Mapping fishing effort: Combining fishermen’s knowledge with satellite monitoring data in English waters

Abstract We describe and analyse data on fishing effort collected by interviewing 1914 fishermen between 2007 and 2010. Combining socio-spatial data collected through a voluntary mapping project called “FisherMap” with UK and European vessel satellite monitoring data provides high resolution, national-scale maps of distribution and relative intensity of fishing for six gear types. The effort maps show, for the first time, a large scale and holistic approach to mapping fishing effort by including the under-reported, yet significant, inshore fishing fleet (85% of registered vessels,