A. LARGE PELAGICS FISHERY MONITORING PROGRAM

One form to be completed for each sampling day, and if there is not sufficient room on the sheet for information from all the boats sampled then additional sheets can be used.

The form is divided into three basic parts. The first is a header that identifies the date of sampling and the site that was sampled. An indication is also given as to whether there is more than one page of information.

The second section deals with a description of the fleet landing and the sample size. It is intended that estimates of the number of boats 'operated' refers only to those boats operating in the large pelagics fishery and landing at that site on the sampling day.

The third section is the most detailed and aims to collect information on catch and effort on a boat by boat basis. Each column of information relates to one vessel. The type of boat refers to the vessel class (UN1-UN4), days fished is the number of days that the boat was actively engaged in fishing less the number days spent steaming or laying to. Gillnet fishing effort is indicated by the number of pieces of net that were carried on the boat and similarly longline fishing effort is indicated by the number of baskets of hooks. Another field has been included for recording and other auxiliary fishing methods that may have been used. This information will be. recorded using the existing alphabetic codes. The main bait type used for hook fishing is also included.

The catch/landing details are set out according to the species categories discussed in an earlier section. There are two major divisions in the type of information, bony fish landings are generally recorded in numbers and elasmobranchs in weight. Weight is the unit of preference for all species and should be recorded when they are available, possible,