Scientific advice and knowledge
Small-scale fisheriesManagement measuresCapacity development and cooperation
|
Data collection and quality assessment
As a regional fisheries management organization, the GFCM receives, reviews, stores and uses data and information on Mediterranean and Black Sea resources needed for the formulation of scientific advice and consequent decision-making on fisheries management.
The GFCM currently requires data on:
- Global figures of national fisheries
- Catch (landing data; catch data per species; fishing activities, landing points and designated ports in the context of GFCM management plans)
- Incidental catch of vulnerable species
- Fishing fleet (including authorized vessels in the context of GFCM management plans)
- Fishing effort (fleet segments; fishing gears; catch per unit effort)
- Socio-economics (economic and social data; operating costs; species value)
- Biological information (stock assessment input data; length data; size at first maturity; maturity data; dolphinfish; red coral; European eel; ecosystem indicators)
Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs) collect this data at a national level then submit it to the GFCM Secretariat through the Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) online platform, annually or biennially according to a set transmission calendar.
Data not currently covered by GFCM recommendations that has been collected in the context of national, cross-national, regional and international initiatives, research programmes and projects (whether with the GFCM or independently) can be shared by any stakeholder within GFCM working groups and scientific advisory committees, thus contributing to the formulation of scientific advice.
Ensuring the quality of the data collected and transmitted to the Secretariat in line with relevant GFCM requirements and recommendations is crucial for solid science-based decision-making and compliance. Five different quality indicators – timeliness, completeness, conformity, stability, and consistency – are currently applied in the GFCM context, to data submitted in response to Recommendations GFCM/41/2017/6 on the submission of data on fishing activities in the GCM area of application, GFCM/33/2009/5 on the establishment of the GFCM regional fleet register, GFCM/33/2009/6 concerning the establishment of a GFCM record of vessels over 15 metres authorised to operate in the GFCM area of application, GFCM/43/2019/4 on the ban of single-use plastics in all GFCM meetings, GFCM/43/2019/4 on a management plan for the sustainable exploitation of red coral in the Mediterranean Sea, directly on the DCRF online platform. The only data officially transmitted to the Secretariat and not yet subject to quality assessments are stock assessment input data.
GFCM ACTIONS
- Establishment and regular revision in line with new GFCM requirements of the GFCM Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) and related DCRF manual and data calls, to guide CPCs in the official submission of compulsory data and information.
- Development, maintenance and regular update of the DCRF online platform and related online tools for data submission, including codifications and guidelines for data submission, data monitoring and mapping, dataset assessment and processing, etc.
- Development and maintenance of ad hoc databases for compiling specific data and information not yet (all) covered by GFCM requirements (e.g. sensitive habitats), or collating other relevant information in one place that can be used as a regional point of reference (e.g. Black Sea scientific database).
- Data compilation and analysis for formal reporting to the GFCM Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (SAC), Working Group on the Black Sea (WGBS) and Compliance Committee (CoC) in line with their respective mandates.
- Elaboration of dashboards and other data visualization tools for data consultation and use in official presentations, reports and publications, including the biennial update of the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries flagship series.
- Application of quality indicators to all fisheries data transmitted through the DCRF online platform and development of quality assessments, through country summaries and data quality dashboards.
- Provision of technical assistance to align national data collection systems to GFCM requirements and improve the timeliness, completeness, conformity, stability and consistency of submitted data.
- Maintenance and improvement of data quality routines and definitions of the indicators, with related thresholds.
RESOURCES
- GFCM Data Collection Reference Framework(DCRF) Manual (EN | FR) | GFCM, 2018
- Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) online platform
- Definitions of data quality indicators |GFCM
- Recommendation GFCM/41/2017/6 on the submission of data on fishing activities in the GFCM area of application (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/40/2016/2 on the progressive implementation of data submission in line with the GFCM Data Collection Reference Framework (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/33/2009/5 on the establishment of the GFCM regional fleet register (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/33/2009/6 concerning the establishment of a GFCM record of vessels over 15 metres authorized to operate in the GFCM area of application (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/30/2006/2 on the establishment of a closed season for the dolphin fish fisheries using fish aggregation devices (FADs) (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/36/2012/1 on further measures for the exploitation of red coral in the GFCM area (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/4 on the ban of single-use plastics in all GFCM meetings (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/4 on a management plan for the sustainable exploitation of red coral in the Mediterranean Sea (EN | FR)
- GFCM-DCRF: The need for a Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF), p. 9-10
- Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/4 on the ban of single-use plastics in all GFCM meetings (EN | FR)
- Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/4 on a management plan for the sustainable exploitation of red coral in the Mediterranean Sea (EN | FR)