Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries Definitions Global Record of Stocks and Fisheries Definitions

This page provides the definitions for the concepts in use within the GRSF.
 
  • Assessment area: The conventional stock assessment/monitoring area
     
  • Assessment method: Name of method/model used for the stock assessment
     
  • Assessor: The scientist, institution or agency conducting the stock assessment
     
  • Data owner: Legal owner of the data and information reported
     
  • Data provider: An organisation which produces data or metadata 
     
  • Database source: The database from which the data and information was imported in GRSF (i.e. RAM, FishSource and/or FIRMS)
     
  • Distribution area: Distribution area of the marine resource
     
  • Exploited stock(s): The stock(s) exploited by a given fishery
     
  • Exploiting fishery(ies): Fishery(ies) exploiting a given stock
     
  • Fishery type > Other fishery: Any other fishery that does not fall within the “fishing activity” definition
     
  • Fishery type > Fishing unit: is a fishery characterized by: one target species, fishery area(s), management entity(ies) with associated jurisdiction area(s), one gear type, and one flag state. 
     
  • Fishing Unit (for traceability): A fishing unit is a fishery targeting a single species (or group of species) conducted by a single flag state using a single fishing gear operating in a water area, which is possibly managed by a single empowered management authority or treaty under a unique set of management measures.
    Note: in the latest case, the “water area” associated to the fishing unit equates the management unit area, which ideally can be connected with one single assessment unit.

     
  • Fishery: A Fishery is an activity leading to the harvesting of fish, within the boundaries of a defined area and possibly under a specific management. “Fishery” in GRSF is intended as a broad category comprising fishing units and other fisheries.  
     
  • Fishing Area: Area in which a specific fishing unit is operating.
    Note: the fishing area can coincide with the management unit area. 

     
  • GRSF Knowledge base: a semantic warehouse storing information on stocks and fisheries, harvested from multiple heterogeneous databases. The GRSF KB is developed with the use of semantic web technologies and it is based on the Marine top level ontology (MarineTLO).
     
  • GRSF Name: Name built substituting the standard/local codes of the Semantic ID with the standard/local labels
     
  • GRSF Semantic Identifier: Identifier assigned to single stocks and fisheries, constituted of the concatenation of standard or local codes according to an established GRSF convention 
     
  • GRSF UUID: Alpha-numerical Universally Unique Identifier, assigned to the single stocks or fisheries 
     
  • GRSF VRE: The GRSF is made available to users through the iMarine e-infrastructure in a dedicated VRE (Virtual Research Environment) 
     
  • Jurisdiction area: The territory (water area) of a political authority where a management authority is empowered to exert its mandate for fishery management purposes.
    Note: This area is the total area of a management authority; within this jurisdiction area, sub-areas might be defined for management purposes (for example, to define management units). 

     
  • Management Body/Authority(ies): Entity holding management mandate for a given fishery  
     
  • Management Unit: The area where the fish was caught and which is targeted by a unique set of measures. This unit (i.e. one - or more - species in a particular area) has generally been defined at regional, national or local scale by a management authority including through stakeholder consultation (FSC11, May 2019). Note: Management units may be used for setting the basis for stock status determination, and may not correspond to the biological stock. 
     
  • Production system type (Artisanal, Commercial, Exploratory fishery, Industrial, Recreational, Semi-industrial, Subsistence): No commonly accepted definition exists. For the time being, GRSF will import values as specified in the database sources
     
  • Reference year: The last year considered in the stock assessment and/or fishery status 
     
  • Reporting year: The publication year of the main source of the information  
     
  • Short name: Fishery/Stock name assigned according to the FIRMS naming convention
     
  • Source of Information: Full citation of the documentation used to extract the data and information reported in the database sources, including URL pointing to document PDF/HTML (when available)  
     
  • Stock: “Stock” in GRSF is intended as a broad category comprising assessment units and marine resources (see definitions below) 
    From FSC11, May 2019 - A subpopulation of a species inhabiting a particular geographic area, having similar biological characteristics (e.g. growth, reproduction, mortality) and negligible genetic mixing with other adjacent subpopulations of the same species. 

     
  • Stock type > Assessment unit: A group of individuals of one (or more) species that is the object of a stock assessment and/or any other analysis aiming to investigate stock status. The assessment unit is ideally consistent with the biological stock extent, but can be established on another basis according to the purpose of assessment and the nature of the fishery concerned (FSC11, May 2019). Note: Beyond the assessment focus, an Assessment Unit can be considered a Management unit (i.e. delineated within a management jurisdiction such as country's EEZ or RFMO's area of competence) on the basis of practical/political convenience, including for implementation of management measures.
     
  • Stock type > Marine Resource: Marine resource not identified as an assessment unit 

 

Other definitions from RFBs

  • Operational Unit: Within the context of managing fishing effort by geographical subarea(s), an Operational Unit is a group of fishing vessels which are engaged in the same type of fishing operation within the same GSA, targeting the same species or group of species and belonging to the same economic segment. Fishing vessels may belong to more than one Operational Unit and the composition of Operational Units is subject to change over time. (GFCM http://www.fao.org/gfcm/activities/fisheries/fleet/capacity-activitites/en/)


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