“BIOLOGICAL AND FISHING RESEARCH ON BLUEFIN TUNA (Thunnus thynnus) AND SWORDFISH (Xiphias gladius) IN THE MEDITERRAN

1. “BIOLOGICAL AND FISHING RESEARCH ON BLUEFIN TUNA (Thunnus thynnus) AND SWORDFISH (Xiphias gladius) IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA“ APPLICATION “FISHERIES MANAGEMENT V 2.1” P. RIOJA (FAO) INSTITUTO ESPAÑOL DE OCEANOGRAFÍA CENTRO OCEANOGRÁFICO DE MÁLAGA

2. INTRODUCTION During 1998 it was carried out the Project IEO-INRH; a joint research project regarding Tuna and Tuna-like species in the Mediterranean Sea between the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) and the Institut National de Recherche Halieutique from Morocco, coordinated by FAO-COPEMED. One of the main aims of the aforementioned project was to develop an appropriate informatics application for carrying out joint research. A meeting for methodological standardization was held at the Oceanographical Laboratory in Málaga and the responsible scientists for the project designed a specific data base addressed towards tuna and tuna-like fisheries management (V 1.1). Current release has been extended and enhanced for every country engaged in the new Project FAO-COPEMED/TÚNIDOS (V 2.1) being able to use it.

3. PARTICIPANT COUNTRIES Countries and institutions participant in the Project FAO-COPEMED/TÚNIDOS: • Morocco. Institut National de Recherche Halieutique (INRH) • Libya. Marine Biology Research Centre (MBRC) • Tunisia. Institut National des Sciences et Technologies of the sea (INSTM) • Malta. Ministry of Agriculture an Ficheries. Department of Ficheries & Aquaculture (MAF) • Italy. Laboratorio de Biología Marina y Pesca • Spain. Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO)

4. RESEARCH AREA

5. To improve knowledge on fisheries, statistical processes and biological studies by means of joint research 1 2 3 INFORMATION EXCHANGE FISHERIES DESCRIPTION STATISTICS HISTORICAL SERIES ANNUAL AIMS OF PROJECT Through

6. Data on Data on Data on Defined by Define as targeting species ENTITY - RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM (E/R) Fishery 0,n Catch-Effort Monthly 1,1 0,12 1,1 1,1 1,5 0,n Historical Series Catch-Effort Landing Port 0,1 Define as pilot port Annual Description 1,1 0,4 0,12 Length Distribution Monthly Define as species 1,1 0,n 0,n Species Example: Annual Description defines a fishery (country-gear) / Fishery can be defined by none or several annual descriptions.

7. Reference Tables Task I Task II Task III Task IV TABLES, FIELDS AND RELATIONSHIPS

8. APPLICATION 1.- PRESENTATION 2.- TASKS MENU. • Task I. Annual fisheries description • Task II. Catch-Effort • Task III. Length distribution • Task IV. Sex-ratio • Task V. Historical series on Catch-Effort 3.- DATA INPUT 4.- DATA OUTPUT 5.- DATA TRANSFER (Flow chart) 6.- HELP / TRAINING Nex, it is outlined the main aims of the application:

9. 1.- PRESENTATION Welcome screen: from this sreen we can run the application in two languages: spanish and french.

10. TASK I.-Annual fishery description and mapping: Under this task we carry on the technical description of the fishery; we input on data on targeting species, main landing ports, fleet mean characteristics , fishing season and location, etc. These data supply a general view of the fishery and allow to monitor changes in the fishery like fleet increase or decrease between years, changing fishing areas, etc. TASK II.- Catch- effort. Data on catch and fishing effort are essential in order to compute catch by unit effort rates (CPUE) which are used as relative abundance index and also for the study of the stock structure, migration patterns and interactions beetwen fishing gears. 2.- TASKS MENU (1/2) It is outlined a brief summary for the aims in each Task:

11. TASK III.- Length distribution by sex. The information on length (age) composition of the catch is essential when trying to predict, by analitical methods, the future behaviour of the stock. TASK IV.- Sex ratio by length class. Recording length and sex in order to know female- male ratios. TASK V.- Historical series on catch- effort. Compilation of historical data on catch and fishing effort in order to compute standardized abundance index. 2.- TASKS MENU (2/2) AIMS:

12. Drop-down fields: when dropped down it is shown a list with the allowed values for the field. The values in the list are restricted to those extant in the reference tables. The values in the reference tables are managed under a regional level. Informative fields: it is shown information about the meaning of the codes that we introduced in the associated fields. Simple Fields: these fields are for directly typing in the data, some of them have an input mask and / or validation rules. 3.- DATA INPUT Inside the screen for data input we can distinguish three different fields:

13. 4.- DATA OUTPUT (1/2) There are several ways for data output depending on the selected Task and option. Once we have selected Task and option, the information will be used as a filter for the elaboration of the requested report. The reports can be viewed in the screen and/or printed. Task I. Annual fishery description: 1. Fishery description by year. Task II. Catch-Effort: 1. Report by year and fishery. 2. Report by year and country. Tarea III. Distribución de tallas por mes y sexo: 1. Report by month and fishery. 2. Report by year and fishery. Results from a query

14. 4.- DATA OUTPUT (2/2) Task IV. Sex-ratio by length class: 1. Report by month and fishery. 2. Report by year and fishery. Task V. Catch-effort Historical series: 1. Report by fishery, including a graph for the catch in weight and fishing effort. 2. Report by gear, including a graph for the catch in weight and fishing effort. Results from a query (Zoom)

15. 5.- DATA TRANSFER (1/2) One of the main aims of the current application is to exchange the information collected by each country among the other countries in the Project in order to develop joint studies. • Export:the process generates text files with the data for the selected country. Once the files have been generated, they can be addressed to the rest of the participant countries by e-mail • Import:it allows to merge the data base belonging to other participant countries with our data base. The import process deletes the data corresponding to the country that is being imported and adds the new data base composed of the new recorded data and the previously recorded ones (with the corresponding modifications). Each participant country is the responsible for its own data base. • Reference Tables Updating: The reference tables are managed, under a regional level, by Spain. The other participant countries will be able to import, when necessary, the updated reference tables.

16. Transfer 5.- DATA TRANSFER (2/2) Regional manager BD Spain REGIONAL LEVEL Reference tables updating BD Libya BD Malta National data base Previously defined process NATIONAL LEVEL Extracting Merging Data Data

17. HELP Inside the application we can find information relating the application performance. We can access to help through: Help icon F1 Key Furthermore, a comprehensive user’s guide with enhanced information and examples is being edited. TRAINING Shortly, a training course relating to the use of the application will be held at the C.O de Málaga for the participant countries. 6.- HELP / TRAINING

18. APLICATION & PRESENTATION: Pilar Rioja Garay FAO- COPEMED Instituto Español de Ocenografía Puerto Pesquero s/n. Apartado 285 29640 Fuengirola - Málaga (España) E-mail:fao.pilar@ma.ieo.es