WCPFC Area Data Submission formats

Operational Purse-seine Data Format

Field formatting details

Datetime must be reported in ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
Latitude and longitude must be reported in decimal degrees with 3 decimals, the valid range is -180 to 180 for longitude and -90 to 90 for latitude.
- E.g. -5.432 for latitude and 170.215 for longitude
Catches must be reported in metric tonnes (mt) and number of individuals (n), and must be whole values (cannot use decimal values).
Species code must be FAO standard Species Code (3 characters).
- E.g. YFT - Yellowfin Tuna or ALB - Albacore Tuna.
Each port has a unique 5 letter code. Please refer to this document provided by WCPFC.

Documents structure and data fields format

Operational data are structured in three interconnected levels: Trip, Activity, and Catch. Separate tables are used for each data level to maintain clarity and reduce redundancy. Each table is connected using unique identifiers: trip_id for the Trip level and activity_id for the Activity level. These identifiers must be numeric or alphanumeric and unique within the set of files.

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

CSV Data Templates

Trip level

This is the header of the trip, it has one row per trip.

Example document at trip level

trip_id	vessel_name	vessel_reg	ircs	uvi	flag_code	fleet_code	departure_port	unloading_port	departure_datetime	unloading_datetime
TRIP501	Island Spirit	584235	6FHY06	9900125	KR		WSAPW	WSAPW	2025-03-01 05:38	2025-03-18 22:47

Field descriptions at trip level

Field name	Type	Format	Description	Mandatory
trip_id	String	Alphanumeric - refer to Trip level identifier	Unique identifier for the trip	Yes
vessel_name	String	Alphanumeric	Name of the fishing vessel	Yes
vessel_reg	String	Alphanumeric	Registration number of the vessel	Yes*
ircs	String	Alphanumeric	International radio call sign	Yes*
uvi	Number	Number	Unique Vessel Identifier (reference to the IMO)	No
flag_code	Text	2 letter flag-state code (UN/LOCODE)	Authorized flag state	Yes
fleet_code	Text	2 letter code for sub-fleet (see fleet reference table)	Sub-fleet code	No
departure_port	String	WCPFC port code	Port of departure	Yes
unloading_port	String	WCPFC port code	Port of unloading	Yes
departure_datetime	Datetime	YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS	Date of departure	Yes
unloading_datetime	Datetime	YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS	Date of unloading	Yes

= A code may be used as a vessel identifier instead of the name of the vessel, registration number and call sign for vessels that have fished and that intend to fish only in the waters of national jurisdiction of the State that has flagged the vessel

Activity level

This level contains one row per activity within a trip. At least one Activity entry should be recorded each day, and it is possible to have multiple activities in the same day.

Example document at activity level

trip_id	activity_id	latitude	longitude	activity_type_id	activity_datetime	setend_datetime	school_type_id
TRIP501	ACT001	-2.341	-174.165	1	14/02/2025 03:50	14/02/2025 05:10	1
TRIP501	ACT002	-10.482	-156.513	1	16/02/2025 04:05	16/02/2025 05:20	4

Field descriptions at activity level

Field name	Type	Format	Description	Mandatory
trip_id	String	Alphanumeric - refer to Trip level identifier	Unique identifier for the trip	Yes
activity_id	String	Alphanumeric - refer to Activity level identifier	Unique identifier for the activity	Yes
latitude	Number	Decimal Degrees	Latitude of the activity location	Yes
longitude	Number	Decimal Degrees	Longitude of the activity location	Yes
activity_type_id	Number	Integer: refer to activity reference table	Type of activity	Yes
activity_datetime	Datetime	ISO 8601 Date and time: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS	Date and time of the start of the activity	Yes
setend_datetime	Datetime	ISO 8601 Date and time: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS	Date and time of the end of the activity	Yes
school_type_id	Number	Integer: refer to school type reference table	School association identifier	Yes

* Mandatory for activity activity_type_id = 1 (Fishing Set)

Catch level

One Catch entry must be provided for each species caught during a Fishing Set, either retained or discarded. Column is_discarded indicates whether the catch was discarded (1) or retained (0).

