Métiers of the Northern Spanish coastal fleet using fixed gears

Abstract

Logbooks from the set longline and set gillnet fleets operating in ICES Divisions VIIIc and IXa North during the 2003-2005 period were analysed in order to identify métiers with specific catch profiles. The CLARA method, a non-hierarchical cluster analysis, was used to classify the fishing trips. From the resulting clusters in set longline fleet, only 4 métiers were found to be consistent enough through the time series: 1) targeting conger, 2) targeting hake, 3) targeting pollack, and 4) targeting seabass. Regarding the set gillnet fleet, 2 significant métiers were found: 1) targeting hake and 2) targeting monkfish