Catch and Effort Returns

Catch and Effort Returns – Fishing Details

Description of data collection system

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Catch and effort returns are required for all commercial fishing inside the New Zealand EEZ and New Zealand vessels fishing on the high seas[1].  The high seas reporting requirement was introduced during 2001.

There are six types of catch and effort (fishing details) forms in use.  These are:

• Trawl Catch Effort and Processing Return (TCEPR) –

  The TCEPR is required to be used for all fishing by trawling methods from vessels over 28m in length as well as certain smaller vessels that have been informed in writing by the Chief Executive.

• Tuna Longlining Catch, Effort Return (TLCER)

  The TLCER is required to be used for all fishing that targets tunas using surface longlining.

• Squid Jigging Catch and Effort Return (SJCER)

  The SJCER is used by all vessels using the jigging method to catch squid.

• Paua Catch Effort Landing Return (PCELR)

  The PCELR is used from 1 October 2001 when diving for paua.

• Freshwater Eel Catch Effort Return (ECER)

  The ECER is used from 1 October 2001 when targeting freshwater eels.

• Catch Effort and Landing Return (CELR)

  The CELR is a general purpose form that is used for recording the taking of fish by any of a variety of methods.  The bottom part of the form contains landing information as described in the landings section of this document. The top part of the form contains fishing details. A number of “templates” can be used in conjunction with the CELR form.  The templates are overlaid on the standard CELR form and give instructions on filling in the form that are specific to the particular type of method. For example, the Trawling template gives instructions that when using the CELR for bottom trawling, the number of shots per day should be recorded, while the passive nets template gives instructions that on the same form when using the set netting method the total length of nets hauled in the day would be recorded instead. The templates and associated methods (with method codes) are:

• Seining Methods Template

  Purse seining (PS),
  Danish seining (DS),
  Danish seining pair (DPS),
  Lampara (L),
  Beach seine/Drag netting (BS),
  Ring net (RN),
  Scoop Net (SCN),
  Dip Net (DPN),

• Lining Methods Template

  Bottom Longlining (BLL),
  Surface longlining (SLL),
  Drop/Dahn lines (DL),
  Trot lines (TL)

• Other Lining Methods Template

  Handlining (HL),
  Trolling (T),
  Pole and Line (PL)

• Passive Nets Template

  Set netting (SN)
  Inshore drift netting (DN)

• Other methods template

  Handgathering (H )
  Diving (DI)

• Potting template

  Cod potting (CP),
  Rock lobster potting (RLP),
  Fish traps (FP)
  Fyke netting (FN)
  Scampi Pots (SCP)
  Crab Pots (CRP)
  Octopus Pots (OCP)

• Trawl/dredge template

  Bottom trawl-single (BT),
  Bottom trawl-pair (BPT),
  Midwater trawl-single (MW),
  Midwater trawl-pair (MPT),
  Dredging (D)
  Mechanical Harvesting (MH)

In addition to these form types there are versions of four of these forms specifically for reporting fishing by New Zealand vessels on the high seas. These are known as the HS-TCEPR (High Seas TCEPR), HS-CELR, HS-TLCER, and the HS-SJCER. These are nearly identical to the standard version of the form, but the reporting requirements may differ slightly.  For example, some species codes may be permitted on high seas forms that would not be valid species codes on a standard form.

Purpose of the data collection

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The purposes of the catch and effort returns are to provide information for:

1) Stock assessment

2) Monitoring environmental performance

3) Policy evaluation

4) Operational functions (such as fulfilling international reporting obligations)

5) Enforcement

6) Fisheries administration

Of these the fishing details sections of the forms are mainly provided for the purposes of:

• stock assessment- used to provide a measure of catch per unit effort
• policy evaluation – used to determine the location and method of fishing
• enforcement – used to monitor the activities of fishers
• monitoring environmental performance – used to monitor effort

The catch effort returns relate details about the fishing activity (including information about the location of fishing) directly to an estimate of the amount of fish caught.

However catch and effort returns are not normally used to estimate the total harvest (extraction's) of a species.  This type of information is usually more accurately determined from other data such as Catch Landing Returns, Licensed Fish Receiver Returns and Monthly Harvest Returns (and previously Quota Management Reports).

Coverage of data set

This data set is a total coverage data set in which the entire New Zealand commercial catch is required to be reported with the exception of catches from high seas fishing where there may be alternative reporting obligations.

The permit holder should be reporting both QMS and non-QMS species in this system. However fish caught in very small quantities (not one of the top five catches in the unit of effort being reported) will not be recorded (except on TLCER forms). Fish that are not landed (for example fish that are later discarded) should be reported through this system (provided they are in the top five species), although there may be some underreporting.

