Aggregated Pole-and-Line Data Format

Aggregate Catch and Effort data for pole-and-line fisheries are to be submitted for data aggregated to the level of: year, month, flag, fleet, gear, and 1x1 degree cell.
Coordinates must represent the southwest corner of each spatial cell and be reported in whole degrees.

Aggregate data represent raised logbook catches and should reflect the total annual catch and effort within the WCPFC Convention Area for a given fleet.

The pole-and-line format is similar to purse seine but does not include a school type field, as this concept is not applicable to this gear type.
In addition, there is a complementary file for reporting the number of active vessels by flag, fleet, year, month, and location (where possible).

The effort information includes:

• number of fishing days

The catch information includes:

• catch in weight (mt) for all species
• species codes using FAO 3-letter Species Codes

Field formatting details

• Year must be reported as YYYY.
• Month must be reported as mm (01 to 12).
• Latitude and longitude must be reported in whole degrees at a 1°x1° resolution, with coordinates representing the southwest corner of the cell.
  • The valid range is -180 to 179 for longitude and -90 to 89 for latitude.
• Species code must use FAO 3-letter Species Codes.
  • e.g., SKJ – Skipjack Tuna, YFT – Yellowfin Tuna, BET – Bigeye Tuna.
• Catches must be reported in metric tonnes (mt) with a maximum of 3 decimal places.
• Number of days must be a whole value.

Notes:

• Coordinates correspond to the southwest corner of the 1°x1° cell.
• Include one record per combination of year, month, flag, fleet, and cell.
• Ensure all catch species correspond to key species listed in the Sci-Data guidelines.
• Effort and catch data should represent total annual values aggregated across all operations.

Table documents format

Aggregated data are structured in three interconnected levels: Effort, Catch, and Vessels.
Separate tables are used for each level to maintain clarity and reduce redundancy.
The Effort and Catch tables are connected using a unique identifier set at the Effort level: effort_id, which is referenced at the Catch level.
These identifiers must be alphanumeric and unique within the set of files.

👉 Data providers can also download ready-to-use CSV data templates for each level (catch, effort, and vessels).

CSV Data Templates

• Aggregated Catch Template
• Aggregated Effort Data Template
• Aggregated Vessels Template

Data format details (with examples)

Rows in the Effort table represent aggregated pole-and-line fishing activities, identified by year, month, flag, fleet, latitude, and longitude at a 1°x1° resolution.
Each record contains the total number of fishing days and sets for each activity type.
Species-specific catches are reported separately using FAO 3-letter species codes and measured in metric tonnes (mt).

Example document at effort level

Field descriptions at effort level

Notes:

• Latitude and longitude define the southwest corner of each 1°x1° grid cell.
• One record per combination of year, month, flag, fleet, activity type, and grid cell.
• Catches are reported in a separate table using FAO 3-letter species codes and expressed in metric tonnes (mt).
• Ensure data exclude operational-level detail (these represent aggregated summaries).

Example document at catch level

Field descriptions at catch level

Notes:

• Each record in the Catch table corresponds to a single species entry linked to an Effort record via effort_id.
• The sp_mt field must represent the aggregated total catch weight in metric tonnes (mt).
• The is_discarded field identifies whether the species was retained (0) or discarded (1).
• Species codes must use the FAO 3-letter Species Codes.
• Ensure all catches are consistent with the Effort table and represent aggregated summaries.

Example document at vessel level

Field descriptions at vessel level

Notes:

• The Vessel table provides contextual information on fishing capacity.
• One record per combination of year, month, flag, fleet, and grid cell.
• Coordinates refer to the southwest corner of the 1°x1° cell.
• This dataset complements Effort and Catch data to improve spatial interpretation of fishing activity.

References

Reference Table 1: Activity Type identifiers

Reference Table 2: List of Fleets