Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E1: Agriculture and fisheries

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Catches of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic organisms by species and fishing area for EU and associated countries (in live weight equivalent of the landings).

European data on fish catches, in tonnes live weight (TLW) have been recorded since 1950. Historical data up to 1999 are displayed under [fish_ca_h] while data from 2000 onwards are released in the [fish_ca] tables. These exclude catches in inland waters and focus on marine fishing areas that are legally covered, namely:

21 - Atlantic, Northwest

27 - Atlantic, Northeast

34 - Atlantic, Eastern Central

37 - Mediterranean and Black Sea

41 - Atlantic, Southwest

47 - Atlantic, Southeast

51 - Indian Ocean, Western

Species

Three types of codes are assigned to each species item:

• ISSCAAP code
• taxonomic code
• 3-alpha code

The ISSCAAP code is assigned according to the FAO 'International Standard Statistical Classification for Aquatic Animals and Plants' (ISSCAAP) which divides commercial species into 50 groups on the basis of their taxonomic, ecological and economic characteristics. The taxonomic code is used by FAO for a more detailed classification of the species items and for sorting them out within each ISSCAAP group. The 3-alpha identifier is a unique code made of three letters that is widely used for the exchange of data with national correspondents and among fishery agencies.

Aggregates of species groups have been developed within the database using the International Standard Statistical Classification of Aquatic Animals and Plants (ISSCAAP).

A full list of species codes (ISSCAAP) together with the English, French, Spanish and Scientific names may be found in the ASFIS file on the FAO web-site.

Fishing Areas: For statistical purposes the world is divided into Major Fishing Areas, namely 8 inland areas and 19 marine fishing areas. Certain of these areas have been sub-divided for the reporting of catch statistics. Only marine fishing areas are covered in the [fish_ca] tables displaying data from 2000 onwards.

Not available.

The concepts and definitions used in the compilation of catch statistics are those laid down by the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics (CWP), of which Eurostat is one of the member organizations. These concepts and definitions have been in force since the late 1950's and are applied uniformly worldwide by the CWP and by the national authorities reporting to its member organizations. Therefore, though the quality of the data varies from country to country (being in many cases a function of the general characteristics of the national fishing industry), there is a high degree of comparability between countries and over time. 

Nominal catch: The data refer to the catch of freshwater, brackish water and marine species of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals and plants, killed, caught, trapped or collected for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes.

In view of the importance of recreational fishing regarding some stocks and for certain countries, as well as the difficulty of distinguishing between recreational and subsistence fishing, the data should include the catches from recreational fisheries as well. However, it is recognised that certain countries are unable to supply the data for recreational fisheries.

Species [SPECIES]: FAO maintains the FAO ASFIS (Aquatic Sciences and Fishery Information System) list of Species for Fishery Statistics Purposes. Using this list, all species are identified by an internationally assigned three letter identifier (e.g. COD = Atlantic cod, PLE = European plaice). Based on their taxonomic, ecological and economic characteristics, the species are aggregated in 50 groups according to the FAO 'International Standard Statistical Classification for Aquatic Animals and Plants' (ISSCAAP). These groups are aggregated further to higher level groups, to which the codes F10, F20, … F90 are assigned.

Fishing areas/regions [FISHREG]: The catches are sub-divided by the area in which they occur. For data from 2000 onwards these are:

21 - Atlantic, Northwest

27 - Atlantic, Northeast

34 - Atlantic, Eastern Central

37 - Mediterranean and Black Sea

41 - Atlantic, Southwest

47 - Atlantic, Southeast

51 - Indian Ocean, Western

Unit [UNIT]: Catches are expressed in live weight and derived by the application of conversion factors to the actual landed or product weight. As such they exclude all quantities caught but not landed (for example: discarded fish, fish consumed on board). Production from aquaculture is excluded from catch statistics. The unit used is generally the metric ton. Data for marine mammals (e.g. whales) and certain other animals (e.g. crocodiles) are expressed in the number caught.