Reporting requirements

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The permit holder is required to fill in fishing detail forms:

• TCEPR – The TCEPR is filled in daily and must be submitted within 15 days of the end of the trip. No return is required for months in which there is no fishing activity, but vessels may report days of no fishing activity within a trip.

• TLCER – Data for the TLCER is for one shot. They must be returned within 15 days after the last day of the calendar month at the end of the trip. Because the TLCER is based on a unit of effort no return is required for periods of no effort (i.e. a nil return is not required).

• SJCER – The SJCER is filled in daily. They must be submitted within 15 days of the end of the trip. No return is required for months in which there is no fishing, but vessels may report days of no fishing activity within a trip.

• PCELR – The PCELR form is filled in daily. They are due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month of fishing. If no fishing occurs in a month then a nil return (a declaration of no fishing) is expected.

• ECER – The ECER form is filled in monthly. They are due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month of fishing. No return is required for months in which there is no fishing activity.

• CELR – The CELR form is filled in for a fishing trip. They are due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month at the end of the trip. If no fishing occurs in a month then a nil return (a declaration of no fishing) is expected.

Temporal Resolution

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• TCEPR – The TCEPR information is for one shot and records a start and end time reported to the minute.

• TLCER – Data reported on the TLCER is for one shot and has the date at start of set and end of haul and the time at start and end of setting and hauling all reported to the minute.

• SJCER – The SJCER form is for one day of effort and has the time of start and end of fishing (reported to the minute) and a date.

• PCELR –The PCELR form is filled in for each day of effort and has the total time of fishing by each diver on that day.

• ECER – The ECER information is for one day and records the number of pots lifted on that day

• CELR - The CELR information is usually for one day, but there will be multiple records per day if the fisher changes area or uses a different method

Spatial Resolution

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• TCEPR – the locations (of start and end of trawling) are reported in latitude and longitude (to the minute)

• TLCER – the locations (of start and end of setting) are reported in latitude and longitude (to the minute)

• SJCER – the location (at 01:00) is reported in latitude and longitude (to the minute)

• PCELR – the location of fishing is reported within paua statistical areas (contact Research Data Management if you want copies of these maps)

• ECER – the location of fishing is reported within eel statistical areas (contact Research Data Management if you want copies of these maps)

• CELR - the locations are usually reported in terms of general statistical areas that vary in size (see Appendix 8), but some fishers report latitudes and longitudes. If the fisher reports latitude and longitude the statistical area is calculated and stored as well. However note that for some species (in particular CRA, LFE, SFE, SCA, OYS) the general statistical areas are not used and species specific statistical areas are used instead (contact Research Data Management if you want copies of these maps).

Date of first available historic data

• CELR  - January 1988
• TCEPR – January 1989
• TLCER – January 1991
• SJCER – January 1991
• PCELR – October 2001 (prior to this paua fishing is on CELR forms)
• ECER – October 2001 (prior to this eel fishing is on CELR forms)

In some cases data back to the early 1980’s exists, but is not accessible from Ministry databases. Work is currently underway to convert this older data into a more readily available format

Timeframe for data availability

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This depends on the level of quality and completeness required. 

(1)   A scanned version of the form should be available to Ministry staff with access to the Catch Effort Application 2 days after receipt (which may be up to 46 days after the end of the trip without being overdue)

(2)   Entered data should be available 10 days after receipt (receipt may be up to 46 days after the end of the trip without being overdue). To ensure that data from late returns is included in the dataset, data should not be extracted until 2 to 3 months after the fishing occurred.

(3)   Data from first level checking (for data entry errors etc.) should be available 20 days after data entry (data entry may be up to 56 days after the end of the trip without being overdue);

(4)   Complete data (after follow-ups for late returns) and data from final data checking, (involving contact with fishers) should be available within 4-6 months.

Extent of validation/checking

Prior to 2001, data checking of the database was largely limited to referential integrity on certain “coded” fields (e.g. species codes, fishing method codes etc.) and dates.  No active checking was conducted on effort data, nor on most catch data.

A significant upgrade occurred between September 2000 and September 2001. From mid-2001 onwards, checks were also conducted on improbable values of primary fields (such as fishing method specific and species-specific checks on the main effort and catch information fields).  As a consequence data quality is significantly better from 2001 onwards. The full suite of checks is described in the document “Catch Effort Data Quality Specifications and Standards”.

