An attempt to integrate logbook and VMS information: Spatial distribution of the German pelagic freezer trawler fleet's activity in two years

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ICES is increasingly moving towards a multi-species - mixed fisheries advice, especially for demersal fisheries. The structure of pelagic fisheries appears to be less complex, however, the fleet is regularly targeting different species at different times of the year in different areas. In some of these areas and quarters, a mixture of species is caught (most notably mackerel and horse mackerel in Sub-Area VII and herring and mackerel in Div. IVa). This has some implications e.g. for the discarding of pelagic fish. The distribution of the pelagic fleet is variable in time and space, and mostly driven by economic considerations. The satellite-based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) in combination with the logbooks of commercial vessels can be used to describe the fleet's distribution pattern, and may help to understand the drivers.