Vessels technical characteristics versus landings – Great diversity in a small country of European Union

Abstract

Portugal is a small country, located in the western tip of Europe, where a great diversity of species with commercial interest occurs. Fishing is a traditional, culturally important activity, and the mainland fleet has three fleet components: trawl, purse-seine and multi-gear. The aim of this study was to determine which vessel’ technical characteristics were most important for the landings of the different fleet components using official landings of most import species/species group in terms of quantity landed and/or high market price of the fishing fleet components under analysis. Generalized Linear Models were used to analyse landing per unit effort between 1993 and 2019 and using the engine power, landing port, month, and year as explanatory variables. It was possible to verify that the three different fishing fleets have different importance to mainland landings and that technical characteristics did not have the same influence on these components. The demonstration of seasonal and interannual variability is of great importance to stimulate further studies to better understand these species susceptibility to environmental or other factors that may be responsible for landings variation. The general decrease of landings, already related to a decrease in fishing effort and their consequences at the fishery sector level should be included as a concern in the management process.