The methodologies vary from country to country depending on the nature of their fishing industries. Basic documentation used in collecting the data from EU fisheries are fishing log-books, landings declarations and sales notes used in the management of catch quota and market management systems within the Common Fisheries Policy. The methodologies used by EEA member countries have been described in the Eurostat publication "Fisheries: The collection and compilation of fish catch and landing statistics in member countries of the European Economic Area". Those used by the New Member States are described in a working document "Fisheries: The collection and compilation of fishery statistics in European Union Candidate Countries"

The basic statistical units are the catches by the individual fishing vessels. Although these records are available to the national authorities, only the national aggregates are submitted to the international agencies and are made available in this database.

All catches of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic organisms caught in commercial, industrial and recreational fishing operations.

Regulations (EC) No 216/2009, 217/2009 and 218/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics have EEA relevance, thus the EU Member States plus Norway and Iceland are obliged to report their catches. In addition, Turkey submits data to Eurostat.

Data are available from 1950 onwards. See 3.1. Data description above for more details.

Not applicable.

Tonnes or number, depending on the species caught.

Calendar year.

Three EU Council Regulations cover the submission of catch statistics by the authorities of EEA countries to the European Commission (Eurostat):

Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic

Regulation (EC) No 217/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-west Atlantic

Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic 

All of these legislative acts are EEA relevant: that is, they apply to EU Member States and EFTA countries except Switzerland. In fisheries context this means that they also apply to Iceland and Norway.

Under the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics common concepts and definitions are elaborated. Subsequently, Eurostat uses and maintains common fisheries code lists for the species and production areas with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Text files with the required structure of Eurostat's dissemination database are automatically generated. The same process automatically blocks all data marked as confidential from being disseminated. In this case, aggregates are not calculated.

Catch data for reference year N are usually released in September of year N+1.

Not available

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Annual

News releases on-line.

Agriculture, fishery and forestry statistics – 2015 edition, Statistical book

Eurostat Yearbook

Statistics Explained ( last update 10/2015)

Please consult free data on-line: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Not applicable

Not applicable

The methodologies used by EEA member countries have been described in Eurostat publication "Fisheries: The collection and compilation of fish catch and landing statistics in member countries of the European Economic Area". Those used by the New Member States are described in a working document "Fisheries: The collection and compilation of fishery statistics in European Union Candidate Countries".

The methodological framework used in the compilation of these data is the one developed by the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics and is available in the CWP Handbook of fishery statistics standards.

Every three year Member States are requested to fill in a detailed questionnaire describing how data on catches and landings are collected, checked and validated and specifying the degree of representativeness and reliability of those data. The primary purpose of this questionnaire is to prepare the tri-annual assessment report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of  Regulation (EC) 1921/2006 on statistics on landings of fishery products. However it is also relevant for catch statistics which are usually based on the same raw data.

The last report is available here: "Document COM(2014)240"

A new version of the Report will be published in 2016.

At national level, a number of quality checks are performed before data are submitted to Eurostat: preliminary checks on raw data to detect species or fishing area mis-reporting, procedures to verify internal consistency, cross-checking of the various source data (log-books, landings declarations and sales notes), adjustments for non-response, checks for monitoring consistency over time.

At Eurostat, formal data checks are performed during the import of data into the production database:

Validation level 0:

• File format check

Validation level 1:

• Existence of codes (against dictionaries)
• Duplicated records

Validation level 2:

• Check for consistency over time (outlier detection)
• Check for newly reported species
• Check for newly reported combinations species caught/declared fishing area

The majority of countries report comprehensive data and of good quality.

An assessment of the quality of the data is provided in the tri-annual assessment report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Regulation (EC) 1921/2006 on statistics on landings of fishery products (see 10.7. Quality management – documentation above)

Main users of the data are other Directorates General of the European Commission, mainly DG MARE being in charge of the Common Fisheries Policy. The data are equally used by other European institutions, international organisations (FAO, OECD), regional fisheries bodies (e.g. ICES, NAFO), national administrations, national statistical institutes (NSIs) and research institutes, besides the press and the public in general.

