ICES has published fishery statistics since 1904, beginning with data for 1903, and has, for many years, presented landings data in electronic form in the Eurostat/ICES database covering the period 1973 to the present. This electronic database has been extended to include all landings data available from volumes of ICES Bulletin Statistique des Pêches Maritimes covering the period 1903 – 1972. The data for 1950 and later are available for downloading from the Eurostat and ICES websites, while the data for 1903 – 1949 are available only on the ICES website. The data format for 1950 – 2008 is in the form of annual time-series by species and area, while the 1903 – 1949 data are presented as Excel books (one for each country), with one spreadsheet for each year. The data are available from the ICES website http://www.ices.dk/fish/statlant.asp). The Excel files for 1903 – 1949 are available as zipped versions of the individual Microsoft Excel country files, while the data for 1950 to the present on the Eurostat website (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database) are presented in Eurostat’s eDAMIS system. The data sources are the national statistical offices, but in some countries, the collection and compilation of fishery statistics is handled by specialized organizations. The geographical breakdown is according to the ICES system of subareas, divisions, and subdivisions (Figures 1a and 1b; from the CWP Handbook on Fishery Statistical Standards (FAO, 2003)). The area coding for older data has been converted into the coding used today because the original area breakdown was different. Where areas were changed after about 1960, the principle of only subdividing areas, but not creating cross-cutting new areas, was followed. Data presented in the databases have not been corrected for non-reported landings, where these may have occurred. Therefore, in some cases, the data differ from those presented in ICES fish stock assessment working group reports. Today, the data on the Eurostat website (Eurostat/ICES database) are constantly updated with corrections and amendments that the countries provide after the submission deadlines. However, this updating was previously done through footnotes and the occasional supplementary table in the printed version of the following years, or, in some cases, not at all. It has been a major effort to go through the archives in the ICES Secretariat and update the data with such amendments and corrections.The data for the period 1950 – 2008 may be used as a coherent time-series of landings as reported to ICES by the national statistical offices, covering all species which have any major occurrence and covering the entire ICES area. The transfer of data into electronic form and, at the same time, review of the data going back into the ICES Secretariat’s archives was recognized by ICES and Eurostat as a project of mutual interest to be undertaken within the terms of the ICES/Eurostat Partnership Agreement. |