Example document at catch level

trip_id	activity_id	sp_code	sp_mt	sp_n
TRIP501	ACT001	SKJ	2150	0
TRIP501	ACT001	YFT	620	0
TRIP501	ACT002	SKJ	1500	0
TRIP501	ACT002	YFT	700	0
TRIP501	ACT002	FAL	0.1	1

Field descriptions at catch level

Field Name	Type	Format	Description	Mandatory
trip_id	String	Alphanumeric - refer to Trip level identifier	Unique identifier for the fishing trip	Yes
activity_id	String	Alphanumeric - refer to Activity level identifier	Unique identifier for the fishing activity	Yes
sp_code	String	FAO 3-letter code for the target species	FAO 3-letter code for the target species	Yes
sp_mt	Number	Weight of the catch in metric tonnes	Weight of the catch in metric tonnes	Yes
sp_n	Number	Number of individuals discarded/released	Intended to capture discards/releases, including SSIs	No
is_discarded	Number	discarded (1) or retained (0)	Indicator of whether the catch was discarded (1) or retained (0)	No

References

Reference Table 1: Activity Type identifiers

activity_type_id	Description
1	Fishing Set
2	Searching
3	Transit
4	No fishing - Breakdown/other issues
5	No fishing - Bad weather
6	No fishing - In port

Reference Table 2: School Type identifiers

school_type_id	Description
1	Unassociated/free school
2	Feeding on baitfish
3	Drifting log, debris or dead animal
4	Drifting raft, FAD or payao
5	Anchored raft, FAD or payao
6	Live whale
7	Live whale shark
8	Other

Reference Table 3: List of Fleets

country_code	fleet_code	gear_code	is_active	ocean_codes	description
AU	AF	S	1	WX,SP,SX,WP	Australia purse seine, inside the Australian Fishing Zone
AU	AU	L	1	WX,SP,SX,WP	Australia domestic and chartered longline
AU	EX	S	1	WX,SP,SX,WP	Australia distant-water purse seine
AU	JV	L	0	WX,SP,SX,WP	Australian joint-venture Longline
CN	DW	L	1	SP,NP,NX,SX	China distant-water longline
ID	DW	S	1	WX,WP	Indonesia distant-water purse seine
ID	ID	S	1	WX,WP	Indonesia domestic purse seine
JP	CS	L	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Japan coastal fleet longline
JP	CS	P	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Japan coastal fleet pole-and-line
JP	CS	S	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Japan coastal fleet purse seine
JP	DW	P	1	WX,SP,NP,NX,WP	Japan offshore and distant water pole-and-line
JP	DW	S	1	WX,SP,NP,NX,WP	Japan offshore and distant-water purse seine
JP	JP	L	1	WX,SP,NP,SX,NX,WP	Japan offshore and distant water longline
PH	DW	S	1	WX,WP	Philippines distant-water purse seine
PH	PH	S	1	WX,NX,WP	Philippines domestic purse seine
TW	DW	L	1	WX,SP,NP,SX,NX,WP	Chinese Taipei distant-water longline
TW	OD	L	0	NP,NX	Chinese Taipei offshore domestic longline (REDUNDANT -STLL)
TW	OS	L	1	WX,SP,NP,SX,NX,WP	Chinese Taipei small-scale Longline (STLL)
US	AS	L	1	WX,SP,NP,SX,NX,WP	American Samoa longline
US	AS	T	1	WX,SP,SX,NX,WP	American Samoa (US) Troll
US	GU	L	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Guam (US) Longline
US	GU	T	1	WX,SP,SX,NX,WP	Guam (US) Troll
US	HW	H	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Hawaii (US) Handline
US	HW	L	1	WX,SP,NP,NX,WP	United States of America longline (Hawaii)
US	HW	P	1	SP,NP,NX,WP	Hawaii pole-and-line
US	HW	T	1	WX,NP,SX,NX,WP	Hawaii (US) Troll
US	HW	T	1	SP,NX,SX,WP	Hawaii (US) Troll and Handline
US	MP	L	1	WX,NP,NX,WP	Northern Marianas Islands (US) Longline
US	MP	T	1	WX,SP,SX,NX,WP	Northern Mariana Islands (US) troll
US	US	L	1	WX,SP,NP,NX,WP	United States of America longline