Description

This form supports the reporting of data on operational activities conducted by purse seine and support vessels on drifting floating objects (DFOBs) and buoys. When present, data include information on buoy identifier, knowledge of the buoy position, and type of activity conducted on the buoy. For each DFOB, information on materials (i.e., presence of plastic or metal), dimensions (i.e., length, width, and height), and presence of mesh with value of mesh size for both the surface (i.e., raft) and subsurface (i.e., tail) components must be recorded. Finally, species-specific estimates of catches retained and discarded in numbers or live weight equivalent for the IOTC species, common sharks, and other bycatch species must also be included in the dataset.

Click here to download a blank version of Form 3DA-update, or return to the list of all IOTC statistical data reporting forms. Click here to download a blank version of Form 3DA which has been designed to report data for multiple fisheries simultaneously.

Data content

Operational information on DFOB-related activities, including buoys and DFOB characteristics and dimensions, along with estimates of retained catches and discards (in numbers or live weight equivalent) by species, fate, raising status, and catch unit.

Stratification

General information

Element Requirement Description Input value
Reporting year M Gregorian calendar year of the fishing activities reported through the dataset Integer
Reporting entity M Three-letter (alpha-3) code of the entity reporting the dataset to the IOTC Secretariat Code_iso3 from Entities
Flag state M Three-letter (alpha-3) code of the country registration of the fishery vessels Code_iso3 from Countries
Reporting Month M Calendar month of the fishing activities reported through the dataset Integer 1..12
Vessel name O Name of the fishery vessel monitoring the buoy as available from the IOTC Record of Authorised Vessel RAV Plain text
Vessel IOTC number M IOTC registered number of the vessel monitoring the buoy Plain text (e.g., IOTC013542)

Main data elements

Element Requirement Description Input value
Day of the month M Day of the month of the fishing activities reported through the dataset Integer 1..31
UTC time M Universal time at which the drifting floating object was visited time (hh:mm)
Latitude M Horizontal distances north or south of the Equator Decimal degrees
Longitude M Vertical distances east or west of the prime meridian Decimal degrees
Species M Species caught and discarded Code from Species
Type of fate M Fate of fish caught (retained or discarded) Code from Types of fate
Data raising M Level of raising (i.e., extrapolation) Code from Raisings
Catch unit M Unit used to report the value of catch of a given species Code from Catch units

Data specifications

Element Requirement Description Input value
Original data type M Preliminary/final status of the data Code from Types of data

Buoy data

Element Requirement Description Input value
Present M Indicates whether a buoy is attached to the drifting floating object Boolean (Y/N)
Identifier M Unique identifier of buoy monitored (e.g., ISD+, M3+, T8E) followed by 5-9 digits
Position M Indicates whether the vessel have access/knowledge of the buoy position Boolean (Y/N)
Activity M Type of activity undertaken when visiting or deploying the drifting floating object Code from Buoy activity types

DFOB data

Element Requirement Description Input value
Identifier M Unique identifier of the drifting floating object Plain text
Type M Type of drifting floating object Code from Types of DFOBs
Activity M Type of activities undertaken when visiting or deploying the drifting floating object Code from Types of DFOB activities

DFOB characteristics

Description of the materials and dimensions of both surface and subsurface components of the drifting floating objects.

Surface (raft)

Element Description Unit Format
Plastic Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains some plastic materials - Boolean
Metal Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains some metal materials - Boolean
Length Length of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Width Width of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Height Height of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Mesh Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains mesh - Boolean
Mesh size Size of the main net mesh used on the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object (if any) mm Decimal

Subsurface (tail)

Element Description Unit Format
Plastic Indicates whether the tail of the drifting floating object contains some plastic materials - Boolean
Metal Indicates whether the tail of the drifting floating object contains some metal materials - Boolean
Length Length of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Width Width of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Height Height of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object cm Decimal
Mesh Indicates whether the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object contains mesh - Boolean
Mesh size Size of the main net mesh used on the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object (if any) mm Decimal

Reporting metadata

Element Requirement Description Format Example
Liaison officer full name M Name of the liaison officer in charge of the compilation of the data Plain text John Doe
Liaison officer email M Email address of the liaison officer in charge of the compilation of the data Valid email address
Organisation name M Name of the organisation in charge of the compilation of the data Plain text National Institute of Fisheries
Organisation email O Email address of the organisation in charge of the compilation of the data
Finalisation date M Date of finalisation of the dataset ISO 8601 1996-03-27
Submission date O Date of submission of the dataset ISO 8601 1997-03-21

Reporting deadlines

  • Surface fisheries: 30 June (final)

Reference code lists

Entities

Countries

Types of data types

Fisheries

Species

Types of activities on buoys

Types of drifting floating objects

Types of activities on drifting floating objects

Types of fates

Raisings

Catch units