Limitations of the data

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There are a number of limitations and problems in this data set that need to be considered.  When you run reports through the Reporting Tool within FIS a number of these problems which are likely to be relevant to your query will be brought to your attention. In general, remember that:

• Because there is only space on the form for the catches of five species per unit of effort, species caught in small quantities may not be reported.
• The catches reported are only estimates and are not required to be weighed greenweights. Tunas are reported in numbers rather than greenweight and scallops are reported in meatweight rather than greenweight.
• Prior to 2001, the lack of checks on this data means that there will be significant numbers of missing or erroneous data fields.

Stewardship of the data

The MFish Research Data Manager within the Science Group is the Steward of the data (the Ministry’s guardian of the information on behalf of the Crown). The catch effort computer system is controlled and maintained by the Ministry of Fisheries. Services such as data entry and validation (the correction of errors and anomalies detected in the data after data entry) are handled by FishServe under contract to the Ministry of Fisheries. Books of forms are available from FishServe.

Access to the data

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Data from this data collection system is available either:

• As scanned images of individual forms accessed through the Catch Effort Application (available to MFish staff only)
• As inputted data for an individual form accessed through the Catch Effort Application (available to MFish staff only)
• In the form of data extracts or data summaries through the Reporting Tool within FIS (available to MFish staff only)
• As data extracted for you by the Ministry of Fisheries Reporting Group
• The summary data available on this CD

Contact Co-ordinator for more information on how to get access to any of these systems

Catch and Effort Returns - Landing Details

Description of data collection system

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Catch landing returns are required for all commercial fishing inside the New Zealand EEZ.

Landing returns record the catch that is landed, lost, discarded at sea, or retained on board after a landing.  Landing returns are required from all commercial fishing operations for all species, and hence, this is theoretically the most comprehensive source of information for commercial harvest levels in New Zealand.

There are four types of catch landing forms in use, these being:

• The “Catch Landing Return” (CLR) which is used by vessels using the TCEPR, TLCER or SJCER catch effort forms
• The “Catch Effort Landing Return (CELR) which has a section (on the bottom part of the form) for reporting landings
• The “Freshwater Eel Catch Landing Return” ECLR which is a specialist landing return for eel fishing (commenced 1 October 2001)
• The “Paua Catch Effort Landing Return” PCELR which is a specialist catch effort and landing form for paua diving and has a section on the bottom part of the form for reporting landings (commenced 1 October 2001)

Purpose of data collection

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The purposes of the landing returns are to provide information for:

1) Stock assessment

2) Monitoring environmental performance

3) Policy evaluation

4) Operational functions (such as meeting international reporting requirements)     

5) Enforcement    

6) Fisheries administration

Of these the landings forms are particularly important for:

• Stock assessment and policy evaluation purposes – they provide information on the total catch of species. This has historically been particularly important for non-QMS species for which there are few other information sources
• Enforcement purposes – they provide records to allow verification of catch information provided from other information sources
• Fisheries Administration purposes – to provide catch history records for later quota allocation and to provide auxiliary information for cost recovery calculations

Coverage of data set

This data set is a total coverage data set in which the entire New Zealand commercial catch is required to be reported with the exception of fish that are both caught on the high seas and are landed outside of New Zealand. Fish that are not part of the QMS system and fish that are not landed to a LFR are still required to be reported in this system.

Reporting requirements

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The permit holder is required to complete landing details returns:

• CELR – The CELR form is filled in for a fishing trip. It is due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month at the end of a trip. If no fishing occurs in a month then a nil return is expected 15 days after the last day of the calendar month.
• CLR – The CLR form is filled in for a landing. Pre July 2002 it is due 7 days after the last day of the trip. From July 2002 onwards a CLR for a trawling or squid jigging fishing trip is due 15 days after the last day of the trip, but a CLR for a tuna long lining trip is due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month at the end of a trip. If no fishing trip has been made in a calendar month then a nil return is expected 15 days after the last day of the calendar month. 
• ECLR – The Freshwater Eel Catch Landing Return is filled in for a month. It is due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month. If no landing occurs in a month then a nil return is expected 15 days after the last day of the calendar month.
• PCELR – The Paua Catch Effort Landing Return is filled in for a day. It is due 15 days after the last day of the calendar month. If no fishing occurs in a month then a nil return is expected.

Temporal Resolution

The temporal resolution is the precise date of landing.  However, a single landing could cover catches that have been obtained from a long trip of weeks to months in duration.

Spatial Resolution

The catch dataset is reported to the level of a Fishstock (e.g. CRA1, ORH2B etc.). For non-QMS species this would locate the catch to within one of the ten Fisheries Management Areas. Contact Fishserve if you would like copies of the maps.

