1 Indicator category

[Fill by hand, needs decision by Council]

2 Indicator name

Commercial Catch and Fleet Diversity

Includes variable(s): Fleet count, Fleet diversity in revenue, Permit revenue species diversity

3 Indicator brief description

Permit-level species diversity and Council-level fleet diversity.

4 Indicator visualization

Diversity estimates have been developed for species landed by commercial vessels with New England permits, and fleets landing managed species. Over the course of the last three years, there has been a steep decline in the effective number of species being landed in the commercial fleet, and current diversity is near a low since records began. Commercial fishery fleet count has rebounded in recent years, although still at levels well below the historical average. Here a fleet is defined as the combination of gear type (Scallop Dredge, Clam Dredge, Other Dredge, Gillnet, Hand Gear, Longline, Bottom Trawl, Midwater Trawl, Pot, or Purse Seine) and vessel length category (Less than 30 ft, 30 to 50 ft, 50 to 75 feet, 75 ft and above). Commercial fishery fleet count and fleet diversity have been stable over time in the MAB, with current values near the long-term average. This indicates similar commercial fleet composition and species targeting opportunities over time. Commercial fisheries are relying on fewer species relative to the mid-90s, although current species revenue diversity has recovered somewhat in the last year.

5 Indicator documentation

5.1 Are indicators available for others to use (data downloadable)?

## Yes

5.1.1 Where can indicators be found?

## Data: https://noaa-edab.github.io/ecodata/index.html 
## Description:  https://noaa-edab.github.io/catalog/commercial_div.html 
## Technical documentation:  https://noaa-edab.github.io/tech-doc/commercial_div.html

5.1.2 How often are they updated? Are future updates likely?

[need sequential look at datasets for update frequency. Future requires judgement]

5.1.3 Who is the contact?

Geret DePiper ()

5.2 Gather indicator statistics

5.2.1 Units

Indicator

Units

Fleet count

number of fleets

Fleet diversity in revenue

effective Shannon

Permit revenue species diversity

effective Shannon

5.2.2 Length of time series, start and end date, periodicity

General overview: Annual

Indicator specifics:

Indicator

EPU

StartYear

EndYear

NumYears

MissingYears

Fleet count

MA

2003

2023

21

0

Fleet count

NE

2003

2023

21

0

Fleet diversity in revenue

MA

2003

2023

21

0

Fleet diversity in revenue

NE

2003

2023

21

0

Permit revenue species diversity

MA

2003

2023

21

0

Permit revenue species diversity

NE

2003

2023

21

0

5.2.3 Spatial location, scale and extent

General overview: MA and NE

Indicator specifics:

Indicator

EPU

Fleet count

MA

Fleet count

NE

Fleet diversity in revenue

MA

Fleet diversity in revenue

NE

Permit revenue species diversity

MA

Permit revenue species diversity

NE

5.2.4 Management scale: all species, FMP level, species level, can it be aggregated or separated to different scales?

[Classify by hand, note gridded data if available could be applied to different species ranges]

5.2.5 Uncertainty metrics

5.3 Are methods clearly documented to obtain source data and calculate indicators?

## Yes

5.3.1 Can the indicator be calculated from current documentation?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for current and previous methods]

5.3.2 Is code publicly available? up to date?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for current and previous methods]

5.3.3 Have methods changed over time?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for current and previous methods]

5.4 Are indicator underlying source data linked or easy to find?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for source, may require judgements]

5.4.1 Where are source data stored?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for source, may require judgement]

5.4.2 How/by whom are source data updated? Are future updates likely?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for source, may require judgement]

5.4.3 How often are they updated?

[Build link to Tech-doc, look for source, may require judgement]

6 Indicator analysis/testing or history of use

6.1 What decision or advice processes are the indicators currently used in?

Diversity estimates have been developed to understand whether specialization, or alternatively stovepiping, is occurring in fisheries of the Northeastern Large Marine Ecosystem. We use the average effective Shannon indices for species revenue at the permit level, for all permits landing any amount of NEFMC or MAFMC Fishery Management Plan (FMP) species within a year (including both Monkfish and Spiny Dogfish). We also use the effective Shannon index of fleet revenue diversity and count of active fleets to assess the extent to which the distribution of fishing changes across fleet segments.

6.2 What implications of the indicators are currently listed?

Fleet diversity indices can be used to evaluate stability objectives as well as risks to fishery resilience and to maintaining equity in access to fishery resources [115]. In New England, the relatively low diversity estimates for the commercial fishery are likely driven by the continued reliance on a few species, sea scallops and lobster. This trend could diminish the capacity to respond to future fishing opportunities. In the Mid-Atlantic, stability in commercial fleet diversity metrics suggests stable capacity to respond to the current range of fishing opportunities.

6.3 Do target, limit, or threshold values already exist for the indicator?

[Fill by hand; if not in key results or implications, likely does not exist]

6.4 Have the indicators been tested to ensure they respond proportionally to a change in the underlying process?

[Fill by hand; if not in introduction, key results, or implications, likely not tested]

6.5 Are the indicators sensitive to a small change in the process, or what is the threshold of change that is detectable?

[Fill by hand; if not in introduction, key results, or implications, likely not tested]

6.6 Is there a time lag between the process change and the indicator change? How long?

[Fill by hand; if not in introduction, key results, or implications, likely not tested]

7 Comments

[Fill below by hand once above data complete]

7.2 What additional work would be needed for the Council to use the indicator?

7.3 What issues are caused if there is a gap or delay in data underlying the indicator