Currently, fleet designations used to produce mixed fisheries considerations are not true fleets but rather aggregations of fishing activities. As such, the fleets used do not represent unique groups of vessels and therefore have implications for accurately characterizing fleet fishing behaviour and assessing choking effects. Additionally, alternative fleet definitions would facilitate collaborations with WGECON (Working Group on Economics) to advance the integration of advice on the socio-economic viability of mixed fisheries scenarios. Demand for such information has been expressed by stakeholders, most pertinently through WKMIXFISH (Scoping workshops on the next generation of mixed fisheries advice; WKMIXFISH3 will take place on 14 March 2024). WKMIXFLEET aims to:
- Develop and document a new methodology for defining fleets using the combined expertise of mixed fisheries scientists and economists
- Apply this new methodology to mixed fisheries data, taking into consideration future data sources and availability
- Compare the new and existing fleet definitions and, where possible, evaluate the potential effects this may have on fleet dynamics and mixed fisheries scenario results
- Identify any new datasets or changes to current data calls needed to implement the new methodology
