Description

This form provides for 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 caught in association with IOTC fisheries must also be included in the dataset.

Click here to download a blank version of Form 3DA, 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 updated data for a single fishery.

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 Format Input value
Reporting year M Gregorian calendar year of the fishing activities reported through the dataset 4-digit integer e.g., 1996
Reporting entity M Three-letter (alpha-3) code of the entity reporting the dataset to the IOTC Secretariat Code from Entities e.g., EUR
Flag state M Three-letter (alpha-3) code of the country registration of the fishery vessels Code from Countries e.g., ESP
Reporting month M Month of the fishing activities reported through the dataset Integer (1–12) e.g., 3

Data Specifications

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Original data type M Preliminary/final status of the data Code from Types of data e.g., FI

Main Data Elements

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Vessel name M Name of the purse seine vessel as available from the IOTC Record of Authorised Vessel (RAV) String e.g., DRENNEC
Vessel IOTC number M IOTC registered number of the purse seine vessel as available from the IOTC Record of Authorised Vessel (RAV) String e.g., IOTC018542
Day of the month M Day of the month of the fishing activities reported through the dataset Integer e.g., 23
UTC time M The date and time at which the drifting floating object was visited in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) ISO 8601 [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MMZ] e.g., 2025-09-15T12:00Z
Latitude M The latitude of the drifting floating object location, expressed in decimal degrees according to the WGS 84 reference system (EPSG:4326). Recommended precision: four decimal places (~10 m) ISO 6709 [+/-DD.DDDD] e.g., -20.8854
Longitude M The longitude of the drifting floating object location, expressed in decimal degrees according to the WGS 84 reference system (EPSG:4326). Recommended precision: four decimal places (~10 m) ISO 6709 [+/-DDD.DDDD] e.g., 55.5312
Species M Species caught and discarded Code from All Species e.g., YFT
Type of fate M Fate of fish caught (retained or discarded) Code from Types of fate e.g., DL
Data raising M Level of raising (i.e., extrapolation) Code from Raisings e.g., NR
Catch unit M Unit used to report the value of catch of a given species Code from Catch units e.g., T

Buoy Data

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Present M Indicates whether a buoy is attached to the drifting floating object Boolean (Y/N) e.g., N
Identifier M Unique identifier of buoy monitored generally composed of the concatenation of the buoy model with with 5-9 digits String e.g., SLX328501
Position M Indicates whether the vessel have access/knowledge of the buoy position Boolean (Y/N) e.g., Y
Activity M Type of activities undertaken when visiting or deploying the drifting floating object Code from Buoy activity types e.g., DE

DFOB Data

Element Requirement Description Format ¦ Input value
Identifier M Unique identifier of the drifting floating object String e.g., IOTC-ABC-123
Type M Type of drifting floating object Code from Types of DFOBs e.g., DFAD
Activity M Type of activity undertaken when visiting or deploying the drifting floating object Code from Types of DFOB activities e.g., DE

DFOB Characteristics

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

Surface (Raft)

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Plastic M Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains some plastic materials Boolean (Y/N) e.g., Y
Metal M Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains some metal materials Boolean (Y/N) e.g., Y
Length M Length of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g., 150
Width O Width of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g. 120
Height O Height of the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g., 50
Mesh M Indicates whether the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object contains mesh Boolean (Y/N) e.g., Y
Mesh size O Size of the main net mesh used on the surface or near-surface structure of the drifting floating object (if any) in millimetres (mm) Numeric e.g., 5

Subsurface (Tail/Cage)

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Plastic M Indicates whether the tail of the drifting floating object contains some plastic materials Boolean (Y/N) e.g., N
Metal M Indicates whether the tail of the drifting floating object contains some metal materials Boolean (Y/N) e.g., N
Length M Length of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g., 100
Width O Width of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g., 100
Height O Height of the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object in centimetres (cm) Numeric e.g., 80
Mesh M Indicates whether the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object contains mesh Boolean (Y/N) e.g., Y
Mesh size O Size of the main net mesh used on the subsurface structure of the drifting floating object (if any) in millimetres (mm) Numeric e.g., 3

Reporting Metadata

Element Requirement Description Format Input value
Liaison officer full name M Name of the liaison officer in charge of the compilation of the data String e.g., John Doe
Liaison officer email M Email address of the liaison officer in charge of the compilation of the data Valid email address e.g., John.Doe@fao.org
Organisation name M Name of the organisation in charge of the compilation of the data String e.g., Institute of Fisheries
Organisation email O Email address of the organisation in charge of the compilation of the data Valid email address e.g., nif@gov.sc
Finalisation date M Date of finalisation of the dataset ISO 8601 e.g., 1996-03-27
Submission date O Date of submission of the dataset ISO 8601 e.g., 1997-03-21

Reporting Deadlines

  • Surface fisheries: 30 June (final)

Reference Code Lists

Entities

Countries

Types of Data

Fisheries

Species

Types of Buoy Activities

Types of Drifting Floating Objects

Types of Activities on Drifting Floating Objects

Types of Fates

Raisings

Catch Units