No user satisfaction survey carried out.

Not available.

Most Member States report a complete coverage of their fish catches with sampling being used in exceptional cases only. This indicates that the accuracy of the volume of fish caught is fairly high.

Not available

Not available

The deadline for submitting catch data to Eurostat is according to the fishing areas between five and eight months after the end of the reference year. Data are then normally processed and disseminated between July and September of the following year.

Not applicable

Although the quality of the data varies from country to country (being in many cases a function of the general characteristics of the national fishing industry), there is a high degree of comparability between countries, due to the fact that the concepts and definitions used in the compilation of catch statistics are those laid down by the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics (CWP).

A high degree of comparability over time is also ensured by the worldwide adoption of the CWP concepts and definitions.

Catch data are cross-checked against landings data. These controls are currently performed on a case-by-case basis but they are expected to be extended and fully integrated in the validation process.

Coherence is being ensured during the data validation process.

According to the cost-effectiveness assessment carried out for reference year 2014, the burden associated with providing the data to Eurostat differs significantly between respondent countries. It seems to be closely related to the size of the national fishery activity and to the degree of centralisation of the national data collection and validation system.

There is no fixed timetable for the provision of revisions to the database. Revisions may occur at any time when new data are available.

Revisions are submitted by the national authorities as and when they are considered necessary and introduced at the earliest possible opportunity. National authorities may be requested to justify major revisions before they are incorporated into the database.

Catch statistics are submitted by the national authorities under the terms of the above mentioned EU Regulations (see section 6.1. above). These regulations apply to Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA). Historical data for non-EEA countries which are displayed in [fish_ca_h] tables for years prior to 2000 were submitted through international organizations in response to the STATLANT questionnaires managed by FAO. Data for fishing areas not covered by EU legislation shown in those tables were provided by countries on a voluntary basis.

Most of the data are compiled from administrative sources: data for vessels of 10 m in length and above are collected from fishing log-books (which have to be completed by all large fishing vessels on a trip basis), landings declarations and/or sales notes. Data for smaller vessels are collected from monthly landings reports, from interviews by inspectors, by sampling, or by other methods considered appropriate to the national infrastructure.

For more detailed information about source data and national data providers please see: "Document COM(2014)240"

Annual

Annual catch statistics are collected by Eurostat according to the following timetable, as set in the related Regulations:

• Catches in North-West Atlantic (FAO area 21) - preliminary data: 31 May
• Catches in North-East Atlantic (FAO area 27): 30 June
• Catches in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic (FAO areas 34 to 51): 30 June
• Catches in North-West Atlantic (FAO area 21) - final data: 31 August

The North Atlantic Fishery Organisation (NAFO) Scientific Council, responsible for monitoring fisheries in the North West Atlantic, FAO Major Fishing Area 21, has identified timely catch and activity statistics as essential to the performance of its work in evaluating the state of the fish stocks. The data to be submitted for the Area shall be of two types:
(a) the annual nominal catches, expressed in tonnes live weight equivalent of the landings, of each of the species in each of the statistical fishing regions of the north-west Atlantic;
(b) the catches as specified under point (a) and the corresponding fishing activity, subdivided by calendar month of capture, fishing gear, vessel size and main species sought. Table 2 (Section 2) presents the details of the (b) data set.

All fisheries data are sent by countries through eDAMIS as the Single Entry Point of data to Eurostat. The transmissions are delivered to Eurostat Unit E1, as well as to the FAO, the NAFO (for FAO area 21) and DG MARE (for FAO areas 21 and 27).

All data received from the reporting countries are verified against a number of checks. These checks control the plausibility of the data, presence of outliers, species caught in relation with declared fishing areas, size of revisions.

EU and EEA aggregates are compiled by summation of the data for the individual countries.

From 1950 to 1991 DE data equal the sum of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

Not applicable.

Eurostat gratefully acknowledges the contribution made by other international organizations (particularly FAO, ICES, NAFO, GFCM and CCAMLR) to the compilation of the catch statistics. However, Eurostat is solely responsible for the presentation of the data in this database.