Deepwater red shrimp fishery in the eastern–central Mediterranean Sea: AIS-observed monthly fishing effort and frequency over 4 years

Abstract

Abstract. Deep-sea fishery in the Mediterranean Sea was historically driven by the commercial profitability of deepwater red shrimp (DWRS), and understanding spatiotemporal dynamics of fishing is key to comprehensively evaluate the status of these profitable resources and prevent stock collapse. A 4-year time series of observed monthly patterns and related frequency of trawling disturbance based on an automatic identification system (AIS) is provided with a resolution of 0.01∘×0.01∘, accounting for the spatial extent and temporal variability in deepwater (DW) bottom-contact fisheries during the period 2015–2018. The dataset was estimated from 370 fishing vessels that were found to perform trawling in deep water (400–800 m) during the study period, and they represent a significant part of the real fleet exploiting these fishing grounds in the study area. The reconstructed deepwater trawling-effort dataset is available at: https://doi.org/10.17882/89150 (Pulcinella et al., 2022). This large-scale and high-resolution dataset may help researchers of many scientific fields, as well as those involved in fishery management and in the update of existing management plans for deepwater red shrimp fisheries as foreseen in relevant recommendations of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM).