Datasets

The IOTC Secretariat maintains a range of fisheries datasets submitted by Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CPCs), in accordance with the Commission’s data reporting obligations established under Resolutions 15/01 and 15/02. These datasets include retained catches by species and gear, geo-referenced catch-and-effort data, size-frequency measurements, and information on fishing vessels. Additional datasets cover time series on fishing fleet characteristics and fish and crude oil prices. The dissemination of these data is governed by the rules set out in Resolution 12/02, ensuring both transparency and appropriate safeguards. The data underpin scientific stock assessments, compliance monitoring, and the formulation of management advice within the IOTC framework.

Most Recent Datasets Released by the IOTC Secretariat

Description of other datasets available at the IOTC Secretariat

Other biological data

Apart from information on the individual lengths or weights of IOTC species and sharks, the IOTC also collects other data on the biology of IOTC stocks, in particular:

• Data used to derive the equations necessary to convert from non-standard measurements into standard measurements, for each species [, fishery and time-period]  
• Data on the proportion of specimens by sex (sex ratio) for each species, length class [, fishery and time-period].
• Data on the maturity and fecundity of IOTC and related species.
• Other datasets, such are the data used to derive growth functions for IOTC stocks, natural mortality, etc.

Where not specified, please, contact the Secretariat for more information about the data that are available.

Tagging data (TD)

Data on the release and recovery of IOTC species, in particular tropical tunas, were obtained through the implementation of an EU-funded Regional Tuna Tagging Programme, and several other small-scale tagging projects. Please, contact the Secretariat for more information about the data that are available and the procedures required to obtain this information.

Fishing craft statistics (FC)

This dataset lists the number of vessels operating under the flag of the reporting country catching tuna and tuna-like species by gear and size category within one calendar year. Foreign vessels chartered by or under joint venture arrangements with the reporting country are reported separately.  The data is organized by LOA (overall length) size categories.  In 2013 the IOTC Secretariat conducted a comprehensive review of the fishing craft statistics available for industrial vessels, with the objective of harmonizing the units and size class intervals used for industrial vessels.  The Fishing Craft Statistics database is in the process of being updated based on the results from this latest review (see the 2013 Fishing Capacity Report).

Socio-economic data (SD)

Provisions in Article V 2(d) of the IOTC Agreement state that the Commission shall “keep under review the economic and social aspects of the fisheries based on the stocks covered by this Agreement bearing in mind, in particular, the interests of developing coastal states;”  To date, the Commission has not agreed on the type of socio-economic data, data resolution, and reporting timeframes that should be put in place for socio-economic data.  Please, contact the Secretariat for more information about the data that are available.

The Fisheries Development Division of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) collates monthly time series of tuna prices for key markets. These include (i) Thai import prices for whole round frozen skipjack and yellowfin tunas (USD/t), (ii) Japanese import prices for fresh and frozen bigeye and yellowfin tunas (YEN/kg), and (iii) US import prices for fresh (chilled) bigeye and yellowfin tunas from Oceania (USD/kg). Fish prices were adjusted for inflation using US Consumer Price Index data to obtain real prices (Ruaia et al. 2020). These time series are considered more representative of trends in tuna price than the prices received by operators (i.e., ex-vessel prices) which may strongly depend on the markets and transport costs. In addition, the FFA collates monthly crude oil prices, a major driver of costs in tuna fisheries considered a good proxy of fishing costs (Ruaia et al. 2020). The price collated by FFA is based on the the arithmetic average of the Brent, Dubai, and West Texas crude oil prices.

Datasets used for stock assessment

Please refer to the meeting pages of each Working Party to consult and download the datasets that were used for stock assessment:

• WP on Billfish (WPB)
• WP on Neritic Tunas (WPNT)
• WP on Temperate Tunas (WPTmT)
• WP on Tropical Tunas (WPTT)
• WP on Ecosystems and Bycatch (WPEB)