Research Document - 2008/051
Development of indices of performance for the Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery using data from a vessel monitoring system
By D.R. Mullowney and E.G. Dawe
Abstract
This study investigates the potential for using data from a vessel monitoring system (VMS) to create indices of commercial fishery performance that may be used in monitoring snow crab resource status. Fishing hours were screened from hourly positional signals to create an index of fishing effort (hours fished) for comparison with that derived from logbooks (number of trap hauls). Similarly, VMS-based fishing efficiency and catch per unit of effort (CPUE) indices were developed for comparison with CPUE derived from logbooks. Analysis of these indices showed that VMS-based fishing effort and CPUE indices can be developed to provide reliable alternatives to logbook indices. The VMSbased indices have advantages of being more objective, accurate, complete, and available in real time than logbook-based indices. VMS data offer other potential applications for snow crab assessment and management. Our approach and methods may be readily applicable to other commercial fishery resources worldwide that are monitored using vessel monitoring systems.
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