ABARES Fishery Status Reports map data: Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), East Coast Deepwater Trawl Sector (SECD): maximum area fished, annual map data for 2010 to 2022

This dataset presents maps of maximum area fished of ocean waters within the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), East Coast Deepwater Trawl Sector (SECD).

The data were prepared as part of the annual ABARES Fishery Status Reports series, which provides an independent evaluation of the biological and economic status of fish stocks managed solely or jointly by the Australian Government. The data were produced by ABARES from data supplied by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).

The data are presented annually, by fishing season which runs from 1 May to 30 April for this fishery. For example, for this fishery, the 2022 season runs from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023. There are data for a limited number of seasons in this fishery.

The data are polygon vector format, stored in an ESRI file geodatabase, prepared using ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap version 10.8.

Maximum area fished is defined as the maximum area within which fishing occurred during a given fishing season as polygon cells of one degree of longitude by one degree of latitude (approximately 111 kilometres x 111 kilometres). A cell is included if any fishing activity occurred anywhere within that one degree by one degree cell. Note that cells included in this dataset may also partially cover land.

The data supplied by AFMA were filtered to remove activity by fewer than five boats within the area of analysis in order to conform with AFMA’s Information Disclosure Policy (https://www.afma.gov.au/about/fisheries-management-policies/information-disclosure-fisheries-management-paper).