HMAP Dataset 12 North-west Scotland Fisheries Supporting Documentation 1. Summary Dataset Title: North-west Scotland Fisheries Large Marine Ecosystem: 24: Celtic-Biscay Shelf Subject: Catch data, herring, haddock, Norway lobster, 1893-2005, West Scotland, 1893-2005 Data Provider: Graham Pierce & Cristina Pita School of Biological Sciences/Business School University of Aberdeen Scotland, UK Data Editor: David J Starkey, MHSC, University of Hull d.j.starkey@hull.ac.uk Extent: 277 records Keywords: Historical statistics; HMAP Datapages; Scottish fisheries; Celtic-Biscay Shelf Citation (a) The dataset: please cite as follows: C. Pita & G. Pierce, ‘North-west Scotland Fisheries’, in D.J. Starkey & J.H. Nicholls (comp.) HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) (b) Supporting documentation: please cite as follows: C. Pita & G. Pierce, ‘INCOFISH Dataset 52: North-west Scotland Fisheries, Supporting Documentation’, D.J. Starkey & J.H. Nicholls (comp.) HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Jianjun Wang, Begońa Santos, Katie Longo and Ioannis Theodossiou for their contributions to the research effort, and to Nick Bailey, Doug Beare and Simon Greenstreet for providing data. 2. Research Context & Objectives For much of the twentieth century, the fortunes of the Scottish fishing industry were closely related to those of the herring fishery. As a consequence, total fish landings increased to unprecedented levels before 1914 due to the expansion in demand for herring products in northern Europe and the introduction of steam power into the herring fleet, a technological advance that greatly improved its catching capacity. However, the collapse of the German and Russian markets during and after the First World War depressed the herring fishery and it was not until the 1950s that landings began to increase appreciably once more, a trend that continued until the late 1970s when the herring fishery was closed for four years to enable the much-depleted stock to recover. Against this national background, the study focuses on the fishing performance of the West Coast ports of Mallaig and Ullapool. With particular attention devoted to the fisheries for herring, haddock and Norway lobster over the 1893-2005 period, the objectives of the research are: * to construct time series of catch and effort data; * to identify and explain long-term trends in catch-per-unit-effort ratios; * to assess the credibility of baselines predicated on a range of different variables – socio-economic, biological, environmental. In a related study, predator-prey interactions over the long term are being assessed through analysis of the diets of top predators, notably seals and harbour porpoises, in Scottish coastal waters. 3. Primary Source Materials The information presented in Dataset 52 was extracted and collated from two primary sources: the printed Scottish Fisheries Tables, 1893-2005; and Trawl Survey Reports assembled by Fishery Research Stations (FRS), in conjunction with ICES’ Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) from 1980 onwards. The figure below indicates the pattern of fisheries activity conducted from Mallaig and Ullapool during the 1893-1905 period. Herring clearly dominates the overall level of catches until the mid-1970s, when landings of other species – notably Norway lobster – become much more significant in both relative and absolute terms. 4. Metadata: Explanation of Data Fields The entries below are outlined as per the field headings of HMAP Dataset 51. An explanation is offered for each field in general terms, and also in dataset specific terms. ID ID is the unique, consecutive serial numbers for the complete HMAP database. InstitutionCode InstitutionCode is the name given to the overall project of which this Dataset forms a part (HMAP). CollectionCode CollectionCode is the specific HMAP project Dataset reference code (used for OBIS referencing purposes). DateLastModified This is the date when the data were last modified. CASE_STUDY CASE_STUDY is the location identifying description of the Dataset. In this instance: Scotland, North-West coast. DATASET DATASET is the HMAP project unique Dataset reference. PERIOD The Historical Period covered. ID_NUMBERS This field contains the range of record numbers shown in the ID field. REFERENCE REFERENCE refers to the source of records employed in the research. publication_date This is the date when the Dataset was published. GENERAL_DESCRIPTION This is a brief description of the Dataset. Citation Citation is the field where the formal attribution is shown for users of the HMAP Datasets to cite; it credits the researchers and editors of a Dataset together with its database compilers. This citation must be quoted whenever records are referenced or employed for any purpose. * Please quote the relevant citation when using extracts or details from this Dataset: C. Pita & G. Pierce, ‘North-west Scotland Fisheries’, in D.J. Starkey & J.H. Nicholls (comp.) HMAP Data (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) BasisOfRecord BasisOfRecord is the abbreviation applied that indicates whether the record