_Information:

Source_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Title: Commercial Fishing - VTR

Process Step:

Process Description:

Vessel Trip Report (VTR) location point data was used as input to create density polygons representing visitation frequency ("fisherdays"). The algorithm to aggregate vessels and vessel trips to "communities" as a function of gear type and port is defined below:

If [PPORT] = [OFFICIALPORT] then [DECPORT] = [PPORT]
Else If [HPORT] = [OFFICIALPORT] then [DECPORT] = [HPORT]
Else [DECPORT] = [PORTLAND]

Calculate [PERPORT] as port with 50% or greater landings by a vessel
If [PORTLAND] for a given trip = ([DECPORT] or [PERPORT])
then [COMMUNITYPORT] = [PORTLAND]

where:
[PORTLAND]: port of landing (VTR)
[HPORT]: home port (vessel permit)
[PPORT]: principal port (vessel permit)
[DECPORT]: port declared by the vessel owner (vessel permit)
[PERPORT]: port association based on a 50% or greater frequency of landings
[OFFICIALPORT]: actual fishing port rather than inland or other municipality (e.g., based on a fisher’s home address)
[COMMUNITYPORT]: port of community association

The groupings by VTR gear code used for each community gear type is listed below:

Bottom Trawl: (further divided by vessel length, small < 65 feet, large > 65 feet)
OHS: OTTER TRAWL, HADDOCK SEPARATOR
OTB: OTTER TRAWL, BEAM
OTC: OTTER TRAWL, BOTTOM, SCALLOP
OTF: OTTER TRAWL, BOTTOM, FISH
OTO: OTTER TRAWL, BOTTOM, OTHER
OTR: OTTER TRAWL, RUHLE
PTB: PAIR TRAWL, BOTTOM
SES: SEINE, SCOTTISH

Dredge
DRC: DREDGE, OCEAN QUAHOG/SURF CLAM
DRM: DREDGE, MUSSEL
DRO: DREDGE, OTHER
DRS: DREDGE, SCALLOP, STANDARD
DRU: DREDGE, URCHIN

Gillnet
GND: GILL NET, DRIFT, LARGE MESH
GNO: GILL NET, OTHER
GNR: GILL NET, RUNAROUND
GNS: GILL NET, SINK
GNT: GILL NET, DRIFT, SMALL MESH

Lobster
PTL: POT, LOBSTER

Longline
LLB: LONGLINE, BOTTOM
LLP: LONGLINE, PELAGIC

Pots and Traps
PTC: POT, CRAB
PTF: POT, FISH
PTH: POT, HAG
PTO: POT, OTHER
PTS: POT, SHRIMP
PTW: POT, CONCH/WHELK
PTX: POT, MIXED
TRP: TRAP

Seine
OTM: OTTER TRAWL, MIDWATER
PTM: PAIR TRAWL, MIDWATER
PUR: PURSE SEINE
SED: SEINE, DANISH
SEH: SEINE, HAUL STS: SEINE, STOP

Shrimp
OTS: OTTER TRAWL, BOTTOM, SHRIMP

Maps were created for regional and port specific communities using density mapping or percent volume contouring (PVC). While both techniques take point data as input, the former produces a variable raster surface representing density and the latter results in vector outlines of areas representing visitation frequency. Both types of maps were produced using Hawth's Analysis Tools for ArcGIS batch fixed kernel density estimator. One of the inputs into the kernel density estimator tool is the smoothing factor (also referred to as the bandwidth or h statistic), which controls how smoothed the kernel density estimate is. The following smoothing factors were used for each gear type:

Gear Type	Smoothing Factor (meters)
bottom trawl > 65 ft	10000
bottom trawl < 65 ft	5000
dredge	10000
gillnet	7500
lobster	5000
longline	10000
pots/traps	5000
seine	5000
shrimp	5000

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label:

Attribute:

Attribute_Label:

Attribute:

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20160218

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization:

Processing of data under the direction of Richard G. Lathrop: Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: physical

Address: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

City: New Brunswick

State_or_Province: New Jersey

Postal_Code: 08901

Country: US

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: info@crssa.rutgers.edu

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Use_Constraints:

This dataset is not to be used for navigation.

While efforts have been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the state of the art, Rutgers University cannot assume liability for any damages, or misrepresentations, caused by any inaccuracies in the data, or as a result of the data to be used on a particular system. Rutgers University makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. Terms of Use: The user agrees to abide by the following terms of use: 1. The Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University, disseminates this data layer as-is and makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. 2. The source spatial resolution and attribute accuracy of the data may not be appropriate for site specific applications. 3. The user will read all metadata for this data product. 4. CRSSA, Rutgers University, will not be held responsible to further maintain the disseminated data. 5. Any maps, publications, reports or any other type of document produced as a result of an associated project utilizing Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University, data will credit the Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University, and authors as listed in the citation section of this metadata document.