Fishing Activities: UK small vessel mobile gear fisheries effort for 2007 estimated by port data

European Union (EU) fishing vessels <15 m in length are not required to carry autonomous tracking systems. However, estimates of fishing effort from small vessels were made by combining the number of boats and activity days registered to a given port with distance constraints realised by small vessels. Data from 2007 for vessels in the United Kingdom (UK) fleet operating in the Channel Integrated Approach for Resource Management (CHARM) III study area were obtained from the Marine and Fisheries Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Data were filtered to include mobile or static gears operating at distances consistent with typical fishing behaviours. The resulting records were then summarised as as fishing days km−2 yr−1 within 1 km2 pixels and may be interpreted as a proxy of small vessel fishing effort.