is based on observations (O), living organisms (L), specimens (S), germplasm/seeds (G), photos (P), or from literature with original basis unknown (D); the HMAP value is generally 'O'. OCEAN_REGION This field indicates the specific Ocean Region where the Dataset research has been carried out. If this field shows 'None', then the research reflects activities carried out in non-seaward locations (e.g. in rivers, weir fishing, etc.). In this Dataset, the North Atlantic region was researched. LME This field indicates the name of the Ecosystem where the record event occurred. To find out more about LMEs (which are confined to continental shelf regions) browse the Large Marine Ecosystem site (http://www.edc.uri.edu/lme/) where LME GIS data may be downloaded. In this Dataset, the Celtic-Biscay Shelf region was researched. LME_NUMBER This field indicates the number of the LME that is shown in the previous field. In this Dataset, the LME number is 24. REGION This field indicates the specific region of the Dataset. GROUND The GROUND is the fishing ground(s) of dataset. LATITUDE The LATITUDE refers to a mean value of the species distribution from surveys and should be cross referenced with the LONGITUDE field for specific location determination. LAT_PRECISION This gives the actual precision of the calculated LATITUDE field. The available options are: * Approx Approximate position * Estimated Estimated position * Exact Exact position * Ground Centre Notional centre of the relevant fishing ground * Unknown Position not known LONGITUDE The LONGITUDE refers to a mean value of the species distribution from surveys and should be cross referenced with the LATITUDE field for specific location determination. LON_PRECISION This gives the actual precision of the calculated LONGITUDE field. The available options are: * Approx Approximate position * Estimated Estimated position * Exact Exact position * Ground Centre Notional centre of the relevant fishing ground * Unknown Position not known ST_YEAR This field refers to the start year of the beginning of the sampling. EN_YEAR This field refers to the end year of the end of the sampling. Unless the sampling spanned an extensive period, this value is usually the same as the ST_YEAR field entry. ScientificName This field indicates the scientific name of the species under investigation which is linked to the INCOFISH related FISH BASE database containing detailed information about the species that were sampled. … SPECIES FIELDS… The following fields are included to add detail to the Species data: * Subspecies * GENUS * SPECIES * FAMILY * ORDER * CLASS * PHYLUM * KINGDOM * AUTHOR HOME_PORT This is the home port of the fleet employed in the sampling. NATION The Nationality of the Fishing operation is indicated here. OPERATOR The name of the operator is indicated. EFFORT This field shows the EFORT taken by the fishery and is measured according to the number of trips undertaken. The EFFORT is calculated effort based on the specific Effort_Unit employed. EFFORT_UNIT This is the Unit of Effort employed. POWER Where known, the type of effort employed is indicated. METHOD The METHOD is an indicator of the primary gear used in the fishery; it indicates the means by which samples were extracted. This is typically the actual method of fishing, such as "Bottom Trawl". CATCH_MT This field shows the retained catch weight in metric tonnes. ObservedWeight This field indicates the observed mass of the sample in Kilograms. Where this data is not available, a value of "unknown" is entered. CONVERSION_FROM This field describes the Formula used in conversion from original units to Metric tonnes, litres, and/or kilograms. UNIT_ORIGIN This field indicates the Conversion Units used. FORMULA This field contains the actual Conversion formula that is used to calculate the Catch in Metric Tonnes (CATCH_MT). CATCH_N This is the number of specimens sampled for a particular record. Where this data is not available, a value of "unknown" is entered. GENDER This field indicates the Gender of the species in the sample. The values available are shown as follows: * 'M' male * 'F' female * 'U' unknown * 'B' both male and female * 'H' hermaphrodite PRICE The sale price of the catch is indicated (in Skilling). PRICE_UNIT_CATCH_N This field shows the calculated Price to Catch number. PROCESS This is a description of the process applied to the original unit. CPUE The CPUE field (Catch Per Unit Effort) is expressed as: CATCH_MT / EFFORT (number of fishing units employed). NOTES The NOTES field gives detailed information specific to a particular record. The details are provided to clarify specific entries and where further explanation is required than is generally provided in this METADATA file. For complete and academically verifiable explanations, refer to the published research materials that are indicated in the REFERENCE field. Enquiries regarding the information contained in this document and the accompanying dataset should be directed to David J Starkey (d.j.starkey@hull.ac.uk) or John Nicholls (j.nicholls@hull.ac.uk). HMAP Dataset 12: North-west Scotland Fisheries Page 1 of 9