Defining Small-scale Fisheries in the EU on the Basis of their Operational Range of Activity - The Swedish Fleet as Case Study

Abstract

Extending the definition of small scale fisheries is a recurrent issue in policy and research debates. Abroader definition of small scale fisheries would need to encompass, in addition to vessel size attributessuch as vessel length, variables relating to their local operational range, their social role in coastal commu-nities and the economics of the enterprise. In this study, data mining and geospatial analysis techniqueswere used to explore the relationship between vessel characteristics and local operational range. Theprocess relies heavily on the availability of detailed logbook data and involves two main steps: (1) clus-tering vessels on the basis of operational range attributes and (2) finding vessel characteristics that bestmatch the operational range classes through machine learning algorithms. The analysis was carried outusing the Swedish fishing fleet as a case study and considers the fishing activity of the entire fleet over theperiod 2007–2013. Swedish logbook data offers the advantage of providing precise spatial informationon the location of the catch. Results clearly identified three operational range clusters: local, mediumand long range. When considering engine power and vessel tonnage as explanatory variables, the clas-sification algorithms were able to represent the operational range classes with a success rate of 94%.However, the fact that medium size vessels operate and compete in the same operational range class ofsmall size vessels limits, in practice, the possibility of using vessel characteristics to represent univocallythe local operational range characteristics of small scale fisheries, unless very high thresholds for powerand tonnage are used.