Date of first available historic data

• CELR – January 1988                                                                                
• CLR  - January 1989                                                                                  
• ECLR – October 2001 (prior to this eel fishing is on CELR forms)              
• PCELR – October 2001 (prior to this paua fishing is on CELR forms)

In some cases data back to the early 1980’s exists, but is not accessible from Ministry databases. Work is currently underway to convert older data (back to the early 80’s) into a more readily available format. 

Timeframe for data availability

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This depends on the level of quality and completeness required. 

(1)   A scanned image of the form should be available to MFish staff with access to the Catch Effort Application 2 days after receipt (which may be up to 46 days after the landing without being overdue)

(5)   Entered data should be available 10 days after receipt (receipt may be up to 46 days after the landing without being overdue). To ensure that data from late returns is included in the dataset, data should not be extracted until 2 to 3 months after the fishing occurred.

(2)   Data from first level checking (for data entry errors etc.) should be available 20 days after data entry (which may be up to 56 days after the landing without being overdue);

(3)   Complete data (after follow-ups for late returns) and data from final data checking, (involving contact with fishers) should be available within 4-6 months.

Extent of validation/checking

Prior to 2001, data checking of the database was largely limited to referential integrity on certain “coded” fields (e.g. species codes, processed state codes etc.) and to checks for overdue returns.

A significant upgrade to the validation system occurred between September 2000 and September 2001. From mid-2001 and onwards, checks were also conducted on improbable values of primary fields (such as species specific checks on the landed weight etc.)  As a consequence, data quality is significantly better from 2001 onwards. The full suite of checks is described in the document “Catch Effort Data Quality Specifications and Standards”.

Limitations of the dataset

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There are a number of problems in this data set that need to be considered. When you run reports through the Reporting Tool within FIS a number of these problems which are likely to be relevant to your query will be brought to your attention. In general, remember that:

• The fish reported in the landings form usually cannot be related to the fish reported on the individual fishing detail records. If the vessel fished in a number of statistical areas within one trip then it is usually not possible to deduce how much of the landed catch was taken in each statistical area.
• The greenweights reported in the landings are calculated from the processed catch weights (weighed) multiplied by a conversion factor (a formal estimate of the amount of green (unprocessed) fish required to produce one kilogram of that kind of product). The calculated greenweights are therefore only as accurate as the accuracy and relevance of the conversion factors will allow. 
• The greenweight column of a landing form is headed “Greenweight (kilograms) when advised by LFR”. The greenweights of fish not landed to a Licensed Fish Receiver (for example fish that is discarded or trans-shipped) has historically not been fully recorded. New explanatory notes issued on 1 October 2001 made it clear that a greenweight estimate should be included even if the fish did not go to a LFR.
• Fish that are trans-shipped are recorded with destination type T and the vessel to which they are trans-shipped is identified. When the receiving vessel lands these fish it will then report it with destination type L but there will be nothing to identify that the fish had been trans-shipped to that vessel. Therefore, to avoid double counting these fish, it would be wise to exclude landings of type T from any sums of landings.
• Fish that are placed in a holding receptacle in NZ fisheries waters (such as a holding pot) or on land (such as a refrigerator) or that are retained on board a vessel are recorded at landing with destinations type P, Q or R respectively. When the fisher subsequently sells or conveys the fish to a licensed fish receiver they the fish will be recorded with destination type L. If the fish is lost from the holding receptacle it will be recorded with destination type H.  Therefore to avoid double counting these fish, it would be wise to exclude landings of type P, Q or R from any sums of landings. Note that destination types P and Q were introduced on 1 October 2001.
• The lack of species specific range checking prior to 2001 means that there will be a number of erroneous records that may dominate the dataset.

Stewardship of the data

The MFish Research Data Manager within the Science Group is the Steward of the data (the Ministry’s guardian of the information on behalf of the Crown). The catch effort computer system is controlled and maintained by the Ministry of Fisheries. Services such as data entry and validation (the correction of errors and anomalies detected in the data after data entry) are handled by FishServe under contract to the Ministry of Fisheries. Books of forms are available from FishServe.

Access to the data

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Data from this data collection system is available either:

• As scanned images of individual forms accessed through the Catch Effort Application (available to MFish staff only)
• As inputted data for an individual form accessed through the Catch Effort Application(available to MFish staff only)
• In the form of data extracts or data summaries through the Reporting Tool within FIS (available to MFish staff only)
• As data extracted for you personally by the Ministry of Fisheries Reporting Group
• The summary data available on this CD

Contact Co-ordinator for more information on how to get access to any of these systems